She’s So Back Part 2: Wedding Recap
Placing the finishing touches on a low centerpiece, one of my favorite arrangements to design
On June 6th, I had the pleasure, nay the honor, of doing the florals for the wedding of a dear friend.
My collaboration with the bride began by sharing our visions. It was scary, but I asked the bride for creative permission to use seasonal flowers, even if they weren’t the varieties we have talked about, as long as they stayed within the style and color scheme we agreed on. She agreed.
My inner voice cheered knowing I can tap into the blooms at their peak right at the time of the wedding.
Then the anticipation period came. I dutifully tended and fertilized my snapdragons and other garden stems I would provide for the wedding. I ordered bud vases, floral tape, hurricane glasses, to complete the tablescapes. The date got closer and closer, and I mapped out my preparation schedule, and stem counts.
The big day came, starting with a trip to the New York City Flower District (heaven). I came prepared with a shopping list, but quickly began to struggle with worries. I diverted from the last a bit, overbought, from a place of scarcity mindset. Having a bit more courage would have saved me some trouble here.
Much to my roommate’s delight, our kitchen became my temporary floral studio. As a huge foliage fan, I used some I had grown myself to bring cohesion to the different arrangements. I spent way too much time planning which bad vases would go together so that they would be perfectly mismatched. Again, worries got on top of me.
Skipping past the details of the day, another friend picked me up, I don’t have a car, this is New York City after all, and couriered me and the arrangements to the venue. The sense of pride and purpose I felt carrying my arrangements into the venue and being able to say, “I am the florist” was powerful.
That feeling was matched over and over again seeing the florals arranged on all the tables, and getting compliments from the guests. It was blown out of the water when the bride herself sincerely told me that the flowers were truly beautiful and told other guests that I had grown them!
Later, when I got around to sharing on social media, the bride commented,
They were so incredibly beautiful! I feel so very lucky and touched you were able to share your talents with us.
And that’s the whole point. Beautiful flowers. Human connection. Happy people.
