A Blogworthy Shower Recap

This past weekend was my best friend and MOH Jenn's shower, which I thought I'd post here because her future in laws did a beautiful job on it, constructing a shower that really looked like it walked off the pages of Style Me Pretty.

Unfortunately, as I was a busy bridesmaid, I don't have a ton of pictures, but I'll do my best.

The event was held in a family member's beautiful, huge backyard. They set a big tent up next to the pool, with round tables covered in pink linens. The centerpieces were linen wrapped mason jars with paper flowers:

They look good here, but looked so much better in context outdoors!

Her FI's mom just happened to have a huge collection of mismatched yet coordinated vintage linens, which she used as napkins. Pink linens provided a nice backdrop:

On the deck, a drink table was set up with the ubiquitous notes to the bride, a specialty cocktail of gin and tonic with elderflower liquor (the bride's favorite), fresh squeezed lemonade, and a variety of appetizers. The table was accessorized by a bunting banner made of scrapbook paper that matched the linen napkins.

Food was simple sandwiches, pasta salads, and roasted vegetables, but dessert included amazing carrot cake cupcakes decorated with fondant that matched the paper flowers:

 And my favorite was the favors! The groom's aunt paints watercolors, so she took a few of her paintings of dresses, shoes, and other girly things and made a set of six notecards for each guest. These were wrapped in various mismatched yet coordinated linens, with sheer ribbon and a little flowered heart:

The day was great and the bride loved everything- and we thank God, we had AMAZING weather. It was awesome to see a very bloggy shower in real life.

Have any of you attended any showers you really liked?

Floral Look

So I haven't shared something with you, mostly because it's not the hugest deal in the world, but Mr. B and I decided to switch florists a little while back. When we booked ours I was really excited about it, but over time we had a few miscommunications, I found her a bit cold in personality, and when I began delving into the idea of rental items, I realized she was shockingly overcharging me for things- $40 for plain tablecloths, $5 per votive candle on tables when I'd want around 9 per table, that kind of thing.

So on the recommendation of a wedding planner, we booked our house florist, Touch of Elegance instead. I instantly loved Lisa, the florist there, because she was warm and really excited about her job. She had fun looking at my inspiration board, immediately whipping out fabric swatches, brainstorming napkin ideas, and sharing a flurry of sample photos. I felt like she really understood what I wanted, and she was giving us much better prices. So we switched.

And this past weekend, we saw our sample centerpieces, which I think fit in perfectly with our theme of  formal, traditional elegance:

The centerpieces are a vintage look gold candelabra, stuffed with peonies, hydrangeas, some type of chrysanthemum, and dendrobium orchids. We're also going to be adding hanging bits of ivy as well.

Something else I liked about Lisa's work was her attention to detail. Our last florist would only give us plain white tealight candles, no votives, included with our centerpiece. Lisa is giving us nine candles, an assortment of votives and floating pillars, all included- no $5 per candle rental fee. We're switching these plain votive holders in the picture to a gold mercury glass look: 

I really love the look Lisa captured and am really happy with this particular flower arrangement. However, there's one thing I need your opinions on, and that would be our linens:



I LOVE this linen. I think it perfectly encapsulates our theme and I think it's absolutely beautiful. However, sometimes I think that in order to pull off a look the right way, you have to exercise restraint and cut something you love. I'm concerned that this blue linen is too much blue for the room. I'm afraid it might match the carpet too much. Here's a pic:

It's really similar to the carpet. I'm not sure that having that carpet and very similar tablecloths is too much. Maybe I should be opting for a damask linen in the beigey color in the carpet, so that it coordinates but isn't the same shade.

What do you guys think? Use the linen pictured here, or opt for something else?

For the Boys

Mr. B and our groomsmen are rabidly into music. Collectively, they play the guitar, bass,  piano, drums,  melodica, and harmonica. They’ve had some incarnation of a band since before they were old enough to drive, and I used to love to go follow them around to clubs to watch.

 

Just getting started, rehearsing in Ben's garage- ps the date on this photo is not right! This was early 2000s, before I met any of them!

The most recent incarnation, playing in the East Village. That's Mr. B front and center!

Now that we’re a little older and all working fulltime, the band is defunct, but they’re intensely devoted to their favorite musicians, who mainly include Weezer*, Ozma**, Tally Hall, and Pearl Jam. The boys travel all over to see their respective favorites, from flying to Wisconsin for PJ to camping out in line in NYC to see Weezer or Ben Folds play shows three days in a row. I think I personally have been dragged to at least four Weezer shows in the past year alone, and now there’s rumors of, God help me, even more of them. 

The other day, Mr. B mentioned he wanted to wear an Ozma pin on his wedding tux.  I loved the idea, and it hit me that we could attach the pin to the boutionnieres!  I think it would make them a little more original, while showcasing a lot of Mr. B and the boys’ rocker personalities.

Unfortunately, Ozma pins don't exist, since they were never a huge band. But a few years back, I bought a set of Weezer pins that Mr. B, GM Ben, and I wore on our bags. I still have some, so I figured we could use those, and then maybe get some PJ ones for GMs Josh and Phil. Of course, this leaves out our two brothers, both of whom aren’t super into music, and definitely aren’t into Weezer. But maybe they can represent Brad by wearing the Weezer pins anyway, or maybe the Based God has pins.

One of the pins clipped to my bag

Anyway, here is a rudimentary Photoshop mockup of what I’m thinking:

 Original bout picture source

I think my mom thinks this is trashy but I am completely obsessed with the idea. It's not even that noticeable. Also, I’ve yet to see it on a wedding blog, which makes me feel like I invented something cool. I can’t wait to see if our florist can make this happen!  I know the boys will really love this!

*I realize I'm yapping on about their great taste in music and Weezer has some of the worst music out there- that's only their new stuff! The stuff from the 90s is really what we like to hear.

**Listen to them.

Flower Inspiration!

I've been taking time to collect some floral inspiration, to be prepared for

Originally, I envisioned a ton of all-white lushness: tall, round centerpieces, overstuffed with fluffy peonies, roses, and puffballs of hydrangeas, all seated on a tall, wrought gold candelabra.

Lush like this bouquet (Source)

With a design like these centerpieces (Source)

Turns out, that type of lushness so incredibly far from our budget that I laughed when our florist quoted the cost. She suggested combining the above idea with a classic orchid arrangement:
  

Source

Orchids, while a more expensive flower, have a lot more blooms per stem, which means you don’t need to stuff as many into a centerpiece to make it look good. So they actually wind up being a more cost-effective choice than the beloved peony. Plus, my mom always liked this look better, and I definitely trust her judgment.  

So now we’re working with this as the official inspiration, only with more green leaves in to cut the cost:

Source (Flowers by MDS Floral)

I absolutely love these! The center still has some of our fluffy round flowers, but on a much smaller scale. It wouldn't work on its own, but the addition of the loose orchids and tall branches (FMIL’s idea) make the centerpiece dramatic, needed in our 32 foot ceiling venue.

We will use a gold candelabra for the stand, and also add in some lush low centerpieces. The flowers will be all white (though those pinks are pretty!), and the centerpieces will be surrounded by small candles wrapped in lace. 

Vendor Search Tips: Florist

The florist search is simpler than other vendors. The photographer really impacts the memories you have of the day, and bad music will ruin the actual event, so choosing those can get stressful.  But flowers? They pretty much always look beautiful, and odds are that if you bring a florist pictures of what you want, they’ll be able to do it for you. Really, you’re just choosing who you're comfortable working with, and who’s offering you the most competitive price.

So it follows that my little form is not quite as complicated as the other ones. Honestly, I barely even used it.  I ruled out one florist immediately on her rude personality, and another on the very 90’s style arrangements she put together.  My favorite florist’s prices checked out with the first two, so  we signed our deposit almost immediately. But in case anyone out there wants to get a little more anal with comparisons:

Florist Info
Shop Name
Phone Number
Location & Hours
Contact
Cost Estimates    Ceremony flowers    Reception flowers    Bouquets    Chuppah    Groomsmen    Misc. Decor    Other
Delivery/set up fee Fee for coming back to get any centerpiece stands, etc.
Familiar with venue?	Yes          No
Site visit:	Yes          No
Arrival time for setup:
Payment    Deposit Required:    Final Payment Due:    Cancellation Policy:
Comments: (décor needs, budget/seasonal flowers)	www.bandtwed.blogspot.com

There’s no contract notes here. Meetings with the florists were long and detailed, with discussions on every element from centerpieces to boutonnieres to cocktail decorations. The “contract” I signed on was just a writeup of what we decided on, changeable until two weeks prior to the wedding. So you’re not exactly signing your life away here. Like I said, low-pressure vendor! 

I promise the next posts will be more interesting and less business-centric!

Our A Team: Crest Florist

Finding a florist was gloriously easy. Shortly after we got engaged, I went to a bridal show with my mom and Mr. B's mom. We wandered over to a table with a gorgeous white flower arrangement that was reminiscent of everything I wanted.

"I know it's too soon to start looking at florists, but want to ask this one what arrangements like that cost?" asked my mom. "So we can start figuring out our budget. We're not going to use these people, so let's not worry about looking stupid enough to get scammed and just ask."

FMIL and I agreed this was a good idea, and approached the woman at the table. Kim was super warm, animated, and friendly, and explained how she'd work with our budget, how she could cut costs by choosing seasonal flowers or certain styles of arrangements. She was honest about what would look better or worse, and how to make something less expensive look better.  She was stylish and easy to talk to. Do I even need to say that obviously, the three of us decided we immediately we wanted her company, Crest Florist, to be our florists?  We made an appointment to see Kim and discuss our options.