DIY Weddings ~ One designers story.

We love our DIY brides, we truly do.  They come in with so much energy and so many great ideas.  It's fun to sit and talk to them about their plans, their needs, their wants, and their big day.  We love helping them save money by ordering in bulk, seeing their eyes light up when they come in to pick up their flowers.  But every time we help one, in the back of my mind I worry for them.  I worry that they will become overwhelmed, that it will not come together as easy as they thought, that they will miss out on enjoying their big day, and most of all that they will regret it. 


I had a wedding last week, Bridal bouquet, 3 bridesmaids, 4 corsages, 7 boutonnieres, and one piece for the head table.  Her bouquets were petite, nothing overwhelmingly large or frilly.  Very simple, elegant, and not difficult to put together.  But even though it was not an over the top wedding with a ton of centerpieces, tons of flowers, and lots of extras it was time consuming.  It took me about 7 hours to complete this wedding, and if Sheryl would not have created  the head table piece it would have come close to about 8 hours.  I am not a slow designer and the bouquets came together quickly.  I did wait on some other clients, answer a few business calls, post a few things on facebook, took time to eat lunch, handled a few walk in sales people, and took a few trips to the cooler.  That is nothing compared to the craziness that is all around a bride on her wedding day.


As a bride you have to attend to all of the little details.  The last minute changes, the family coming in from out of town, last minute calls to your other vendors to make sure everything is just right, and not to mention you still have to get gussied up and walk down the isle.  Now add to that the stress of creating your own wedding.


Flowers come in flawed, some colors will not be exactly what you picked, some stems may be broken, some may not want to open on time, and some may not come in at all.  Not to mention the gathering of supplies, processing all of the flowers when they come in, and all of the little bumps in the road that will come your way.  


I do not want to sound like I am discouraging anyone from creating their own big day.  I am not, if you have the talent or know someone who does go for it.  But just know that it's not always as easy as it looks.  


Here is one brides story, she is a floral designer with years of experience.  She made the choice to be a DIY bride, a choice she now regrets. 


Read her story here.

Bold in Gold

This weekends wedding was one that we just adore.  It has some personal touches that make it a one of a kind and that is just what we strive for here at The Secret Garden. 

We'll start with the bridal bouquet ~ The bride brought us this fan and wanted us to create something that would accent it.  We choose white hydrangea, a single white rose, white spray roses and some blue delphinium to match the bridesmaids dresses.  She wanted a small cascade style and this fit the bill.  The springeri with blue delphinium was perfect for a petite cascade.   Everything is touched up with gold glitter, it may be hard to see in the picture but boy did it sparkle! 

Now the Bridesmaids ~ The gold foliage in the back was part of a silk rose we had for the holidays.  The bride fell in love with the texture and the color.  We paired that with cream hydrangea, cream roses, and cream spray roses.  We finished it off with touches of gold glitter spray to really make it pop!

For the Grooms & his Guys ~ The groom we took some gold sticks and curled them for an extra accent.  Gold Baby's Breath and Springerie to match the brides cascade.  For the groomsman and dads we used an ivory rose with gold baby's breath.  For the little ring bearer we took a cluster of delphinium and a touch of gold.  Perfect!

For the Moms ~ Gold ribbon with small spray roses.  Can't let the Mom's miss out on the gold bling that everyone else is enjoying.  Love this wired ribbon because it makes a statement.

For the altar of the church we selected a blending of the bridal bouquet.  You see the gold sticks here again to give it the pops of gold.  White hydrangea, white roses, white spray roses, and blue delphinium.  This piece will also double as the centerpiece on the head table at the reception.  We kept it low so that the guests can get a good look at the bride and groom.

Wedding Choices

There are so many choices for brides today.  Some brides want to go the DIY route, others want to have every detail handled by professionals.  At The Secret Garden we have something to fit every brides idea of a perfect wedding.

Choice One ~ Full Service Wedding.  From creating your bouquets, to setting up the flowers at the reception we will take care of it all.  For brides with hectic schedules this may just be the way to go.  We will handle all of the details and you can enjoy every second of your big day.  You can preview some of our work here.

Choice Two ~ The Budget Friendly Bride.  Want to have beautiful flowers for your wedding but you are working on a limited budget?  This is the option for you.  We have packages that include, Roses, Gerbera Daisies, and even Fresh Seasonal Flowers.  You choose the color we do the rest.  You can see some of our packages here.

Choice Three ~ DIY Bride.  You want to create the wedding of your dreams all by yourself.  We are here for all of your floral needs.  The Secret Garden offers bulk pricing on all of our flowers, and discount prices on all floral supplies.  If you would like to learn more about our DIY option click here.

Choice Four ~ DIY Hybrid.  Sometimes our brides want to make the reception pieces but like for us to handle the bouquets and boutonnieres.  We are more then happy to assist with your wedding anyway you need.  You can even purchase your DIY flowers at bulk, and have us take care of the rest. 

Whatever you choose we hope that you will allow us to be part of your big day.  If you would like to schedule your consultation simply fill out this form and we can get started.

Wired Wonder

One of the big upcoming trends in wedding work is wire.  We have seen it all of the design shows and it is running rampant along the costs.  It's just a matter of time until it makes its way to our town.  We have seen designs like the one shown here and we just had to try it.  For a bridal show in August we featured this bouquet and the response was huge.  Out of all of the bouquets we brought this one had the most oohs and aahs.  


We sure can't wait until one of our brides falls in love with this as much as we did!

Purple calla lilies are one of the hottest things this season.  This bouquet also holds alstroemeria tucked inside, its deep purple color blends perfectly with the alstroemeria.  Blue thistle is also worked in to add more texture.  The tree fern that surrounds it really adds flare.  The wispy feel of it works amazing with the wire.  The wire is in a lime green.  It is twisted into spirals that pop out of the deep purple calla lilies.  Notice how the bouquet is wrapped in deep purple with a green wire twisted down the stems.  This really accents the green wire and brings the deep purple down away from the bouquet. This bouquet could be created in an array of colors and flowers.  Calla lilies are available in so many shades, and we could even create this bouquet with roses or carnations!

Welcome

Welcome to our new Wedding Blog!  After the busy summer we have had with weddings and events we have decided to tell you all about it.  We will show off some of our work, show you upcoming trends, and give you some great tips.  We can't wait to start sharing with you.  If you have anything you would like to see here please leave it in the comment box and we will see what we can come up with.  Enjoy!