From the start, we’ve been up front about one thing: Katharine’s not a big flower fan.  But will her wedding day feature flowers?  Yes, in fact it will.  Read on for the story behind her transformation from flower foe to flower fan!

From Katharine: The cat’s out of the bag: I’m not a flower child, and haven’t spent hours dreaming (or agonizing, as the case may be) about my wedding flowers.  (There’s probably some sort of rehab or intense treatment for wedding editors like me, right?)

But don’t get me wrong: while I’m not a flower expert like my fellow editors, I did have a very clear picture of what kinds of flowers I wanted – and didn’t want – at my wedding.  I’m a traditional bride, and traditional brides carry roses.  Right?  RIGHT.  In true anti-bride fashion, I wasn’t going to carry just any rose, though: my roses would be white, and simple.  No reds, no pinks, no full garden roses… you get the gist.  White Akito roses, with a few spray roses thrown in if I was feeling extra crazy before the wedding.

What about my bridesmaids, you ask?  Yes, you guessed it: my nine lovely attendants (of which Emily is one!) also would carry white roses.  Fun times!  In my defense and in addition to my being a traditionalist who sees white roses as the emblematic wedding flower, I genuinely was – and still am – convinced that an all-white palette would be striking against my maids’ black gowns.  (I’m also marrying the sweetest color-blind boy you’ve ever met, so a black + white wedding is perfect, right?)

From Emily: As Katharine says, she basically started out with flower tunnel vision: white roses, white roses, and (just a few more) white roses.  My first timid suggestion was that she might consider a mix of traditional roses, garden roses, and blown-out spray roses — all in white, of course.  She said she would think about it.  For months, though, it was all roses all the time, and I decided this wasn’t an avenue worth pursuing.  Then one day last week, completely out of the blue, she sent me an email with the title “WEDDING FLOWER SHOCKER.”

From Katharine: I’m honestly not sure who was more shocked – me, the self-described anti-bride who forever and ever and always has insisted she would have an all-rose wedding, or Emily, my trusty right-hand maid who has endured my black + white obsession – but one day I decided there would be other flowers at my wedding.  Other flowers, as in not roses.  Other flowers, like tulips, and sweet peas, and hydrangeas, and baby’s breath and peonies!  Not.  Roses.

Before y’all go all wedding crazy on me, I want to reassure you that I, in fact, still will be carrying a traditional all-white bouquet filled with traditional Akito roses, spray roses and maybe, just maybe, a few garden roses for good measure.  I’m, well, traditional like that.  (My co-maids of honor, little sis Bissy and college friend Molly, will be carrying smaller versions of my bouquet.)  But as for the other seven ladies, well, they’ll each be carrying something different!  And not a single stem will be a rose.

Image credits, clockwise from top left: unknown, Amelia Lyon, personal photo, unknown, Altmix Photography, personal photo, unknown

After seeing a few beyond-gorgeous shots of mix-and-match bouquets (below), I knew that Emily had almost let me make a very, very grave mistake.  To help break up the sea of black that will be my bridesmaids’ dresses, I’m going to pick individual blooms that remind me of each girl.  (I’m saving my flower choices for the big day, but any guesses as to what I’ll be assigning Em?)

The catch: while I was willing to loosen my beyond-strict flower strictures, I wasn’t willing to budge on color.  The bouquets still will be all-white (with very little greenery), but the seven unique blooms should add that subtle flair Emily’s been pushing me to consider for the past year.

Image credits, left to right: Karlin Connell, Trista Lerit via Southern Weddings (bouquets by The Treasured Petal)

Below are a few of the blooms I’m considering for my ladies:  sweet peas, peonies, hydrangeas, tulips, ranunculus, garden roses, snapdragons and baby’s breath.  What do you think?

Image credits: top row: J. Malahy Photography, second row: photos by Trista Lerit via Southern Weddings (bouquets by The Treasured Petal), third row, left to right: unknown, Leigh Miller via Southern Weddings, and The Knot

From Emily: Bouquets?  Check.  Moving on. Since Harvard’s chapel is historic and has pretty stringent guidelines about what can and can’t be used to decorate, the only ceremony decor will be two large clouds of baby’s breath flanking the altar.  Easy peesy.  Why baby’s breath?  All the convincing Katharine needed was Emily + Nathan’s wedding from Leigh Miller, featured on SW back in September.  Gorgeous, right?

Speaking of baby’s breath, it’s managed to make its way into the reception, as well!  And this, ladies and gentlemen, was a feat.  Katharine’s original plan was to set out elegant, multi-armed candelabra on long tables.  And that was it.  Lovely, simple, done?  Not quite.  Though she was not interested in suggestions of interspersed flower arrangements (even white roses!), single stems of blooms, or clustered smaller votives, she bit when I mused it might be lovely to weave garlands of baby’s breath down the center of the table, in between the candelabra.  Lovely, simple, done!

Image credits, clockwise from top left: Marie Labbancz Photography, OC’s Finest Weddings, Weddingbee, I Do Declare, Nightingales, The Knot, Allegro Photography

From Katharine: With flowers settled, there really was only one question left to ponder: who would supply + style the blooms for my big day?  Truth be told, I was more excited about this part than the actual flower planning process, because I knew exactly who I wanted to handle all my flower needs.

Remember our little trip to WaterColor last August?  Did you happen to see the stunning + sophisticated blooms in that spread?  Well I sure did, and I also remembered that the online-based Fifty Flowers was responsible for the SW floral gorgeousness.  I’d heard of DIY brides who ordered their weddings flowers online and designed their own bouquets and arrangements, but wasn’t sure I qualified as a DIY gal.  (I’m not, as Emily would tactfully affirm, the most crafty or creative gal in town!)  But after working directly with owner Liza Atwood and her right-hand lady, publicist Lisa Waddington, to coordinate the flowers for our epic SW photo shoot, I was hooked on the idea of ordering flowers online and designing the arrangements from scratch.  (Fifty Flower’s seemingly endless selection of blooms, and very reasonable prices, didn’t hurt either!  A few SW readers even named FF their Best Wedding Fab Find in a recent SW contest.)

A quick email to Lisa, and we were well on our way to planning the perfect all-white palette for our September wedding.  The only problem?  With Fifty Flowers providing the stunning stems, who would be responsible for styling the blooms?  (Hint: it sure isn’t going to be me!  You can breathe a sigh of relief.)

Our Editor-in-Chief, Lara, is my floral designer!

From Lara: Yep, you are reading this right.  I am doing Katharine’s wedding flowers. I am a professional. I used to design for this guy.  I did flowers for my own company.  I know what I am doing.  Why am I drilling this point home?  1. I love Fifty Flowers.  Their blooms are impeccable. Our Watercolor shoot was a dream.  2. I personally do not, however, like the idea of brides doing their own flowers for large weddings.  Ladies, do not … I repeat … DO NOT attempt to do your own wedding flowers on your own wedding day unless you are really, really prepared!  Trust me, on the morning of your wedding you’ll want to relax, not think about pruning rose thorns so your maids don’t get stabbed.  Maybe have a friend do them.  Maybe.  I always advocate hiring professionals for any service, and your wedding flowers are one area you shouldn’t take chances with.  Phew! OK, now that I have my disclaimer out of the way….

My hotel room will be set at a brisk 55 degrees farenheight all weekend.  I will be solely responsible for the cooling bill at said hotel that month.  I’m okay with that.  Katharine is worth bringing a parka or two in my suitcase!

Katharine’s taste is classic, which means all the best blooms are in order.  Her new love for baby’s breath, thanks to Emily, makes my little floral heart go pitter patter.  We make a great team, no?  One hates, one coerces, one creates!  I’m genuinely honored to be doing this for Katharine and Kyle.  What they’ve chosen is simple, yet purposeful and timeless.  They’ll look back on their pictures in 20 years and still love these blooms.

To help ensure success and minimize stress, I’ve recruited a floral assistant who I’ve used before.  Luckily, I am married to aforementioned assistant, so he enjoys our time together. He would not want me to mention to you that he knows the names of most flowers and more wedding terminology than most females.  Oops.

What I’m most excited about with Katharine’s flowers are the personals.  The bridal bouquet is always my favorite piece to craft.  I love the idea of black ribbon and intricate wrapping around simple monochromatic blooms.  Now if I can just keep myself from balling when I hand her that bouquet in her gorgeous gown.  I will be a mess.  Luckily, flowers happen to like extra water.

Up next? Cake!  Yum.

Weigh in: What sort of flowers are you having at your wedding?  Or do you not like flowers, either?  (Katharine wants to start a support group.)

Previously:

Intros + Inspiration Boards

The Bridesmaid Dress

The Photographer

The Wedding Website

SW Goes to Kleinfeld

The Paper

Fifty Flowers is not an SW advertiser and no free services are being received. Katharine’s planning posts are written to share her experiences and personal recommendations, not as advertisement for vendors.  We don’t even tell the vendor that the post is being written.  We just love em : )  Lara is, however, working for free.  Or maybe just for Luna Bars.

There’s a lot of awesomeness going on at Lauren + Dylan’s reception at the Amelia Island Plantation, so let’s try and pace ourselves, ‘mm-kay?  If you can get passed the sea of bright blooms from Artistic Florist – a feat, I know – you may notice the incredibly realistic tree trunk cake from Edgewood Bakery.  Yes, the couple did carve their name in the cake… naturally!  Want more?  Visit Brooke Images’ blog post here.  

Describe your wedding flowers: A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. Random, colorful, unpredictable flowers everywhere! Every single detail was exactly what I wanted. It was like the florist read my mind. And all the 180 vases we collected were worth the effort!
Describe your wedding cake: Not traditional at all. We didn’t even want a cake until we saw the tree stump cake in the window at Edgewood Bakery. We got 3 tree stump cakes. One stump was “Dylan’s cake” and it was chocolate with red raspberry filling. The other was “Lauren’s cake” and it was red velvet with cream cheese filling. The last stump was a traditional white wedding pound cake. They were delicious and fit into the theme perfectly.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome while planning your wedding?  The biggest challenge was finding time to plan the wedding. I was working full-time and in school full-time. Trying to plan a wedding on top of that was hard. Thank goodness Dylan and our families were a huge help!
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? Calling my grandma who was not able to make it to the wedding. It was a very special moment. I will never forget our conversation or that moment I was standing outside watching the sunset and talking to her. I also loved the ceremony. It was created by one of my dad’s best friends from childhood. It incorporated elements from several different cultures and religions. It was very special. 

Let’s talk awesome, one-of-a-kind wedding dresses.  Lauren knew the formula for finding the dress of her dreams for her Amelia Island Plantation wedding: a drop-waist, strapless gown with lots (lots!) of tulle, polka dots and a big flower.  To give her the gown of her dreams, the bride’s family and friends (including the groom’s mother!) chipped in to design and create Lauren’s wedding dress.  (We love it as much as she does!)  Ashley + Greg Granstad of Brooke Images photographed Lauren + Dylan’s outdoor ceremony planned by Katherine Bean of Amelia Island.  (Our favorite shot, hands down, is the one  of the newlyweds on the vintage yellow bicycle!)  Brooke Raulerson of Artistic Florist designed the rainbow-bright bouquets carried by the bride + her Express-clad maids.    

How did the two of you meet?  Tell us your story. We were set up by mutual friends (one of them also set up my brother and his wife too!).
Three adjectives that describe the day are: Happy, unique, colorful
Our favorite detail of the wedding was:  How the colorful decorations played off the natural setting of Walker’s Landing.
What Southern details or traditions did you include in your celebration? What was Southern about your wedding? We wanted our cake to reflect the gorgeous natural setting of our wedding site, which is full of huge old oak trees. We both grew up Gainesville, Fl so we naturally spent a lot of time outside. We love the natural beauty you find all over this state! We had no idea at the time, but we both spent many summers vacationing with family at Amelia Island. We both agreed that Walkers Landing, Amelia Island was the perfect location for us. The setting is amazing and it is all natural Florida beauty –big trees, moss, water, sunsets, sunrises, etc. 
Tell us about finding your wedding dress: To the last stitch p-e-r-f-e-c-t. It was handmade for me by very special people! I wanted a drop waist, strapless, lots of tulle, polka-dots, a big flower, and most importantly, I wanted pieces of my mom’s and grandma’s wedding dresses in it. My requests were all met and more. I was so set on having a short dress, but when I saw my wedding dress before they cut it, I said, “NOOO! Don’t cut it!”

Loved Tara’s shoot earlier today?  We’ve got the behind-the-scenes scoop for you.  Ryan Sutton of Ryan’s Productions sent over his 8mm footage, and it is lovely.  Take a gander:

Thanks so much for sharing, Ryan and Tara!

I’m sore from sitting at my computer. I’ve been sitting here for upwards of three hours going through each and every Fab Find that our readers suggested. I’m glued to my seat. Every single suggestion has been awesome.

Suggestions have rolled in from dozens of readers and the finds have all been fabulous. Readers submitted their own Fab Finds for a chance to win 12″ x 24″ custom piece from Modern Bird Studio. I’ve been trolling websites for edible icing decals and custom made wedding dress hangers (brilliant!) for hours now. I might be a little sore, but it’s also been pretty magical discovering all of these finds.

Oh, and we will definitely be referring back to your suggestions as we work on the next issue of Southern Weddings Magazine. Who knows? You might see your Fab Find in print!

Congratulations to our randomly selected winner, Kelaine! As you all know, the Southern Weddings gals jump at the chance to use any kind of photobooth. We loved the props the Kelaine suggested:

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July 7, 2010 | Kelaine

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A monocle on a stick? Yes, please! Enjoy your new custom piece of multimedia art from Modern Bird Studio!

Tune in tomorrow to vote for your favorite entry in the Maile Lani photography giveaway. You still have a few hours left to enter!