Calling All Floral Designers: Reality Check Wednesday

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Here’s a question wedding pros, how do you really feel about Pinterest?

Brides, I ask you the same question.

Here is my take and a plan to do something about it.

Pinterest is jam packed with the most gorgeous images. Brides scroll for hours sparking their imagination and fueling their wedding dreams.

BUT…

and this is a really big but. They have no idea of what some of this magnificent splendor costs.

Every week I see the look of shock and horror on the faces of the brides I consult with when they hear the price on the stunning bouquet that they just have to have or the floral chandelier or sky high centerpieces. It really isn’t their fault. The one thing you can’t find on Pinterest is pricing.

Here is my plan, I want to create a group of event florists from around the country, or the world for that matter to review one Pinterest image every week and price it out. Now I know no one wants to be quoted or held to a price, so we can do all this in private and I’ll just list your quotes by locations. Wouldn’t it be interesting to see what the same design would go for in New York vs California vs Oklahoma. How about urban center vs rural America.

Don’t you think this would make life easier for us floral designers if our clients were armed with a little reality before they set their heart on lining the entire staircase with floral garland?

Who’s in? No commitment to participate every week and I promise to not reveal your identity. You can also feel free to comment on the item.

I think it will be a fun and informative project. If you want to participate you can email me directly at Christine@thinklikeabride.com

To get this ball rolling

Filed Under: Real American Wedding, Reality Check Wednesday, Wedding planning advice Tagged With: , , , , ,

Indian Influenced Weddings

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One of the best parts of designing websites for wedding professionals is all the gorgoeus images I get to see. Lately I have found myself immersed in the culture of South Asain Weddings.

One of my photographers has one on her front page, a planner friend just completed a huge one this fall, a floral designer friend and client has one coming up in the spring. Plus I just finished a site for the grand master of the style, Anais Events.

While a full on Asian wedding may not be in the cards for everyone, they are certainly a place to find some fabulous touches to inspire your own wedding.

Please enjoy these bright,bold bursts of color in the cold, gray month of January. All images courtesy of the lovely and talented Amrit Dhillion-Bains,  Anais Event Design.

Filed Under: Finding Inspiration, Flower Friday, Real American Wedding, wedding cakes, Wedding decor Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Fun Feathers for Your Wedding

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You know I love ‘different’. Why do the same old thing when there are so many wonderful ways to make your wedding as unique as you are?  Feathers are one fun way to do that.

You can put them in your bouquet.

Wedding Bouquets with Feathers{source}

Brown Blue & Bronze Bouquet{source}

I loved these because the are full of color but it is softer and more subdued than the colors we have been seeing over the last few years.

Not into subtle? How about red with a pop?Blue feathers with red roses wedding bouquet{source}

From your head…

Feather fascinator with red flowers and feathers{source}

…down to your toes!

abby miller shoes in red with feathers and flowers{source}

By all means, we can not forget the boys, don’t they deserve a little fun too?Masculine Boutonieer with Feathers and Eucalyptus{source}

peacock-bout{source}

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Pomander Bridal Bouquets with a Twist

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I love pomander bouquets, but face it, some of them can be pretty boring. Well I found a bunch that have a twist.

Enjoy!

Great as a centerpiece for a fall wedding

Great as a centerpiece for a fall wedding

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Perfect for a casual wedding in the woods

Perfect for a casual wedding in the woods

{source}

Modern bouquet with a touch of Whimsy

Modern bouquet with a touch of Whimsy

{source}

Beaded accents add a light, airy feel

Beaded accents add a light, airy feel

{source}

So much prettier than the standard carnation balls

So much prettier than the standard carnation balls

{source}

Tassels make all the difference here

Tassels make all the difference here

{source}

This one would be an easy DIY

This one would be an easy DIY

{source}

I love the hanging orchids on the ribbons

I love the hanging orchids on the ribbons

{source}

How's this for fun?

How's this for fun?

{source}

Filed Under: DIY Weddings, Flower Friday, Wedding decor Tagged With: , , ,

Why Can’t I Get Lobster for the Price of Cheeseburgers?

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I mean they take up the same amount of space on the plate??

That is just about as ridiculous of a statement as the one I heard today from a wedding planner. She was talking to a good friend of the Dish about how expensive her bride’s bouquet was going to be.
Yes, this bouquet was a bit pricier than most, BUT, that had to do entirely with the flowers the bride insisted on using.Purple Lady Slipper Orchid
Two of the most expensive flowers you can use are Lady Slipper Orchids and mini Calla Lilies. The bride wanted both, with the callas in two different colors. Two different colors means two entire bunches no matter how few you are actually using in the bouquet. ~sigh~

As wedding professionals, we are running a business. Our intention above and beyond making our clients outrageously happy  and their day all they have dreamed of is to make a profit while doing so. That is why we are in business. If we don’t do that, we won’t have the opportunity to make clients happy for long.
As a bride, there is nothing, and I do mean nothing; no product or service, that you cannot have. With one little caveat: you have to pay for it.


Do you want your florist to store, transport and arrange the hundreds of votive candles you bought online instead of from them? No problem, Purple Mini Calla Liliesas long as you compensate them for their time.

Do you want the calligrapher you hired to address the invitations you bought online to also fold them and stuff the envelopes? Same thing, expect to compensate them.

Do you want your caterer to cork and pour the cases of Two Buck Chuck you picked up at Trader Joes? Same thing.

Have to have coral peonies for your arrangements? Great but they won’t be in season for 3 weeks. How does $6 a stem grab you?

My point is two fold. First and foremost, work with your wedding vendors to find compromises that work with both your budget and desired outcome. For instance, with today’s bride’s bouquet she switched to a different orchid, one color of callas and replaced the other with cream roses. Your professionals know how to make things happen.

The second point is that if you are not willing to compromise, be willing to pay for the privilege.

Filed Under: Flower Friday, Wedding planning advice Tagged With: , , ,

Flower Friday: All White Wedding Bouquets

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With all the beautiful color palettes being used for wedding right now, there is still something ethereal about a bride entirely in white that makes her stand out in the rainbow.
Here is some inspiration for you. I love how many of these have incorporated feathers to soften the look. Enjoyall white wedding bouquets

What color flowers are you carrying and why? Inquiring minds want to know.

Clockwise from top left;

source unknown
feathers and pearls
White roses with Rhinestone broach
Sweat peas
Marabou and Gardenias
Teal stem wrap
Callas, feathers and crystals

Filed Under: Finding Inspiration, Flower Friday Tagged With: ,

Negotiating With Wedding Vendors

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You can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar.


I work with some of the best wedding professionals in the world and most are more than willing to bend over backwards to ensure your day is all you dreamed. However, there comes time when even they lose patience. By holding strictly to the letter of the contract, a wedding professional can step back and let you suffer the consequences.

Such was the case recently. This bride was doing anything and everything to cut cost, understandably. The problem was the way she was going about it. Rather than working with her vendors to find alternatives and solutions, she brow beat and demanded. At one point she actually said, “I know I have pissed off every one of my vendors.” By the end of the day, even her sister wasn’t speaking to her.

Take for instance the florist. She had been so nickel and dimed, browbeat and berated by this bride that there was no way she would do anything extra for this woman. When the bride realized that she had neglected to have the friend that was making the bouquet put together anything for the mothers the bride told her sister to go get any leftover flowers and make something. Now anytime a florist is doing anything on site there are always extra flowers hanging around. Guess what? Awww all the left over roses had been beheaded and put on the cake table. Sorry. But the cake table looked great.

Florists charge for candles and for rentals. This bride didn’t want to pay for either so she borrowed candelabrum from a friend and bought her own candles. The bad news is that the first time the florist got to see the candelabrum was on site at the event. Great. The flowers barely fit and the candles not at all. If we had used the candles provided the whole thing would have gone up in flames. Did we or the hotel have taller candles or another option available? Of course we did. Did we tell her? Nope. The hotel (which had been pushed around enough that the head of sales came into handle the event personally) simple said Sorry, no open flames. Do without.


There were just a million and one little things that went on like this throughout the entire day. No one did anything wrong or unethical; all they did was hold the bride to the letter of the contract.  I don’t know how to convince you that you will get more flies with honey than with vinegar.


Thanks to Foxy Wedding for the heads up on this video.

Filed Under: Real American Wedding, Wedding planning advice Tagged With: , , , ,

Shabby Chic: Getting the Look for Your Wedding

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I am seeing a resurgence of the shabby chic look for weddings and also a heck of a lot of stuff just being called shabby chic. If you really want that look for your wedding, you first have to understand what is and is not shabby chic.

To me, shabby chic is the look of a vintage English country manor.  A setting full of beautiful stately bits that have been collected over generations and washed by time and use to a lovely softness. There is a randomness that can’t be endlessly repeated on each table.
Unlike the sharp crisp lines we have been seeing in the contemporary looks, shabby chic has a soft, cozy wiltedness to it. There aren’t any sharp color contrasts, just lovely pastel blendings. The silver is old odds and ends with tarnish still lodged deep in the crevices. All the pieces are high quality but worn.

Shabby chic isn’t about a collection of brand new mason jars with daisies shoved in them. That’s country and a design style in its own right, but not shabby chic. Rather, think along the lines of random teapots, sugar bowls , water glasses and flea market vases to hold garden variety flowers for your centerpieces. For flowers think peonies, garden roses, ranunculus and Queen Anne’s lace with wisps of ivy trailing out. Think randomly.

Take a look at some of the images I gathered. See if you can see the thread I am trying to explain.

Here all the chandeliers are different, so are the containers for the flowers

These lovely vintage perfume bottles hold simple garden flowers, the blue plate behind them is a very soft shade of robins egg.

This bouquet is loose, casual and airy. Again the colors are muted.

Bridal Bouquet with pink and white peonies and garden roses

This sign is weathered and old looking but the the font is wonderfully ornate. It looks as if it could have hung outside a paris shop 100 years ago.

Filed Under: DIY Weddings, Finding Inspiration, Wedding decor Tagged With: , , ,
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