the time I was a wedding florist

On Saturday, Matt's beautiful cousin Alaina got married. The good news is that her now-husband is Australian! And they live in Australia! The bad news is that the wedding was not in Australia. It was in Charlotte, NC...which is a nice place, but not quite as exciting as Australia. Then again, it's safe to say that if the wedding HAD been in Australia, we wouldn't have been able to make it, so maybe it's just as well. At least I got to talk to real live Australian people and work on my Aussie accent and phrases. I feel like that was a personal win.

This was a DIY, all-hands-on-deck wedding. And I believe I mentioned yesterday what my hands got called on to do-- the flowers. That's right. I've officially moved up in the world of plants...from mere gardener to wedding florist. Back up, yall. Now I'm big time.

Luckily I wasn't on my own for this big career move. My trusty SIL Jess was my partner in crime and mostly the mastermind behind the actual designing of the bouquets and arrangements. I was more the 'muscle,' if you will. I spent hours upon hours trimming leaves off of flowers, which is really a very sadistic way to spend your time when you love flowers like I do. You feel like you're just killing them all and ripping their bodies apart. It's sad. BUT the end results are lovely, so you get over it. 

Alaina's floral desires were that they be BRIGHT and COLORFUL. And that's about it. We were on our own from there. So with about six hours and a slim budget...aren't you excited to see what we came up with? YOU SHOULD BE!

First of all, meet your florists:

 We cook, we shop, we decorate, we are far too entertained by our pets...and now, we arrange flowers. Oh, and according to one young cousin, we "take longer than the bridesmaids to put on our makeup." We're a formidable threat to the rest of womankind, that's for sure.

So here's what we started with: some bulk-ordered roses (from Sams, I believe!). We then made journeys to several local Harris Teeters (grocery store) to purchase all of the filler and accent flowers we'd need. Another quick trip to Michael's for floral tape, wire, and pins, and we were ready to design!

Amy was our flower pack mule. Or a beauty queen- you pick!

And here's the part where I'd love to have tons of pictures of us working, with the bouquets and arrangements in progress, but...uh, we had like SIX HOURS to arrange a CRAP TON OF STUFF. Ain't nobody got time for pictures. We didn't even sit down. Or PEE. So we definitely did not take pictures.

Instead, feast your eyes on our finished products!

Ooooooh!!! Aaaaaaaahhhhh!! I know. Please. You can stop now. No, we are not for hire for your next big event. You could not possibly afford us, anyway. Let's see. The top left arrangement I actually did on my own at the end with some leftover flowers. Top right is the bride's bouquet. Bottom left is the bride's bouquet (to the left of photo) and all the bridesmaids' bouquets. Then there's the cake topper (all Jess) and lots of little arrangements in blue teacups- I did all those! There were about 30 of them and they were on all of the dinner table arrangements (see below).

Alaina was (is!) gorgeous and she liked the flowers, so I guess we can chalk it up as a win! An exhausting win. I don't think I'll be making a career of floral arranging, though. For one, I really hated pulling all those leaves off. It was too sad. Secondly, I like doing things like LOUNGING and CHILLING on my Saturdays. Not being stressed out all day. So it's a good thing I made a different career path for myself. BUT it was still a fun experience and maybe I'll keep my skills sharp by making an occasional bouquet or arrangement for my own house. Or like, a friend. Or someone in the hospital. Or the front desk at work! So many places could be spiffed up by some flowers, when you think about it.

And just for funsies, a (terrible) shot of Matt and his brother Steve (Jess's husband) after the wedding. They were groomsmen and totally twinsies! They can't wait to wear their skinny pants again!

And thus concludes my wedding florist career. One and done. Amen and amen.