If I had a Million Dollars...

I would drape the reception area and probably the ceremony area too--in Orchids, my favorite flower. They would hang from the ceiling in somewhat of a similar pattern to this (in my colors of course):

And I would have beautiful orchid bouquets for the girls that would look like this:



Oh yeah, the reception might look like this:

So.................you might think I'm crazy but I have a confession to make..........

I'm not a flower person.

I'm do not know the names of many flowers and I do not want huge flower displays at my wedding, unless they are orchids, which I would happily display all over the place at my wedding. Which leads me to wondering if I can't afford Orchids, then what in the heck am I gonna get?

I met with our Florist, Central Market Florist at Price Chopper in Glens Falls, over the weekend to go over the flowers I would be needing for the wedding.

After dreaming of Orchids everything, I came back to reality because as much as I wanted orchids, I don't live where they are affordable and we are not getting married where they are affordable. *sigh*

So instead of orchids, we discussed a more realistic option for bouquets for my girls. Hand tied bouquets consisting of roses and lillies, lillies being the other flower that I really like and probably one of the only flowers I know the name of. And everyone uses roses, so why not mix the two together.

I think it'll be very pretty. I'm imaging it looking similar to this:

We discussed my bouquet which is going to be very similar to the girls, but bigger and in different colors and with stephanopolis(sp?) added in.

We also discussed the Boutineers for the men and corsages for the mothers/grandparents. Not being a flower novice, I left there feeling like maybe I made all the wrong decisions.

And then we discusssed the price. Which to be honest, was a lot more than I was expecting it to be!

We kind of discussed centerpieces, but I didn't leave with a feeling that the centerpieces they would make would be exactly what I envisioned. I found this centerpiece which I have been drooling over and couldn't imagine it costing a lot to recreate. It is located here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/glassslippergourmet/2272433272/

Price chopper didn't have the right kind of vases for these centerpieces and were going to charge me $10/per vase to rent a vase I wasn't in love with that I could prob buy for the same price using a 40% off coupon at AC Moore. Currently I'm looking for flared vases like the ones pictured. AND on top of that she pretty much told me they (a) might not be able to get the pink orchid I want, (b) could have a problem submerging it and (c) I would have to get my own pebbles/sand/pink stuff for the bottom of the centerpiece. Oh and they would charge me about $400 to put together (stems included) if I provided the vases I wanted....

Ummmmmmmmm-wait, what? You can't gaurentee the flower I want? AND on top of that, I would have to buy vases for them to use since they didn't have what I wanted, and possibly find a way for them to submerge the flower also. You've got to be kidding me?! Shouldn't a florist be able to guarentee you a specific color or that they could at least DO what you want?

I'm not gonna lie, I left there with a sinking feeling in my gut. Something wasn't right.

I'm having slight anxiety over the flowers. Over flowers! I can't help thinking I'm making the wrong choice.. as in florist wise. Everyone has said Price Chopper is a lot cheaper, but is it really? I put down a deposit, but it wasn't much so I don't think i'll mind if I chose to go with someone else and lose it.... and now I think I wanna look around a little more for a better deal. With the economy the way it is... you would think someone would want to give me a little bang for my buck.

How did you decide on flowers for your ceremony/reception? Did leave feeling confident in your decisions or did you second guess yourself?