Flowers!

So, I just realized, I never told this bloggy-blog about my meeting with the florist, and how ah-mazing it went! Guess what this post is going to be about?

We are using Belak Flowers, in Wilmington, DE. Located on Philadelphia Pike, Barb (the owner) is a member at our church. I have seen her work before, and I can't gush enough over it. Fabulous, that's what it is. One of the girls on the Knot, Steph, used her as well, and absolutely loved her.

So we went and met with her- and of course, per the usual Brittany, I had no idea what I wanted. Does this surprise anyone? We sat with her for 3 hours. 3 hours of flowers, trying to figure out what I wanted, what looked the best, etc etc. And Barb was amazing, so accommodating, and helped steer me towards what I wanted.

During the appointment, we kept going through books of bouquets, trying to figure out a starting point. I knew I did not want Calla Lilies (soooooo overdone at weddings), and I didn't really want blue flowers- while I have a blue dress (or at least a blue train), blue flowers are so few, which would have left us with only a few choices. And really, I am not a fan of hydrangeas.

I told Barb I definitely wanted Stephanotis- it's one of my favorite flowers, if not the most favorite. We decided early on to use the stephanotis, but reserve it only for Brian and I. I wanted something to designate our status, and what is better than my favorite flower? In one of the books she has, she had this gorgeous bouquet that I kept going back to. Made up of Freesia, Gardenia, and Green Lisianthus, with other white filler flowers, it was so different, so unique, yet so gorgeous and simple. She noticed, and asked me about it. She assured me that it would look fine against my dress, even with the green. I had also seen a bouquet with my other favorite flower- Stargazer Lilies. I started thinking out loud.

We ended up replacing the gardenia with stargazer lilies, the freesia (which is a branch flower) with green berries, and adding white daisies with green center. We kept the green lisianthus. So, my bouquet is Stargazer lilies, white daisies, green lisianthus, stephanotis with blue head pins, white filler, and baby's breath, my third favorite flower. I will have a white wrap, with blue crisscrossing ribbons.

I am in love with it. I never thought I would be so happy about flowers, but I really think these are going to turn out wonderful- and when you add in the fact that pink is my favorite color and green is Brian's favorite color, well, that just makes it even more perfect. Brian's boutonniere will be several stephanotis flowers, with blue heads and a blue wrap.

We based everyone else's flowers on mine. The girls will carry smaller bouquets of stargazer lilies, white gerbera daisies (my final favorite flower- love how whimsical they are!), white filler, and we also added blue delphinium (the only blue flower I sort of liked). They will have blue wraps with white crisscrossing ribbons. The groomsmen will wear a daisy/blue delphinium bout, and the Best Maid will wear a corsage of the bridesmaids flowers. my parents are based around my flowers, and Brian's parents have white spray roses added to differentiate. We also did corsages for the grandmothers, bouts for the grandfathers, a bout for my nephew and corsages for my nieces (simple daisies), and a corsage for my stepmom. We plan on getting a fake stephanotis pomander ball for my niece, so she can keep it (the church doesn't let rose petals anyway).

The best part is for Devin, our ringbearer. He is autistic- I worked in his home therapy program with him for a year. Brian and I are extremely close to his family; Shannon (his mom) and I are really good friends- and she is such an advocate for her children, implementing a total home therapy program for him all on her own. His dad, FahPow, works for duPont. He has a little sister, Sheenie, who is a doll. And then there's Dev- this adorable little 6 year old who will totally win your heart over with his giant smile, close hugs, and blowing kisses. He isn't verbal, but he communicates in other ways- typing, spelling, word walls, signing, etc. And let me tell you, from the moment I met him, from the moment Brian met him, he has just weaseled his way into our hearts and has stayed there. Even though I don't work in his home therapy program anymore because of my RSD/CRPS, we have still remained very close with them, attending birthday parties and Autism walks. We feel so, so blessed to have them in our lives; Devin and Shannon have taught me so much about joy and about living, and I thank them for those invaluable lessons.

When we told Barb about Devin, we were worried about two things- one, the pin for the bout. She said no worries, they have super strong magnets they can use that he won't be able to rip off. The second worry was about real flowers- we didn't want him potentially putting something pretty but poisonous items in his mouth. Again, not an issue. Barb brought in two different stems of Blue Delphinium, and I was like, okay those are pretty. She proceeded to point out which one was fake and which one wasn't- you couldn't even tell the difference! So Dev will get fake blue delphinium with a magnet, and all is well with him!

Right now, they are not doing our centerpieces, since our centerpieces are included with our package at the hall. Hopefully though, fingers crossed, Barb can work her magic and get on the preferred vendors list for the hall, and then we can go through her. Either way, I plan on doing Gerbera daisies in bright colors for the tables, because I really like bright colors.

Overall, the pricing was amazing, and we were so pleased with Barb and Belak's. They do such an awesome job- Brian and I just went to a wedding where she did them, and they were breathtaking. I never thought I would be excited about flowers (I hate, hate, hate anything nature or gardening, except for veggie gardens), but now that I know what I am getting, and how different it will be from usual wedding flowers, I cannot WAIT!!