Flowers - Don't be lazy

There was an article in the Daily Mail today to say that Marks and Spencer will be doing wedding bouquets and others for a saving of £200. My flowers didn't cost £200 in total. I went to a local supplier who was recommended to me by the company I booked my wedding car with.

Simply Flower were wonderful. Maria did a fantastic job, she took my initial ideas, looked at my scrap book and ran with it. I knew I wanted gerberas and for them to be surrounded by large leaves. Maria suggested bright colours because of the colour of my bridesmaid dresses vibrant blue) and that it would be a joy to work with colour for a change ivory does look classic but it is a bit dull to work with over and over again. She sat silent for a few minutes worked out in her mind what she would like to do based on my brief. SHe came back to life and showed me a sketch. I was blown away by her imagination and creativity and added some touches I didnt know was possible. Then we moved on to the button holes for the men. These were on the same theme as my bouquet so these were very simple. Then we came to the mothers coursages. My mum wanted something different entirely. Maria was able to fine something perfect as well as advised on how to fit it to her jacket without pins.

Maria arrived exactly when she said she would on the day. She gave my mum some instructions on how to deal with the flowers and left us in peace to work on the table arrangements at the hotel. I came downstairs in full dress and got my first glimps of the beautiful flowers. I was astonished, they were more beautiful than I thought they would be and smelled wonderful. They were a statement.

When we got to the hotel I looked around the room and she had done a lovely job in setting the table decorations. Again they were exactly as I had pictured. When we had the bridesmaids dresses taken up I gave the leftovers to Maria and she used them to mind the flowers together, keeping everything all together. Maria even went the extra mile and set out our wedding favours on the tables. She didn't have to do this, she said it was all part of the service.

Maria was initially a one woman business but now she has a contract for at least 3 local hotels and does many large table displays as well as many weddings through out the year.

I doubt Marks and Spencer will offer a personal service like that. You will get the same flowers anyone else will get like their cakes, yes they are cheaper than some cake shops, but do some research and look for local people. Keep the local businesses alive. You might find they are cheaper and can offer so much more of a service.

Getting Started

Lists are your friend!

I found it helpful to write down a list of things that were essential, important, would like and definitely don't want. These will help you make up your mind and will assist in focusing your mind when making important decisions. The wedding business is full of so many options on what to do, what to wear, how to look, the suppliers, venues, flowers, cakes that it is easy to lose track. 

I planned my whole wedding with my trusty scrapbook. Google Images is a fantastic source of information and inspiration and it is free! I searched for colours, venues, dresses, flowers and cakes using it and I was able to put together a scrapbook of the sorts of things I liked. When I visited my florist I showed her the scrapbook and she got a feel for my ideas for the whole wedding and knew visually what flowers and arrangements I liked and that made her job much easier. She was extremely creative and I was very impressed.  

I cannot emphasise enough the importance I found when planning our wedding the need to be open-minded. Most people have a general idea or picture of what they would like their wedding to 'look like'. They can see the sort of venue, the sort of cake, their dream dress etc etc. But let me tell you I was shocked at how many of my original ideas are not in the wedding photos I now have. 

For example, I always thought I would have a wedding dress with straps. Be they a halterneck or straps I was determined not to have a strapless dress. My ideas were like these:

But look at what I ended up with!

I am a firm believer that it is important to be adaptable and flexible with your ideas. However if you really are passionate about something you should go for it. I remember the first confirmed, non-negotiable item I decided on was the car. I was sitting on my mum's sofa while watching the BBC's Don't Tell The Bride, we were half watching half making plans and all of a sudden the chosen car came on the screen. I was instantly in love with it. I had to have that car. We immediately fired up the laptop and found a local car firm who had the same car. I booked it within days of seeing the program even though we hadn't decided on the venue yet!

Let me know if you would like me to write about a specific subject and I'll do my best to answer it.

Thanks for reading

Mrs O

Ask The Mrs: An Introduction

I have never written a blog or anything else of note before but when people talk about getting into writing (certainly for the first time) they are encouraged by others to write about something they know quite a bit about.

The inspiration behind "AskTheMrs" came from wanting to have a project for when we have children. It is a simple thing to do and something to do while off work. I also wanted to help others in some way. I have been toying with this idea for a while and it was while watching my daily vlog fix on youtube.com that I decided to just go for it.

So I have decided to write about a subject I know quite a lot about (and have fairly strong views on).

Weddings

I spent two years of my life almost entirely planning our wedding. This is a significant amount of time to devote to something and any study of a subject for two years will make you at least reasonably proficient at it. Weddings can be the most stressful and the most enjoyable event to ever plan for. There are so many things to consider and yet they can also be the most simple events ever. 

I know how daunting a wedding can seem to people and so I thought I would provide a voice as someone who has got married recently (2011) to give a modern perspective on what it is like to get married in the 'teenies'. In this blog I will be writing about my experiences, giving hints and tips on the things I learned in the two years I spent studying and planning for our big day and providing an opinion and guidance in what sorts of things to look out for. I will be sharing photos of the wedding and honeymoon which I hope will inspire you or at least give you a laugh.

I will be asking some of my friends who are in the business of Marriage to help and guest feature in the blog to get outside opinions on their field of expertise

Let me know if there is a particular subject you would like my opinion / advice on and I will do my best to answer as honestly as possible.

Thanks for reading

Mrs O