Flowers, Cake, dresses, Oh my!

Posted by Liz on February 1, 2011 · 5 Comments 

Part four.

Flowers.

I ordered the flowers online because I only had like $300 left to spend and the flowers I wanted were way too expensive elsewhere. This was a DIY affair. (I did extensive research and read testimonials. I scoured blogs and read posts/comments. I called the companies and checked.)

I wanted to carry calla lilies, something I’ve known since forever. So I ordered about 30 purple lilies for me and 10 white lilies to split between the ‘maids (BloomsByTheBox).

When the box showed up three days before the wedding, the recommended time frame, we were a little disappointed, but stuck. The lilies purple lilies were perfect, but the white ones were tiny. I thought I ordered the larger size, but guess I was mistaken and ordered the minis instead.

That’s one of my issues with the websites. You don’t really know what you are ordering.

While running errands two days before the wedding, we stopped in at Kroger and found some beautiful collections of carnations. We bought two bouquets for around $10.

A friend of my mother’s taught us how to wrap the bouquets together and the day before the wedding, we started wrapping. My sister-in-law’s brother, a doctoral botanist and the genius behind her wedding flowers, helped us out. (Have I mentioned how important it is to have talented family and friends for a DIY wedding?)

Photo By Sarah Kobos.

The flowers turned out perfect. I loved them!

Photo by Sarah Kobos.

The flowers for the tables were disappointing, too. I ordered a mixed set of ranunculus for some variety of color (Fifty Flowers). When they arrived, they were just buds.

The site’s directions were to leave them out so they could bloom, but make sure they were in a cool place. We stored them in my mother’s kitchen and followed the instructions. The day before the wedding, they still hadn’t opened up.

So we just went with it. Pat, the amazing brother-in-law-ish, helped put them in the cans my mother painted and tied with raffia.

Photo By Sarah Kobos.

In the end, I think they turned out kind of nice. Sure they aren’t what the website promised, but they looked kind of cool.

Photo By Sarah Kobos.

Cake.

The cake was kind of easy. We spent about $530 for the cake (two flavors with buttercream icing) and delivery/setup. We used The Pastry Place on Fort Jackson Blvd. It was four-tiers with alternating lemon and white chocolate flavors.

Photo by Sarah Kobos.

I stumbled across the topper on Etsy. I looked at birds and people, mascots and decorative letters. But when I found the topper, I just knew. It was personally made in the color I wanted by BlueButterflyDesign. Etsy is a lifesaver for DIY.

Pat cut up palm branches to display beneath the cake as an hommage to the Palmetto State. And we placed a couple of my purple lilies on the tiers.

Guest photo.

Dresses.

The ‘maids wore the jersey collection from David’s Bridal in Lapis. I let them choose which of the four/five styles they liked best. Don’t they look beautiful?

Photo by Sarah Kobos.

I bought my dress the first time out. I think it is a common misconception that the majority of brides search and search for the perfect dress. I wanted the the first one I tried on. (It’s pretty, isn’t it?)

I didn’t go with that one, even though it was on sale and I loved it. We decided to at least look at another store. We went to Camille La Vie in NoVa. When I put on the dress, it was like, ah. My mom cried.

Photo by Sarah Kobos.

When I first went in I didn’t want a veil, but the lady at David’s told me it would top off the outfit. Without it I was just a girl in a white dress. With it, I was a bride. OK, this sounds cheesy. But I bought it.

Photo by Sarah Kobos.

And just for good measure, one of my favorites Sarah took at the Inn at USC:

Photo by Sarah Kobos.

Did I mention the dress was less than $400?

Part one: Our low-maintenance, totally awesome wedding
Part two: Cutting corners, staying square
Part three: It’s all in the details
Part five: Bridal details

Filed under Blog, Me, wedding · Tagged with $5000 wedding, bluebutterflydesign, bouquets, bridesmaids, cake topper, camille la vie wedding dress, carnations, columbia, david's bridal, diy wedding, etsy, inn at usc wedding, lilies, online wedding flowers, palmetto wedding, pastry place sc, sarah kobos photography, south, south carolina, southern wedding, supermarket flowers, wedding details