Love at The Ranch: Reception Flowers (Budget Breakdown)

I broke down the pricing on our bouquets and boutonnieres for you, so I wanted to finish our floral budget breakdown with our centerpieces. And, since I just showed you the details of our reception, I thought fleshing out our flowers would be the most organic next step on this recap train.

The main thing I told our florist, Plum Sage Flowers, was that I wanted our centerpieces to feel garden-y, loose, and flow-y. Almost like wildflowers but in creams, peaches, and golds.

Before sending my final order for flowers, Erin of Plum Sage had me look through Amato Wholesale Florist's flower gallery (for the month of October) and let her know which flowers caught my eye. She made sure to tell me that not all of the flowers in the October gallery would necessarily be available but it would give us a good guide, at least. This flower gallery might come in handy for your wedding, but keep in mind that this flower gallery is specific to the Denver area and climate. If you live in the South, for instance, you'll probably have a very different selection.

The flowers from my list that were available and in my budget included light pink delphinium and larkspur, cream mini gerbera daisies, cream spray roses, apricot stock, billy balls, pale yellow dahlias, feverfew, yarrows and mums in pale pink, apricot, wheat, and cream with wheat sprig accents.

Budget Breakdown:

• Centerpieces: 24 jars (8 small, 8 medium and 8 large): $35 x 8 tables = $280
• Reception decor: Additional 6 jars (small and medium) for windowsills = $50
• Flower girl petals (for one small basket): $10
• Dahlias (for moms/grandmas/aunts): $3.50 per stem x 8 = $28
• Total (with 7.72% tax) = $396.41
• Total for our bouts/bouquets (with 7.72% tax) = $382.41
• Delivery fee from Denver (about 2 hours away) = $200

• GRAND TOTAL: $978.82

How did we get here?

Mr. CB and I road-tripped it to Colorado.

I spent a peaceful morning with my girls.
Followed by a rowdy bachelorette party.
Two days before the wedding, we fought.
Then, we made up.

On Saturday, Mr. CB recuperated while I hiked with friends.

We celebrated our rehearsal dinner.

Sunday Morning: The girls got ready.

And the guys got ready.

Mr. CB and I had our First Look.

Budget Breakdown: Bouquets and Bouts.

Potraits of the bride and groom.

Our wedding party braved the cold for photos.

We all lined up for the ceremony.

The wedding party walked (and performed hand shakes).

Papa CB walked Ms (soon to be Mrs.) CB down the aisle.

Our ceremony began with a song from Grandma Cowboy Boot.

And ended with a kiss.

We hugged and took some family portraits.

Then our guests to to see The Details.

**All images above by the ridiculously talented and awesome Tec Petaja, unless otherwise noted. Head to his blog for some serious eye candy.**

The Dress Hunt (Part 2 of 4)

A few months after my dress appointment in New York, I had a trip to Los Angeles planned. I knew I had to take it seriously--plan out appointments, set up dress try-on dates with my bridesmaids and mom--so I started combing through TheKnot.com's dress pages. When I saw something I liked, I'd note which stores sold it in LA and try to find stores that sold multiple designers I liked. Schlepping across LA, circling blocks looking for addresses, and finding parking can get extremely tiring so I tried to spread out the appointments as best as I could. 

A little dress shopping in LA, anyone?

(source)

My mom loves to mention to everyone she meets that her daughter is getting married. She'll often end up talking about weddings with the person for an hour or so, noting any advice she gets and making sure to pass it along to me. I try my best to acknowledge it and oblige her. Someone she works with mentioned the store Lili Bridals in Tarzana, so I agreed to make an appointment. 

When we got there, at least five brides-to-be were popping out of changing rooms, dresses were being dragged across the room, racks were bulging from every wall, and it was nothing like my last appointment. The saleswomen were buzzing around, pulling dresses from every direction, and selling. selling. selling. The samples were dirty and some had holes in them. It was not the environment I'd want to make such an investment in. 

Nonetheless, I made the most of it. Amidst the chaos, I happened across two dresses I considered fairly seriously. And, amidst the chaos, I found out there is no picture-taking allowed. The good news is, I know which dresses I tried on so I can share their brands and styles with you.

Dress #1:

Watters 6043B

(Watters)

(Watters)

The website describes the dress as: "Re-embroidered lace, sweetheart strapless gown with full trumpet skirt and velveteen ribbon at waist." I describe the dress as: heavy. It felt like I was wearing a robe and dress from the Renaissance days. While I loved the way it hugged certain areas of the body and felt it would be great for a ranch wedding (albeit, a little costume-y), I would've been fed up with it by the end of the night. 

Dress #2:

Amy Michelson "Grace"

(Amy Michelson)

(Once Wed)

Oh, how I loved this dress. It was soft, feminine, blush-colored, swimming in pools of soft organza. It accentuated the chest, arms, and shoulders, sat taut around the waist and flowed out from there. It was unique. It was, gulp, $4,000. This was my introduction to swooning over a dress that was well outside of my budget. Or was it "well outside of my budget"? Did I dare dream of spending this amount on a dress for one day?

Did you fall in love with a dress well outside your means? How did you deal with it?