Love at The Ranch: Bouts and Bouquets (Budget Breakdown)

Before I get on with the portraits Mr. CB and I took after our First Look, I thought I'd fill you in on my bouquet, my bridesmaids' bouquets, and the guys' boutonnieres. After the post on the guys getting ready, I had some requests for close-ups of the bouts and since my bouquet debuts during our portraits, I figured now was the best time for the first flower post!

My bouquet:

The bouts:

And, the bridesmaids' bouquets:

If you remember, I had very strong opinions about how I wanted my flowers to look. I wrote about inspiration here, here, here, and here. That said, I didn't have the biggest budget in the world for flowers. A total of $1000 to be exact. Compared to estimates for what I wanted, that wasn't very much and had to include a $200 travel fee from Denver as well.

The morning of the wedding, Erin Hornstein, owner of Plum Sage flowers, which specializes in organic flowers, showed up around 11 AM. She readied the flowers on the porch and since the temperatures outside were in the 40s and 50s, she had no worries about refrigeration to keep them fresh. The year before, Erin had gotten ready for her own wedding in the same cabin so there was something bittersweet about her preparing the flowers there.

Erin of Plum Sage, cutting raffia for the bridesmaids bouquets

Photo by Amanda Wilson

Originally, my bouquet was to have white dahlias mixed in but when I came outside to look at the flowers, I wasn't keen on them. Even though the dahlias were white, they were green toward the center (as it's hard to get a pure white flower) and I, personally, don't love the peach-and-green color combo. It took away from the romantic ruffles I was hoping for. So, with no hesitation, Erin agreed to take them out of my bouquet and put them into my bridesmaids' bouquets. In return, I stole their garden roses. Bridezilla, I know.

So, my bouquet ended up a concoction of peach juliet garden roses, peach stock, white ranunculus, chamomile, and dark green Israeli ruscus tips.

The bouts were a spin on Mrs. Cherry Pie's use of wheat sprigs, which I adored. The groomsmen got a mix of wheat and chamomile while the dads, grandfathers, uncles, etc, got simple wheat sprigs. The chamomile was a bit fragile and wilted sort of quickly from hugs and whatnot.

Photo by Erin Hornstein from Plum Sage

The bridesmaids bouquets were a reflection of mine but contained more white to compliment the girls' dresses. And, to save a few dollars, we used light peach carnations instead of garden roses. They have a similarly ruffly effect but are a quarter of the price. So, the girls' bouquets contained: light peach carnations, white lisianthus, white dahlias, butter stock, white ranunculus, and candor pompom mums.

Budget Breakdown (for bouquets and bouts):

• Bridal Bouquet (8-9", with garden roses, ranunculus, chamomile, stock, and Israeli ruscus tips): $110
• Groom and Groomsmen Bouts (with wheat sprigs, chamomile, and ribbon): $8 x 6 = $48
• Bouts for Grandfather/Dads/Uncle (wheat sprigs only): $7 x 4 = $28
• Bridesmaids' Bouquets (6-7", with carnations, lisianthus, dahlias, stock, ranunculus, and candor pompom mums): $33.80 x 5 = $169
• Total (with 7.72% tax): $382.41*

*Note: Because this is flower post part 1, I will finish the budget and include the travel fee ($200) into part two (which will include flower girl petals, centerpiece decor, and corsages).

My favorite flower photo (and a signature Tec photo):

How did we get here?

First, Mr. CB and I road-tripped it to Boulder, CO.

Then, I spent a peaceful morning with my bridesmaids and maids-of-honor.
Followed by a rowdy bachelorette party that night.
The next morning, two days before the wedding, we fought.
Then, we made up.

On Saturday, Mr. CB recuperated from his bachelor party while I hiked with friends.

Until evening, when we celebrated our rehearsal dinner.

Sunday Morning: The girls got ready.
And the guys got ready too.

Mr. CB and I had our First Look.

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

Hive Knows Best

Hive. I need help with a decision. After that last flower post, I had a sudden change of heart. I get a little uneasy when this happens because then I'm suddenly heading down a path that involves lots of back-and-forth with my vendor. In this instance, my florist. And I hate to seem flighty and indecisive--It doesn't do anyone any good.

But, the feeling I got was so intense, I can't ignore it. I started thinking that maybe I want more cream or white in my bouquet with hints of peach, instead of having an all-peach bouquet with touches of cream which was my original plan. I am worried that the bouquet will disappear into my dress if it is too creamy and white will be too stark against ivory. But, now I'm thinking the peach bouquet might not seem classic in 30 years. If I go cream and white, I can use a colored ribbon to add pop. Or, vice-versa if I go for colored flowers. Give me your vote!

Peaches with pops of whites and creams wrapped with leftover ivory fabric and a little raffia:

Sources: Juliet Rose, Lisianthus, Dahlia, Hypericum Berries, Larkspur, Ranunculus, and Stock.

Some peach bouquet inspiration:

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Mostly white with pops of peach and apricot wrapped with peachy ribbon and raffia:

Sources: Juliet Garden Rose, Lisianthus, Hypericum Berries, Larkspur, Ranunculus, Stock, and Dahlias

Here are a few inspiration photos of mostly white bouquets with bursts or tinges of color:

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So, which do you like better? Option 1: mostly peaches with bursts of white? Or Option 2: White or cream with pops of peach or apricot? Or should I mix up the color variation differently or do different specific flowers in peach or cream?

A Fall Version of Spring Flowers

Yesterday's post gave you a little rundown on my flower inspiration. But, like I said, my florist was wary of the soft pink and ivory palette meshing with my tendency to gravitate towards peaches. She also mentioned that we'd have to replace the spring blooms with similar fall flowers.

So, here's our plan with side-by-side (or one on top of the other) images of the spring bloom originally used versus the fall bloom we hope to replace it with (and few options). The colors are not exactly on par with what we're planning but close.

Flower 1:

Spring Version: Peonies
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Fall Version: Juliet Garden Rose
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Flower 2:

Spring Version: Sweet Peas
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Fall Version: Larkspur
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Fall Version 2: Snapdragons
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Flower 3:

Spring Version: Azaleas
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Fall Version: White Ranunculus
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Flower 4

Spring Version: Spider Mum
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Fall Version: Dahlia
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As an addition to the flowers above, we're going to lisianthus which looks like this:

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And we're going to be able to use the Peach Hypericum Berries that are in the original spring version. You can see them in this bouquet:

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The bridesmaids will have similar bouquets but with carnations instead of garden roses (thanks to my budget) and white dahlias instead of peach ones. Their bouquets will actually be more white overall with touches of peach while mine will be the opposite. Although, I may decide to go more white in the end. We'll see.

Did you replace springtime flowers with fall blooms? Or did you luck out and get the flowers you wanted in the first place?

My Unrequited Love Affair

I just learned that I have a serious thing for ruffly, girly flowers called (you guessed it) peonies. I started sending my florist images of my bouquet inspiration. Beautiful, overflowing, loose, garden-y bouquets full of, yup, peonies. It was then I found out that peonies just weren't interested in loving me back. 

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I'm an October bride and apparently, peonies have a very strict schedule--about a five-week window that exists a solid four months before my wedding. The closest I'm going to get? The ever-expensive and elusive garden rose. Luckily, I have a very talented florist, Erin Hornstein from Plum Sage Flowers, to recreate the just-rolled-out-of-bed-but-perfectly-designed loose, ruffly look I'm going for. And, in fact, she got married at Devil's Thumb Ranch recently with a gorgeous yellow blooming umbrella. 

So, I've been hunting for bouquets that don't involve peonies. But rather garden roses, regular roses, hydrangea, dahlias, and any other flower that has a smidgen of a chance of poking its head up around the first week of October. My options are also limited because I'm looking for flowers with color--I'm afraid that too ivory will vanish into my dress and stark white just won't match. 

Here are a few images of my (new) inspiration. Please excuse me if I happen to include a few peonies in there--their beauty is blinding me. 

Bouquet 1

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Bouquet 2

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Bouquet 3

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Bouquet 4

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Bouquet 5

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Bouquet 6

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Bouquet 7

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Which bouquet is your favorite of the bunch? After you tell me, I'll fill you in on which is my fave and which won the vote.