Wedding "Flowers"

I’ve been thinking a lot about flowers lately. Spring time and an impending wedding will do that to a person. From the onset, I’ve wanted to take some creative liberty with my wedding "flowers.” I plan to do potted centerpieces (such as aloe, sempervirrum, and succulents) at the reception to tie in to our west coast theme and also to be more environmentally friendly.

As for the bouquets, I am having a young woman (whom I found on my beloved Craigslist) put together an odd assortment of flowers for me. They'll consist of orange Dahlias—because Tommie and I love how full and pretty they are; Craspedia (aka “billy balls”…don’t snicker)—because they are fun and remind me of yellow paper lanterns; and dried lotus pods because I used to see them growing out of the lily pads in Balboa Park like rusted watering cans, and I just think they look cool. In my head I see these things working together…being bold, bright and contemporary while also being rustic, and not very “floral,” therefore not in competition with the natural beauty of the gardens around us.

Here are a couple inspiration bouquets I came across (photos from The Full Boquet). These boquets make great use of orange dahlias, billy balls and lotus pods, though none encompass the three together.

My Craigslist florist told me she is genuinely excited to finally have an opportunity to put together a non-traditional bridal bouquet. I hope she still feels the same when my dead lotus pods and billy balls arrive.