Love Grows, Part Twee.

The in-laws have an incredible green thumb and combined with the rainy/cool weather of the Netherlands, I was pleasantly surprised to see what our plantable wedding invites have grown into (prior blog post here). In Northern California, our invites have grown to be only plants, large green stems with leaves so I have been unsure of what they were to become. But the in-laws have been able to make them grow into something quite spectacular: actual flowers! Bright, lovely orange flowers with a faint sweet smell...sigh. It gives me the warm and fuzzies to know that our invites have been successfully grown into flowers!

• they are quite tall •

• a bee enjoying the flower •

Being back in the Netherlands is always fun but it's more of visiting family than traveling so this trip has included more traveling and experiences. Some of our friends have come out to celebrate our second wedding celebration with us so we've been able to take them out and show them parts of the Netherlands. As the rest of the family and friends start arriving this week, we're going to be in full travel mode and really showing them the nooks and crannies of the Netherlands and it's very exciting since no one has been here before. My understanding of the Dutch language is also getting better. I can only speak a few words/phrases and my pronunciation is quite poor but it's become a fun challenge listening to Dutch and finally being able to start picking out words (which helps me follow conversations better, I just can't figure out the exact context yet). It's fun being able to start picking up a new language and am curious if I will ever be able to fully speak Dutch. That would be quite spiffy.

• i heart the netherlands •

L.A. Flower Market

Way back when we were planning the wedding, the ballooning cost was becoming more apparent as we figured out what our final bill would be (gulp). One of the cost cutting solutions was with our flowers and decorations. Our location was located in the mountains of Malibu and nature surrounded us so there really wasn't a need to spend lots of money on floral arrangements. We had twenty tables, six wedding peeps and our family members so if we went out of house to do that, the floral costs would have been way too high. So I decided to do the flowers myself (4 bouquets, 10 boutonnieres/corsages, 20 tables and sprinkles of decorations) and while I was in the process of making everything (including gluing my fingers together with the glue gun), I seriously thought that I was crazy for doing this task.

But it was worth it! Especially since L.A. has the most incredible flower market in downtown L.A. The warehouse covers about two city blocks (or so it seems) and it's full of everything related to flowers. Warehouses normally don't smell too pleasant but this one sure did (although my allergies didn't care for it). We spent about two hours wandering to see what was the freshest. Unlike most (crazy) brides, I did not know what our flowers/theme/colors were going to be. I had an idea of the flowers that I like working with but nothing was set until I saw what was in season. I think that this gave me more flexibility to have fun with the flowers.

• checking out the Gerbera Daisies •

• finalizing the bride's bouquet •

The final choices of flowers were: button mums for the boutonnieres, yellow carnations for the bridesmaids and white hydrangeas for my bouquet. Gerbera daisies were used in the centerpieces and tulips for our sweetheart table. In total, these flowers (including the costs additional material) ended up being about $200. Much less than if we went to a florist!

• the final flowers •

Instead of doing actual floral centerpieces, I decided that a low vase filled with water, floating candles and floating flowers would be the most ideal. They were simple, easy to set up and everyone loved them enough to take them home. Our guests loved that they could use it for anything in their home so they were all snatched up before the evening was even over!

• a small section of the dining room •

• close up of the centerpiece •

• my family with all the flowers I made •

I'm so happy that I made the decision to do the flowers, I have the battle scars on my fingers to look back and laugh (really, glue guns are way too hot) but I will look back at these photos in the years to come and it will make me smile knowing that they were put together with love and care (sappy).