Dresses Tips

All brides need to decide what their wedding flower budget will be. Be sure to think “outside of all the little boxes” when it comes to the infamous “Wedding Flower Checklist” posted in most formal wedding magazines. In all my years of wedding, event & party planning, the comment most heard at the onset of the occasion planning was “Flowers make the party—I want my party to be memorable! But I don’t want it to cost a fortune”

It’s true! Remember that the first beautiful sight your family and guests will see, before you skip down the aisle, will be the ceremony flowers! Or, as we’ll discuss later, the glorious arrangement of fresh blooms you thoughtfully placed next to your guests pillow in their B & B! Fear not, while it is true that the cost of flowers can add up, you can stay on budget. The smallest little bloom can make a BIG difference in the feeling of your entire wedding experience. Make it memorable! Here are some tips:

1) Start with a list of Very Important People (VIP) who will be attending and assisting with your wedding details (not necessarily those in your formal party. Next to the VIP names, write down where they’ll be resting their heads during your event. Think creatively about tiny vessels you could use for a beautiful single bloom. Attach a small card (available through your wedding florist) thanking your VIP with special sentiments, and have the flower in their room(s) before their arrival. That will set the tone!

2) Bring pictures of bouquets and/or flowers that you love to your first-scheduled florist consultation. It’s best to give the florist the “flavor” of what you want your wedding flowers to be, right away. Once that “flavor” or “feeling” is established, allow your florist to give suggestions. Many times, brides will bring in a picture and say, “that’s exactly what I want.” Then, they may be disappointed when they hear the cost estimate. A good florist can look at a picture and give you the same “feeling” for less money if it is “The Look” you want rather than the exact flowers that are pictured. This is true for all of your handheld bouquets as well as your ceremony & reception flowers.

Not only is this method wise with respect to the “frugal cost approach” but it is smart to give your florist as much flexibility and creative license to shop in their fresh markets for the highest quality blooms for the best value. Quite often, brides “must have this or that,” and if there is no leeway for what flowers can be used, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment and added stress (for you & your florist!) on your special day.

Remember you and your florist are dealing with live, perishable flowers that are being shipped in from around the world. For example, a bunch of sweetpeas grown in Holland in February could look fresh & fabulous when they’re cut from the greenhouse, however, once they arrive to their final destination halfway around the world, they may not look as fresh!

3) When it comes to multiple centerpieces at your reception, think creatively when considering, again, the “look & feel” of each table. Quite often, brides don’t consider how expensive vases or other chosen vessels may be, and they DO add up. You may want to ask your friends and family to “empty their vase cabinets” and simply choose the dozen or so pieces that you may need-depending on number of tables- from that collection. Even though containers may vary throughout the room, the same flowers and ribbons, if so desired, will “marry” the look. Also consider inexpensive vintage pieces; mason jars; wineglasses…the list is endless. Keep in mind that any kind of elaborate table wreaths or high-style arrangements will be more expensive due to the florist’s labor in creating the pieces.

There are three ways you can put the maid of honor in a "different" dress.

• She can wear the same style in a different color.
• She can wear the same color in a different style.
• She can wear a completely different, but compatible gown.

Let's look at the pros and cons of each approach.

Same style, different color

If the maid of honor looks good in the same style as the bridesmaids, this is a very simple way to coordinate the party. Use the bridal shop's fabric samples to find a color that coordinates with the bridesmaids' color. In general, soft pastels go with other soft pastels, bright light colors go with other bright light colors, and deep colors go with other deep colors. It's sometimes possible to coordinate a dark and a light shade of the same color (periwinkle blue and deep violet-blue, for instance), but this is much more dependent on what the particular manufacturer has in stock.

The potential downside is that your bridal shop may not be able to order the desired style in time. If you don't mind trying other shops, you may be able to get the dress more quickly elsewhere or buy another store's sample.

Different style, same color

This approach allows you to choose a completely different dress that may be more readily available. Do check: if the dress is from the same maker, the order time may be the same.

Aim for a style that is similar to the style of the bridesmaids' dresses. If the bridesmaids are wearing long, slim dresses, the maid of honor's dress should be long and slim-or possibly an A-line to cover larger hips-not a gathered ball gown style or a tea-length style. If the bridesmaids' dresses are in the matte "crepe" fabric that is very popular now, the maid of honor's dress should include the same fabric and definitely should not be shiny taffeta! If the bridesmaids' dresses are sleeveless, the maid of honor's dress should be sleeveless or have very plain sleeves.

The potential downside comes with trying to match a color fairly exactly. Sometimes a color is so striking and so popular that every manufacturer seems to use the identical shade. Other times, a color will be offered by only one manufacturer. For instance, some of Watters & Watters most stunning colors are virtually impossible to match from another manufacturer.

Coordinating style, coordinating color

This approach requires some skill in choosing a dress, but it frees you from the entire matching and ordering process. If your remaining time is very short, this plan has the advantage of allowing your maid of honor to buy her dress off the rack at a department store instead of waiting for an order.

How do you make this work? First, the dress should be similar in style to the bridesmaids' dresses, just as if you were choosing a similar dress in the same color as the bridesmaids. If the dress is nearly identical (same shape, same neckline, same sleeves, different back detailing), that's fine too.

Second, the dress should be a color that coordinates with your wedding color scheme but is clearly not an attempt to "match" the bridesmaids' dresses. If your color scheme is peach and green, and the bridesmaids will wear pale peach, then the maid of honor's choices are green or a dark peach that is distinct from the bridesmaids' pale peach. Use your floral choices to pull the different colors together.