Wedding Bouquet Alternative, the Decision, With a Little Complaining Thrown In

After the peacock feather fan non-decision I realized I was on a roll. I realized it wasn't the fan that my mother disliked, it was the the fact that it had feathers.

So I asked my cousin in the Philippines to pick up some beige fans for the bridesmaids, and I bought a pink one from Lands Faraway.

Here they are:



Truth be told, if I had to do it over again, I wouldn't have had the fans. Everyone would have just walked down the aisle carrying nothing. We hardly even used them! I left my fan on the altar and after the ceremony my mom took everything that was on the altar. My bridesmaid asked me if I wanted her to go get my mom so we could have the fans, and my response was "Why?" I didn't particularly want to have photos with them, and trying to get my mom would have been more trouble than it was worth.

What a silly tradition.

Apparently here is the origin:

The bridal bouquet had its earliest beginnings as a bunch of fragrant herbs who "job" it was to discourage evil spirits from getting close to the bride. It started not as a bouquet, but, with Greeks and Romans, as a garland of fresh herbs which the bride wore in her hair. In Victorian times, the flowers in a bride's bouquet carried messages, because each flower had its own special meaning.

Now, if you like flowers at your wedding and think they are pretty then I am not judging your decision, but after all the hassle, I should have really just said, why do I have to carry anything down the aisle?

Wedding Bouquet Alternative, Part 6

Good news: I finally decided on what to carry as I walk down the aisle!

Bad news: I don't want to share until the wedding. It's somewhat soon, I don't want to specify how soon, but soon.

If I had not yet decided, I would seriously consider these paper flower kits:



or



Images from Paper Source

Note: I have not personally tried these kits, so I don't know what they look like.

Wedding Bouquet Alternative, Part 5

I had seen peacock feather fans before and thought about them for a while, and then Stampin Rachel sent me this link to a post on A Practical Wedding. Cute, huh?

So I went ahead and bought one just to see how it looks:



For a while this was it, I was totally done.

And then I sent a photo to my mother. Let's just say that I wasn't done after all.

So, I have a peacock feather fan that I won't be using. If you want it, let me know, I'll give it to you.

Wedding Bouquet Alternative, Part 4

My friend Stampin Rachel has long been aware of my bouquet dilemma and so was kind enough to send me some articles on alternatives. Some were pretty good ideas but there was one that was definitely NOT our bouquet...

A bible or prayerbook.

Not that there's anything wrong with it. But Dude and I had long decided that we were having a civil ceremony, and only a civil ceremony. If we were going to do anything religious, my first vote would be having a gospel choir. I love gospel choirs.

Speaking of gospel, this week at dance my teacher was feeling particularly inspired from the election and so he decided to do a gospel combination. I told him that I wasn't sure my body could do gospel, to which he replied, "Honey, you're colored, of course you can do gospel. Think of all the injustice you've experienced and think about a day, someday, that it was all taken away." And I don't know what song he chose but it was filled with a lot of Glory Hallelujahs and sure enough, after a few minutes I was no longer insecure and I flailed like the Holy Spirit had taken over me.

It was just what I needed.

Is it just me, or has the city been so much nicer and more inspired since Tuesday? Even if nothing ever happens again, I will always remember this feeling. It is jubilant.

There. I finally have a wedding theme. Jubilant.

Wedding Bouquet Alternative, Part 3

Different, but could be cool...


Image via {Save on Crafts}

I have not ruled out these money tree branches, but I have some reservations. First, I need to order a sample, because as we saw with the fake rose bouquet, the photos could look way better than in person. Second, is there any chance that I'll be allergic to these?

Wedding Bouquet Alternative, Part 2

At the beginning, I held out hope that there might be low pollen or allergy-free flowers that we could use. But while several local florists offered "allergy-free" flowers (and note I used the John McCain "health of the mother" air quotes here, you didn't think I could resist with one week before the election, did you?) one of my bridesmaids warned me before of these "allergy-free" alternatives. She ordered them for her wedding but sure enough, she and I and the other bridesmaids were sneezing through the ceremony.

I called a lot of florists in the area and specifically asked for quotes for regular and "allergy-free" flowers and first of all, the price difference was outrageous. Not that I expected regular flowers to be in any way reasonable (Two thousand dollars are you kidding me? And that was the cheap end!) the allergy free ones were twice that because many were out of season.

While the price alone made me rule this option out altogether, I couldn't very well completely dismiss it without at least trying it. So I called the florist with the lowest quote, ordered a 2 or 3 stems of "allergy-free" flowers, and had them delivered to my boss's office.

I was sneezing within 10 minutes of their arrival, and my desk was about 20 feet away. What can I say, sometimes my body amazes me.

Wedding Bouquet Alternative, Part 1

As you all know, I'm allergic to flowers, and so one of the biggest undecided items has been what in the world do I and the ladies hold while walking down the aisle?  I've been through many a suggestion and for the next few weeks I'll show what I've eliminated, and hopefully, what we'll end up using.  I should note that we haven't yet found an acceptable alternative. Here's hoping.

Eliminated Bouquet Alternative, Part 1

Image via {Save on Crafts}

Pretty in the photo, right? Yeah, not so pretty in person. Fake flowers just look so.... fake. And to make them not look fake, you'd have to pony up a lot more than you would if you just got real flowers in the first place.

Thankfully, the sample I bought didn't completely go to waste.  One of my coworkers has a grandmother in Brooklyn who loves fake flowers.  So I gave it to her.

So, no fake flowers.