Preparing for Samantha and Didier’s Wedding has been taking up a lot of my time and attention over the last few weeks.  One task that could not be done in advance was to prepare the wedding floral arrangements and the bridal bouquet!  The wedding theme focused on a fall blooms purple inspired palette, so today is the day that all the purple, violet, and autumn blooms needed to come together.

Inspired by the colours of fall, the bridal bouquet had lots of purples and violets with rich pops of coral and white.  To achieve the tailored stem on the bouquet I wrapped the base with bands of the coordinating table runner fabric.  This created a smooth and sturdy binding with that added special touch.  So stunning – almost ready for show time!

To give you a bit of a background, as soon as the theme and colour direction were confirmed by the bride and groom, I could not wait to get moving!  Within days a fantastic selection of potted purple chrysanthemums was spotted at a local grocer.  The price was right!  As it is always nice to come under budget when wedding planning, I thought it was a brilliant idea to buy the potted plants now, and grow them for a month!  Day after day during the month of October I wheeled out the ‘mums to get some sunlight and water and then wheeled them back into the garage in the evening to protect them from any harsh weather or potential frost overnight.  I have to admit that this looked pretty adorable, don’t you think?!  I was not the only one admiring the plants… caught a little visit from this monarch butterfly!

Although we had to salvage through the best of the bunch today, we had lots of perfect blooms to work with for our floral needs.  Lamb’s Ear, an ornamental plant from the garden, was also used for the greenery in the table arrangements.  I should state, that I do not have a green thumb, so this was a huge accomplishment!  Here are some pictures showing how the entire kitchen was filled with fall flowers!  All hands were on deck… even got a little moral support from the pooch.  The arranging went late into the night, and the flower arrangements were being transported the following afternoon, so we tucked them into basic water glasses next to the coffee percolator.

I always wonder what my life would be like in French.

Dabbling in living with a little translation :: TRADUIRE LA VIE