Doing the Flowers for My Handsome Son's Wedding

Handsome Son is happily married. 

I have been gifted a Daughter I never had. She is a wonderful and tolerant woman who fortunately loves my son. When she asked me to do the floral arrangements and bouquets, boutonnières, and garland, I said yes. Then she told me when: October 1. That's a date well within that possible first frost date range. We did a mock-up a year in advance. I asked my boss to allow me to cut hydrangea from the borders at Graziano Gardens. I had decided to do a mix of dried and fresh. I thought I had my bases covered. I grew eucalyptus from seed (and took it in as a potted plant over winter to my grow room). I cut back things in my garden to extend the bloom. I pre-started dahlias, and then covered them for many nights-- just in case.

I learned about "dirty" flowers, conditioning flowers, and practiced making corsages. We did a trial run.

There are always snafus in a wedding. I have to say I was totally blown away at the level of organizational abilities my Daughter-in-Law exudes! She shared Google spreadsheets, helped do mock-ups, actually made all the women's corsages. 

And, then I managed to FREEZE her bridal bouquet!

There were a lot of flowers in this wedding. I have a lot of flowers. Adding another arrangement here or there is not a big deal. The logistics of getting those flowers to there appointed places by the appointed times? That's a big deal.

 

Weddings, June, Roses...and Don't Forget the Shoes!

I definitely recommend comfortable shoes while touring the Chicago Botanical Gardens. For some, this means wearing flip flops and carrying in the stiletto heels for those once in as a lifetime photo shoots of your life's happily ever after story.



There were minimally eight different bridal parties making good use of the gardens a a backdrop for weddings and untold engagement pictures. Those were almost as easy to spot as the weddings, bride- and groom-to-be arm in arm, her heels dangling from a fingertip and the heavily-camera laden photographer trailing in their wake.

This bride looked every inch the model bride, not the bridezilla version, in her organza and ostrich feather creation. She looked like a swan searching for open water.



And oh! Those shoes!


The dress the bridesmaids, who could have come from central casting, I swear, all a size 6; actually landed a dress they could have worn again, and probably will. My photos do not do the mauve gray tones justice. The cut and line of them-- fantastic!


Surprisingly, the placement of the zipper makes the dress!

I don't think the photographer had to work too hard with this bridal party! It seemed right down to the weather, this bride had every detail perfect in its implementation.