I chose Ambience Floral Design after interviewing multiple florists. Our floral budget seemed reasonable to me--$1,000--for a very small wedding, but apparently $1,000 doesn't go far for wedding flowers these days. One of the florists I intervi...ewed told me everything I wanted was "perfectly doable" and then had an estimate almost 3X my budget. Another told me there was no way I could have beautiful flowers for only $1,000.
So when Katie told me that there was no reason I couldn't have a beautiful day and stay within my budget, I wanted to kiss her! She listened to all my ideas, looked at my entire binder of flower designs, and designed an estimate that had everything I hoped for and stayed in my budget. And, for the most part, the wedding flowers were just what I was expecting.
The 3 bridesmaid boquets of white roses and purple liseanthus were pretty. A bit small and nothing spectacult, but pretty. I chose small flower centerpieces and rose petals for the tables. They weren't amazing, but they were very pretty and looked nice on the table.
I splurged on a large, dramatic arrangement for the escort card table. Besides my own bridal bouquet it was my one big splurge in wedding flowers. And I was somewhat disappointed in it. The gladeolas were pretty, but the hydrangeas looked half dead already, and it just didn't make the statement I have invisioned. I thought it would be a piece everyone would be talking about, and it just didn't turn out that way. I'm not blaming Katie, it just wasn't the piece I was anticipating.
Instead, the floral arrangement over the arbor at the ceremony site turned out to be my favorite piece. It was absolutely stunning, and totally Katie's idea. So I guess the lesson I learned was to let the florist come up with the ideas and keep out of it. It was a gorgeous piece and I loved it. I'm so glad it showed up in all the ceremony pictures!
My bridal bouquet was amazing. A white 9-inch "dutchess" rose bouquet which basically consisted of one giant white rose and then hundreds of petals hand wired around it to give the illusion of one giant white rose. It was just what I had hoped for and I loved it!
Only one thing truly went wrong where the flowers were concerned. I gave Katie my Italian cameo that my grandmother bought for me in Italy to wrap around my bouquet. It was a sentimental touch that made my grandmother happy, and I loved having something so precious close at hand. Right after the ceremony as my husband and I were walking over to a bridge for photos, the cameo flew off the bouquet. By some miracle the photographer caught it and I didn't lose the precious piece, but I was horrified that it wasn't tied onto the bouquet better!
All in all I'm glad I hired Katie to do my flowers, and I was pleased with the result. Most of all I loved my bouquet!