So, early on, Mr. Lace and I visited a nearby florist that came recommended by a friend. We brought photos of what we wanted and researched names of flowers we liked. However, once we got a quote of what we were hoping to have, we literally had to scrape our jaws off the floor. We weren't ready to shell out over $2500 for flowers. They're already stinking dead!! When the florist adjusted the centerpieces, bouquets and bouts for our budget, we didn't like what he'd proposed for us.
We walked out of the shop pretty distraught. What were we going to do? To pay for a compromise of what we wanted and what we could afford, we'd have to cut back somewhere else in our budget. We decided to sit on it for awhile and revisit after we'd researched a few more florists.
Christmas rolled around and we hadn't really had a chance to begin Yelping florists. Enter Mr. Lace's aunt and uncle. They approached us at Mr. Lace's family get together and asked if they could do our wedding flowers. Wait, there's more. They wouldn't just arrange and transport them for us...they'd PAY for them as our wedding gift. Um, where do I sign?
We didn't even really have to talk about it. We heartily agreed, partially because of the cost, but partially because if there were family members who wanted to do something at our wedding, we wanted them to be involved in our big day. So we agreed to come up with some designs and we'd meet with them in April to do a trial.
Well, time rolled on and April approached. Mr. Lace and I began researching flowers that we liked so we'd know what to look for at the Flower Mart. Since we were going vintage, we needed mason jars and LOTS of them. We found some designs that we liked put them all together in an Excel spreadsheet (Mr. Lace's specialty). This past Saturday, we met up with Mr. Lace's aunt and uncle early in the morning at the downtown LA Flower Mart. Okay, well not that early, but 8 a.m on a Saturday?!
The Flower Mart was AWESOME. I think it's worth visiting at least once just to see the variety that they have and if you like flowers, you'll like just walking around and looking. You'll probably be tempted to make a purchase or two to spruce up your house. Mr. Lace and I were prepared though. We showed them the pictures and they took us on a quick walk through of the Flower Mart, made some suggestions and let us go and purchase the flowers we wanted to use for the trial since they had to pick up flowers for their shop.
We were looking for bells of Ireland, white china mums, jade roses, white ranunculas, white sweet pea, white peony, hypericum berries, lisianthus and green dendrobium orchid. We walked around comparing prices and all of a sudden, an hour had passed. We decided we had to buckle down and make some purchases before our meter ran out! Within 30 minutes, we found all the flowers we needed EXCEPT the ranunculas and peonies. Mr. Lace said we needed to get going since we were supposed to meet his aunt and uncle at their shop in Hollywood, but I was determined to find them. He took the flowers we had already purchased and headed back to the car while I decided to take one last look at the vendors right outside the Flower Mart. I quickly scanned each store as I walked by and dodged florists pushing large carts full of flowers in search of my elusive ranunculas and peonies. I spotted ranunculas across the street and carelessly jaywalked over to them. Yes, they had ranunculas galore, but mainly in WHITE. The other shops had ranunculas in EVERY OTHER color, just not the one I needed. I quickly purchased a bunch and set out to look for the peonies. My phone buzzed. It was Mr. Lace. He had started circling the block to come pick me up, but he saw me run across the street. He asked me to meet him at the corner. I felt defeated that I didn't find my peonies for the trial, but decided we'd have to ask Mr. Lace's aunt and uncle how we could guarantee finding our peonies. Right when I was going to recross (okay...jaywalk) across the street, I spotted them. There was one bunch left in a big white bucket. I quickly hailed an employee down to wrap them up for me. I didn't even ask how much and at that point, I didn't care. However, I still gasped when he took my $20 in exchange for 4 peonies. :(
We headed over to the flower shop and after a short conversation, Mr. Lace's aunt got to work. All personal photos below.
Mr. Lace's aunt trimming the flowers and prepping them. Mr. Lace trying to look useful.
The small mason jar
The medium mason jar
The large mason jar
We're planning on having all 3 arrangements on each table. Pretty simple, but I love it.
Mr. Lace went to grab a quick lunch for us from the Thai place next door. Mmmm noodles. Once the bowl was set down in front of me, I was completely useless.
The BM bouquet
My bouquet. And yes, I do still wear a hair tie around my wrist everyday. Note to self: Take that off on wedding day.
We were so happy that Mr. Lace's aunt and uncle offered their services to us because they did such a nice job AND they are involved in our wedding day in a big way!
Is a family member helping out in your wedding in some special way?
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