Lollypop Lollypop Oh Lolly Lollypop!

That title has nothing to do with anything but that song is stuck in my head. Now I bet I've successfully gotten in stuck in your head too (muahahaa <--- thats my satisfied evil laugh). ;)

Although this post has nothing to do with candy, it does involve sweet flowers. I was pretty floored when I first started looking at flowers. I had no idea you could do such innovative and beautiful things. I ogled at Preston Bailey and Daniel Ost, but then quickly came back to reality.

Daniel Ost is a genius

After I came back to reality I started pouring through magazines and watching tons of wedding shows. I quickly discovered my love for manzanitas and fluffy/romantic flowers like peony's and teacup roses. I also loved the modern design of orchids, lotus buds, succulents and bamboo. Surprisingly, I found that I could make all those things sort of work together.

I've collected far too many picture of flowers for just one post so I'm going to split them up. First up, my bouquet and flowergirl ideas.

Bridal Bouquet
I knew from the very beginning that I wanted to carry an all white bouquet of flowers down the aisle. I am going to be wearing so much bling (jewelry and my sari is all bedazzled and jeweled up) so I wanted my flowers to be simple and elegant.

Orchid bouquet by Fiore. So pretty and simple.

Luscious bouquet by Nisie's Enchanted Florist

I think rananculus, peony's and roses. Not sure where this came from sorry!

Again, not sure where I found this bad boy

This bouquet by Michelle Rago is gorgeous. I love the detail in the wrap the most - it reminds me of a laced up corset.

I love peonies. From The Knot

I decided on an all white peony bouquet wrapped up corset style like the Michele Rago picture above. Of course, I know that they really aren't in season at the end of August but my florist said there was a chance so I'm crossing my fingers. If peonies are out, I'll have to take some lush teacup roses or something like that.

For my toss bouquet (my florist is including one at no charge), I want all red roses.

This bouquet by Square Root is gorgeous. I love the deep rich color of the roses.

Bridesmaids:

I've already taken you guys through my dillema of fans of flowers versus a flower bouquet. The majority voted and gave me the courage to go the fan way. I'll be sure to include pictures after the wedding. Which is in less that 40 days!

Flowergirls:

I think head wreaths look so sweet and angelic. I love these by Square Root:

I am also going to have my flower girls carry these cute little baskets filled with flower petals. Green kermit pom basket filled with rose petals from Fiore Designs

In my next post, I'll tackle centerpieces and even include some sample designs by my fabulous florist Jill from M's Flowers. Don't mind the weird teleflora vibe the website has going for it, they are in the middle of updating their site.

A Fan Of Flowers?

I stumbled across Olivia Oberlin from my daily perusal of various wedding blogs and I fell in love. I think her fans are absolutely gorgeous and I am sure incredibly expensive (no prices on the website). Her fans got me thinking that it could be unique and beautiful for each my bridesmaids to carry a fan adorned with fresh flowers instead of a bouquet. I'm thinking a few random flowers sewn onto the fan itself and a long strand of orchids trailing down from the base.

Olivia Oberlin Fans:

Decorated wood fan from A Cool Breeze:
Or we could go with Sandalwood. Something simple that we could decorate more if we wanted

Imagine a strand of orange orchids (to contrast their plum saris) hanging from these fans.

Orchid pic from flickr

Another orchid pic

Hanging Orchids (not quite so many though)

If we go with bouquets, I was thinking about having each of them carry a different orange bouquet (again to constrast their plum colored saris). Each bouquet would be made of a single flower (calla lillies, orchids, roses, dahlias) in orange

Orange Dahlias from The Knot

Orange Roses from The Knot

Orange Calla Lilies from The Knot
I am being completely indecisive about this so I'm reaching out to the hive. Should my bridesmaids carry flower adorned fans or floral bouquets?

Bridesmaid and Flowergirl Loot

I thought I'd interrupt my posts on our ceremony to show the hive my bridesmaids and flowergirl outfits and their associated bling. My Mom and I went to Mumbai in December for one insane week of shopping and picked this all up in addition to 4 entire suitcases of saris, gifts, jewelry, etc.

I wanted to find four matching saris for my bridesmaids in a deep purple/plum color. Turns out it is insanely hard to find four matching saris and even harder to find them in a deep plum color. We were nearing the end of our trip so I decided to buy enough plum colored silk for four saris and four flower girl outfits. I also purchased some matching beaded borders. My Mom and I then took the fabric and borders to Sri Lanka to be custom made. I'm glad we did this in retrospect because I didn't have to settle for a random color or pattern I didn't like.

I first checked with my girls to see if they had any specific requests or things that might make them uncomfortable. A few of them were concerned with blouses that would expose their arms. Other than that, they gave me free reign. I made them a corset style, open back blouse. Its simple but the back is pretty stunning when they are on the girls. Note the built in bra cups for support :)

I wish I could show you a picture of the actual saris but I left them at home in California with my Mom. I'm such a spaz so I'm sure I would end up forgetting them in Boston.

Our flower girl blouses are of the same material but they are halter tops. Their outfits are lenghas (aka a skirt and blouse). I thought this would be much easier for them to wear and be comfortable in. Plus I just think its really cute when little girls wear lenghas and have their midriffs exposed. :)

The skirt border pattern:

In addition to the outfits, we wanted to get my bridesmaids some matching costume jewelry. We found this big marketplace in Mumbai that had hundreds and hundreds bangles. We were sort of in bling overload by the end but it was a lot of fun to pick out all the bangle sets for each of my girls. I got all of them the same sets except my MOH got a little more bling in hers.

Bridesmaids Bangles

MOH Bangles

We also picked up these earring and necklace sets for the girls to wear. We had them replace the pink colored beads with a deep plum color to match. I don't have a picture of the plum colored necklace set but this should give a pretty good idea.

Big ol' earrings

Big ol' necklace

Full jewelry set:

Although its customary in Sri Lanka for the bride to buy her bridesmaids their outfits, I know that is not generally the case. Did any of you buy your bridesmaids/flowergirls their outfits or jewelry for your wedding?

Ranking Your Love

The modern Sri Lankan wedding often borrows heavily from British traditions. We wear white/ivory colored sari’s, veils, and carry bridal bouquets. The modern Sri Lankan wedding also involves having a bridal party. So from the moment we were engaged, I started freaking out about choosing my bridesmaids. I know everyone has lots of different opinions and personal preferences on choosing bridesmaids. Like many brides, I have a lot of friends from different phases in my life and I really wasn’t sure how I could choose a bridal party without leaving someone out or offending anyone. If I had it my way I’d have 15 girls up there with me on my wedding day. Unfortunately that idea was vetoed early by both my parents and Mr. Margarita.

My maid of honor has been my best friend/soul mate since college so she was an easy choice. She’s a rock in my life and has always been there for me through thick and thin. From there I had a really hard time choosing from my very close group of college girlfriends, high school, graduate school friends, not to mention family and family friends. Eventually, with much difficulty and deliberation, I chose three more of my wonderful friends to be bridesmaids.

After my bridal party was formed, I decided I wanted to do something special for all my other wonderful girlfriends. Like Mrs. Jasmine, I picked up saris for my close friends and family from India. I paired the saris with a card letting them know how much they meant to me. I also want to invite my close girlfriends to get their nails done with us the day before the wedding. I'd love to invite them all over to get ready with me on my wedding day a la Mrs. Lovebug but I think that's just going to be too much chaos for me.

Did anyone else find it incredibly unnatural and difficult to rank your loved ones?