The latest thing on my mind is flowers! We’ve just started meeting with florists and I am loving pulling inspiration for this part of the wedding planning. I have a pretty clear point of view of what I want, so it has been fun to find the images that represent that vision.

In meeting with the florist, I got a whole other list of things to consider with flowers. There is so much involved in florals, and I have to say, I am loving every second of it.

I know I’m looking for something with great texture—my dress has texture, the guys will likely be in great linen suits—so I want the flowers to compliment that look. I also want my flowers to have a little personality! Instead of the traditional roses and orchids, I love dahlias, succulents, thistles and ranunculus.

Here’s some of my favorite inspiration.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

I learned a lot from the florist as well, so here are some things to think about that you might not have been considering:
* What kind of vessels do you want your centerpieces in? Glass, wood, metal or not shown at all?
* What color do you want your bouquet to be? That color scheme might be a bit different that you imagine for the rest of the wedding flowers (more white, etc.).
* What do you want to do for aisle décor? Two big arrangements at the back of the aisle or smaller arrangements down the aisle? What about aisle petals?
* Are there any other (less typical) places you want flowers? For example, our venue is a house, so I’m thinking of doing a wreath on the door that matches the rest of the wedding flowers.
* Is there anything you can repurpose? Bridesmaid bouquets on the cake table? Or, could you even use flowers from the rehearsal dinner on cocktail tables, gift tables or in the bathroom?
* Don’t forget votives (especially for outdoor weddings)—it doesn’t matter how pretty the flowers are if you can’t see them after dark!

Sources: Unique Vessels 1, 2, 3; Aisle Decore 1, 2; Cake Table

Anyone else have great tips and tricks for wedding flowers? Good inspiration or things I might not have thought of?

You may remember this post from a few weeks ago, as I was pulling together inspiration for our meeting with the florist. Well, we recently had our first floral meeting and I could not be more inspired. I took my mom along with me (Dan had no interest in accompanying us) and I arrived prepared with photos of my inspiration, a bag full of possible items to incorporate into the centerpieces, and of course, my laptop and camera.

We arrived at our appointment and filled out the necessary paper work. I was so nervous the owner was going to throw me out of there for trying to design the flowers without having chose bridesmaids dresses or even having an established color scheme. I explained to her that I had more of a clear vision of what I want for flowers than for the dresses. The owner, obviously a lover of flowers herself, completely understood my thought process and was happy to see my vision.

{Inspiration}:

one, two, three, four

I showed her the photos I brought and she immediately got my vision. Hold on, she said. I’ll be right back. She was gone for a good 15 minutes, then came back with this and I nearly cried.

Bridesmaid Bouquet

I cannot believe how perfectly she executed my vision.

Blush pink and ivory roses, a couple of perfect peonies and just a hint of green. She put the entire bouquet together and wrapped it with a champagne ribbon. Blush pink, ivory and champagne? We found the perfect color palette! Then she explained that this bouquet is for my girls. She will come up with something with more pink for my bouquet and will prepare sample centerpieces for our next meeting. Then, as if things could not get any better, as we were wrapping up our meeting, she handed me the bouquet. Here, I made it for you. You love it so much you have to keep it. Go home and put it in some water. I was in heaven.

Inspiration, actual

I think I actually like my bouquet better : )

I have completed the most difficult and daunting task on my wedding planning list, thus far. We have officially locked down our venue! HOORAY! Vinnie and I will be getting hitched on November 4, 2012 at the Hotel Maya in Long Beach, California. Originally, we wanted our date to be October 20th, which is a Saturday, however, that changed when we saw the premium places charged for a Saturday evening wedding. (FYI, for those of you brides out there scouting out venues, you can save close to $10,000 just by switching your celebration to a Friday or Sunday.) We opted for a Sunday and pushed back our date to the first weekend in November, which gave us an additional 15% off… Score!

Now that we have our venue, I’ve realized that my color scheme may have to be tweaked a little bit. What I know for sure is that I LOVE succulent plants, so my palette should complement that cool sage green. I also want to have some bright colors to add to our killer outdoor ambiance at the Maya. The decor and vibe there is ” Mayan Mystique meets Urban Chic…. alluring fusion of Latin American and Southern Californian style.”

You might be reading this thinking, ‘wait a minute, didn’t Taya say her dream wedding would be in Palm Springs?’ Yes, you’re right. In my last post I wrote about how I fell in love with the Colony Palms Hotel in the desert. Well, when I got back to Los Angeles I decided to reach out to a friend of mine, Laura, who also happens to be a wedding planner. She and I met for a glass of wine and french fries (that’s how I roll) to brainstorm other locations that had a vibe I wanted, and were more affordable and easier for people to travel to. I told her how I loved the old Spanish charm of the Colony Palms, along with its cool mid-century chic vibe, and that I envisioned getting married somewhere unique… somewhere with palm trees that felt like an escape. She recommended the Hotel Maya.

Hotel Maya Color Inspiration

Long story short: I went on my own to tour the grounds. Later that week Vinnie, his parents, my MOH and I enjoyed Sunday brunch there, and that pretty much sealed the deal. (PS, the food is AMAZING!) The hotel is owned by Hilton and they recently had a $10mil renovation. The secret is slowly getting out on what a fabulous location it is for an event. In 2009 they had about 45 weddings, last year almost 100, and in 2012 even more!

Hotel Maya Color Inspiration

Side note: When Vinnie’s parents got married in San Pedro 30+ years ago, his mom wanted to spend their wedding night at this hotel!! Even though they ended up staying somewhere else, she always remembered how special the location was. It was cool to hear them reminisce about it ;-)

Now that we have our venue it’s time to send out save the dates, design invites, etc.

So, what’s my new challenge? Setting the tone and vibe of our wedding through COLORS. It’s likely that our save the dates will be similar in design to our invitations. I’ve let my creative juices start flowing over the holiday weekend and this is what I’ve been inspired by so far. I want something modern with a hint of Spanish/Latin American influence.

As previously mentioned, I LOVE succulents! They will definitely be  in my floral arrangements and table centerpieces. I’m also really digging the grey and yellow. What do you think?

Hotel Maya Color Inspiration