Yes another post about cake.

My fiancee was perusing the Wedding Plans Livejournal community when she found this lovely wedding in South Africa. I loved the photographs, the overall vibe they gave to the outdoor wedding, but I particularly loved the cake setup.

kimjav245

That is exactly the layout I’d like. A small cake on top, white frosting, simple (but minus the ribbon). And I’d like it to sit up on top of a collection of desserts. And instead of flowers on the top, I’d want a cake topper. I haven’t figured out which one yet but I’d like it to be awesome.

But besides the cake, the overall feel of that wedding is fantastic. The bride looks lovely (and is wearing a dress with straps!). The couple looks like they go together. I really like the one button suit the groom wore. And I think the bridesmaid dresses work. All in all, an extremely well put together wedding. I hope, when people look back at my wedding, that’s what they’ll say about mine.

Dried flowers are for the birds

Do you know how much a bride’s bouquet costs? $150 dollars.

That’s right. A florist charges you $150 dollars to create a little creation that you carry with you down the aisle, gets photographed to death, and then is manhandled when you toss it into a huge throng of women who then rip it to shreds trying to catch it. The life of a bride’s bouquet is short, not sweet, and incredibly violent. If I was that bouquet, I’d feel pretty sleezy and used.

Bridemaid’s bouquets can cost near $100 each and don’t suffer as nearly as a bad fate but they are only used for a few hours. After that, they’re either tossed into the trash or “dried”. What’s dried? Well, young women try to dry the flowers out, hang them upside down, but what usually happens is that they’re not very secure, they attract pests, and the gradually wilt, fall to the flower, and end up in the trash bin. Now, yes, if they’re done well, they are very pretty and they will be shown in pictures with your lovely dress but bouquets don’t last and they can also be limiting if you decide that your wedding shouldn’t be entirely wiltable. Plus, if you’re poor, spending a huge amount of money on flowers is probably the first thing you’re gonna cut from your budget. And when you at up the boutonnieres for the groom and his army, flowers start to get expensive.

But luckily you can spend less money, get some toys that even more elaborate and decadent that a florist could provide, and these suckers would actually last. I give you faux flower bouquets by Design Whimsy.

il_430xn52956197
Bridal Bouquet- Vintage Inspired $87.50

il_430xn60541384
Wedding Boutonniere $15

il_430xn57760002
Small and Quaint Bridesmaid bouquet $35.00

il_430xn52958019
Wedding Day brooches $35.00

My fiancee loves this stuff. It’ll fit in great with the overall feel of our church, her dress, and is a much more flexible and tangible way to carry flowers down the aisle. Plus, it’s cheaper than anything you could get from a florist in NYC for anything of similar shape, size, style, weight, etc. The closer it gets to the wedding, the more likely it is that we’ll place a custom order (and most of this stuff is custom made) for something similar to the items above. It’s awesome stuff.