how i picked my flowers

A scene from the Flower Market.

As noted earlier, I am not a bride who budgeted 100 grand for my floral arrangements. You think I'm joking on that figure? Welcome to Manhattan.

That being said, even I realized that empty dining room tables and bouquets made out of gift ribbon probably wouldn't cut it for a black-tie affair. And so, in an exceedingly rare moment of self-restraint, I'm going pretty low-key for mes fleurs. You'll have to wait until after the day for the reveal, but my florists -- the lovely and stylish ladies at Bloomers -- and I went over a few key areas where floral decoration will really add that jazz hands factor. I'll break it down by timing:

1) The Ceremony:

- Eventually I'll get around to writing a post on how we're incorporating Jewish traditions, but yes, we are having a chuppah. There will be flowers on this as well as non-floral decorations in the space that will be mirrored during the reception. Is the anticipation killing you?!

- Probably the most significant florals are the bouquets. I'm going monochromatic here and, alas, cannot have peonies so I'm hunting for something similar fluffy. Like a kitten. Can I have a bouquet made out of kittens? Why didn't I think of this already?

- I think we're eschewing (bless you) the boutonnieres, but mothers, weigh in if you feel strongly on this.

2) The Reception 

- We're budgeting for 25-30 tables and most florists have told me that even if you want high centerpieces, the room will look rather one-note if they're all the same height. So we're doing half high and half low. I've seen more or less what the final pieces will look like and they're pretty much exactly what I envisioned. Thanks, Bloomers!

- Many wedding cakes will include real flowers and oftentimes your cake maker will actually ask for your florist's information so they can put their heads together. We're going a slightly less traditional route, but I still think this is a lovely idea.

These are kind of fluffy?

Last week I woke up early -- like Folger's commercial early -- to meet the Bloomer's gals at the Flower Market to see what's in season. If you've never been, it's an allergy sufferer's nightmare, but I think I did spy another starry-eyed bride or two. It also smells delicious and everyone was quite friendly, which is weird in New York.

For someone like me, who is pretty much illiterate in the world of flora, it was very helpful to put faces to names, so to speak. Although every time I pointed to a flower I liked, it turned out it was another variation of a peony. Peonies, because they're big assholes, end their season about 10 days before our wedding, around July 4th. But! I definitely found flowers that I'm more than happy with for my bouquet and our centerpieces. Success. And all before 8 AM.