Doubly Happy Too: 愛-Vey! Welcome to the No-Rose Zone

I adore flowers, but I have to admit that I wasn't one of those brides who obsessed about the personal flowers for the wedding. I had more of a "feel" than a concrete vision: I pictured slightly wild, romantic, not overly-manicured florals -- more Grey Gardens than Cantitoe Corners. Kate, our awesome florist, took my vague suggestions and made prettiness happen.

The bridal party bouquets were each composed of a single type of mauvish or purplish flower, with minimum greenery. I don't know how the ladies ended up picking their bouquets (I like to think that arm wrestling was involved), but each seemed to have ended up with a flower that suited her personality.

What tied the bouquets together, other than the color scheme, was the bit of Chinoiserie fabric that Kate wrapped around the stems. I purchased the fabric in China, and it was used not only in the bouquets but also in the reception centerpieces. I loved how Kate found a flower to correspond with each color in the fabric.

The variety in the bouquets, I thought, would deemphasize the matchiness of the dresses.

As for my own bouquet, I wasn't too nitpicky about it. The only rules I gave Kate were: 1) no roses (I'm sorry for being such a rosist, but I am not a big fan), and 2) don't make it too perfect. I wanted a vintagey, freshly-gathered-from-the-rambling-country-garden-out-back look. I loved what Kate came up with. The dusty miller picked up the silver in the sisters-of-honor dresses, and the peonies, ranunculuses (ranunculi? LOL), and dahlias were gorgeous. The overall style was very close to that of my favorite New York florist, Saipua.

Even though I loved the bouquet, I still managed to forget to take it back with me down the aisle after the ceremony. My mom ended up doing the recessional with two bouquets! All in all, I think I had my bouquet with me for about 1% of the day. That was an expensive 1%!

Speaking of Hot Mama Cocoa, she and Hot Grandma Cocoa, as well as as MIL HC and Bubbie HC carried single-flower nosegays. MIL HC and Bubbie HC picked dinner-plate dahlias, while my mom and grandmother chose orchids.

In traditional Chinese weddings, even female family members usually wear boutonnieres (with -- ugh -- red ribbons labeled with their title), but my mom and grandmother would have had a conniption if I were to suggest that they make tiny holes in their outfits with pins. Whew. Thank goodness that in my family, vanity beats tradition every time!

The groomspersons also sported single-bloom boutonnieres. Each, like the bridal party bouquets, was unique, while at the same time picking up the lilac shades in their Banana Republic ties.

I like to think that here they are smiling out of their love for their chic bouts. More likely they were laughing at my forcing them to wear matching lilac argyle socks.

Mr. HC's boutonniere had a bit of dusty miller and a few mini versions of the blooms in my bouquet.