Nothing is ever easy.

The title becomes my mantra whenever things like wedding flowers derail forward momentum in my fuzzy mind's eye. I finally googled the quote to discover that this man is owed some Teacup props, and I'll admit he looks like a guy who might say something like that. With all due respect, sir:

Image via www.goodreads.com / Author Terry Goodkind

My eternal optimist fiance and I discovered a shirt in a Tahoe souvenir shop that explains the same sentiment a little differently...although Mr. Hot Tea feels that it accurately describes his dealings with me on occassion, and we both laugh when we see it - ha ha! Yes, this shirt is in my pajama rotation.

Image via www.vintagesnow.net

My trouble is that I didn't want to care about wedding flowers. Pretty enough, I prefer to show my love to succulent plants. To me they are the real-life translation of a Dr. Seuss book setting. Case in point, here's a look at our balcony, with not a traditional flower in sight.

Initial attempts at flower inspiration included these lovelies in the equation.

Image via theknot.com.au

Image via oceventstudio.wordpress.com / 
Floral design by Krista Jon /
 Marc Weisberg Photography

Succulents happen to be a major trend in wedding decor nowadays. And trends usually up the asking price. Since we decided that flowers fall low on the list of budgeted priorities, it was back to the drawing board. Several months, hundreds of more hours logged on google search and one parrot later, I found IT - floral perfection. 

Ahhhh, sweet flower relief and my new happy place! Thankfully, they go with decisions already made, especially the attire of the entire wedding party. Whew.

The fascinating part of the wedding planning process for me is that when I truly get it and it feels right, everything falls into place and is naturally very easy! Wait a minute, did I just say that?!  

And now here it is, my final flower inspiration you've all been patiently waiting to see...

Image via www.marthastewartweddings.com

I love Martha's description: "The secret to this bountiful bouquet's endless appeal: There's not a flower in the gathering that's truly monochromatic. Deep-purple anemones with saturated centers, tightly layered blush garden roses and ranunculus, speckled hellebores, mottled begonia leaves, and ruffly sweet peas in pink, lavender, and tangerine, cinched with a shimmery ribbon, give the eyes plenty to feast on."

Bonus for me, many of these flowers will be in season!

Now that I've revealed mine, what are your favorite flowers? And where does floral rank on your list of wedding priorities?

Survey Says....

This morning I thought about how I was painfully thrust back into my wedding planning process, and that we might play a guessing game in the style of Family Feud to make the memory fun for all of us.

Name 5 things you expect to see at a wedding ceremony:

1. Bride, check.

2. Groom, check. (I told you he loves beagles, didn't I?)

3. Rings, check.

4. Flowers, ch -?

[Sound of record needle scratching across the album for effect]

Oh, yeah. Flowers. 

See, we have a florist for personal and reception flowers. And we wanted to investigate whether our parish's altar society could source and decorate the church in a more *ahem* cost-effective manner for the ceremony. So my future-mother-in-law set up the meeting on that fateful Saturday morning.

And who better to extend a warm and friendly welcome to us than this?

No joke. He was not happy to see us. And with that, I can't even bear to know what awaits in the number 5 spot on the survey.

At least some'one' was there to greet us. Upon calling and finding our church contact was at a BBQ, we waited for the grower to come in from the fields to meet us. For our 10am appointment.  * SIGH *  Our flower idea was quickly costing me more in time and sanity that I cared to invest to get blooms done well at minimum cost.

AHA! I recalled a customer service lesson learned as an intelligence officer at the Pentagon:

Image via blog.jcaruso.com / Illustration by Joel Caruso

The philosophy succinctly captures the interaction of cost, quality, and speed. The challenge is that you can only have 2 aspects, not all 3. By applying this "Rule of 2" to wedding planning, I can decide what a task or project is worth. Here's how it works:

If it's GOOD and FAST, it can't be CHEAP.

If it's CHEAP and GOOD, you won't get it FAST.

If it's FAST and CHEAP, it won't be GOOD.

I wasn't getting anywhere close to 2 of these elements with the current approach to sourcing our ceremony flowers.  What a headache! So I did what any naturally introverted analytical would -- spend two hours scouring google images for floral inspiration.

Here's some of the loveliness I found:

Image via weddings.theknot.com / 

Bridal Bouquet: In Full Bloom Floral Studio / 

Photo by Patrick Grimes Photography

 Image via allegrophotography.com /

Floral by Nellie's Wild Flowers, Somerville, MA                                  

   

Image via flowersmcfarlandwi.com

Image via weddings.theknot.com /

Bridal Bouquet by Megan Fickling, La Partie Events/

Photography by Erin Hearts Court

Pretty, but not perfect. My tragic flaw is that my mind's eye has blurry vision. I have a fuzzy idea in my head like a Magic Eye 3-D picture. Remember those? You simultaneously squint and de-focus while holding it close to your face to make the image pop like a turkey thermometer.  In my world, I am unable to articulate what I want and can't figure it out without a lot of stress and strain. Sounds fun, huh? Unfortunately for those who love me, this trait is maddening to experience until I finally 'get' it. Like this:

Image via www.flixter.com

Do you see what I see? Welcome to my world!

Can you relate to my struggle or are you able to easily translate your ideas into reality?! Bonus points if you can tell me what 'pops' out of the 3-D image...