WANTED! Tips For ME...The Mother Of The Bride...

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NavyBrat

NavyBrat

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Aug 27, 2005
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My daughter's wedding is next Friday! It sure is going to be a challenge to be the florist and the mother of the bride! I feel like I have my act together, but my mind keeps re-thinking things...especially the flowers and set up! Another florist I know decided not to make the flowers for his daughter's wedding, but I can't even imagine not creating the flowers for Jessica's wedding day! So... I'm looking for some tips from those who "have been there" and some words of wisdom and encouragement! I will post pics after the big event! Thanx!

P.S. Would also appreciate advice on using amaryllis in her bouquet. I have never used them in a bride's bouquet before. Her bouquet is going to be red amaryllis, red intuition roses, seeded euc, hypericum with feathers surrounding the flowers. The amaryllis are coming in tomorrow...praying they will pop open in time!
 
Breathe and quit "rethinking"... that's where the trouble and frustration lies. I know she's your daughter, but if you can disassociate yourself from that huge fact while putting the flowers together you'll be better for it.

Personally, I refused to do the flowers for family weddings. But that was my decision.

Oh, have fun dam* it! ;)

V
 
Just a thought...

Diane, I know that your flowers will be GREAT!!!
But, have you thought of hiring someone other than you to set up the wedding, and reception, so that you can enjoy the day as the Mother of the Bride??

That way, you can enjoy your time with Jessica, be a part of the pictures, etc and not be rushing around, all frazzled!! Hire them to co-ordinate at the church also.

Just my opinion.....and, good luck with the amaryllis!

Best Regards,
Cheryl

ps. can't wait to see the pictures.
 
Cheryl, I totally agree with your thinking. I brought in some great designers from AIFD when my daughter got married and just told them the concept. That gave me time to throughly enjoy the people, the wedding, etc. Many great designers that are your friends won't even charge for this. They might use it for a trade out down the road.

I work with weddings all the time where the Mother is so busy doing stuff that she can't even remember what the wedding was like. This a very important time to enjoy with your daughter and guests. I promise you that it will be so much more enjoyable for everyone involved. Just do the planning and turn it over to another professional.
Carol Bice
 
Di,

Pshh, I did all the flowers for my wedding, 4 bouqets, 42 centerpieces, cake flowers, corsages, bouts, the whole nine yards....you'll be fine!!!

Best wishes to both you and Jess!!!!
 
Plan ahead!

My biggest piece of advice is this -- make everything as early in the week as you can, and try to have it all done by the end of the day Wednesday except for the small finishing touches. Hand tied bouquets are fine in water just like the flowers would be fine if still loose in buckets. Corsages and boutonnieres are generally fine when made two days ahead -- we make sure ours are sprayed with Crowning Glory or at least misted well with water and packed in tissue lined boxes or cello lined boxes. Centerpieces - if I were you I'd make them Tuesday if possible. They'll generally be fine in the cooler for a few days. Same with church flowers. Make early, make sure they all have a water source, and have someone check them again for water on Thursday. By not having a ton of stuff to do on Thursday, you'll be much less stressed.

As for amaryllis, keep in mind that the ends of their stems may want to curl - I would leave them long enough and then re-cut all of the bouquet stems shortly before the wedding to avoid any curling.

Good luck to you!!
 
This just flashed into my mind.

Dianne, I seem to remember from an earlier thread that you exposed your daughter to the music of "Savoy Brown" you better make sure that the D.J. (if there is one) doesn't play "Ring on her finger and a Ring through his nose" by Savoy Brown as their first dance.
:yourock:

Doug
 
Don't try to be everything to everyone on the day of the Wedding

Speaking from personal experience...have someone else take charge as much as possible. You be there for your daughter to help her get dressed (and nobody, don't let anyone take your place!), greet the guests and try to relax as much as you can. I have a horror story to share, but only through private message or phone calls about my own daughters wedding, about how I tried to be everything to everyone. It just doesn't work! Dianne, give me a call and we'll talk!

Twila
 
CHERYL BAKIN said:
Diane, I know that your flowers will be GREAT!!!
But, have you thought of hiring someone other than you to set up the wedding, and reception, so that you can enjoy the day as the Mother of the Bride??

That way, you can enjoy your time with Jessica, be a part of the pictures, etc and not be rushing around, all frazzled!! Hire them to co-ordinate at the church also.

Just my opinion.....and, good luck with the amaryllis!

Best Regards,
Cheryl

Excellent advise. I always give a "kind lecture " to the MOB & Bride about taking on too many things that will need placement the day of the wedding. Its fine to do it all ahead. But someone has to put things in place on the big day.
I may sound selfish, but I had a MOB that decided she was gonna DO IT ALL. I tried to caution her about taking on too much. She insisted she just needed me for the bouquets, bouts & corsages. I get to the church & she is in her beautiful dress with sweat beading up on her forehead. As church guests were arriving ( when she should have been greeting them) She was still placing
pew bows & silk altar flowers and a god awful plastic aisle runner. My heart wanted to help, my common sense said, If you help her YOU will look like you're late w/ your setup. So unfortunately, I left her to finish her setup.

I would strongly suggest you find someone else to help you. This is a Family Memory you need to take in & really enjoy the day!
Hope its a sunshiney, beautiful stress free day!:bouquet2:

Make it a great day!
Debbie
Click to expand...
 
Not sure how "large" the wedding is but I have done two large weddings for my two daughters (and a small one for the oldest's second marriage).
The two large ones, a good friend, came to help keep me organized and on track. The small one, I did myself. The trick was to use longer lasting flowers for centerpieces, hand tieds, and schedule the wedding times to give you enough time to get dressed and coiffed.....(was close to off schedule on one of these and I was the last to get my hair done)........
BUT, I had the best time doing all of these weddings and I'm one to keep busy, not sit around so busyness doesn't get to me too much.
Enjoy which ever way you do it........
 
Dianne -

You've received some great advice here - delegate and empower others to handle all but your 'Mom' job. :)

About those amaryllis - if you're using individual blooms in a Wedding Belle (faux stems attached to the handle to look hand-tied), cut each blossom off the main stem, insert a small toothpick into the bloom base, tape the base of the flower and toothpick in light green and insert into the holder. Place the amaryllis blooms first as the flowers are 'deep' and are easier to work around than to add in later.

To hydrate the amaryllis a quickly as possible, cut the stems short, turn them upside down and fill with water, add a wood pick or hyacinth stake the length of the stem, and then finish with 'plugs' of oasis to keep the stems filled with water. They should pop open in a few days. :)

HTH - Have fun!
 
Loads of good advice here - I'd offer to help if we didn't have two large-ish weddings, a bat mitzvah and a party here!

Hope you can take the time to have fun - I know your flowers will be incredible! Please post pics after.

Agreed on the amaryllis stem curl, though if need be they can be plucked off and individually inserted into a bouquet - add a little wet cotton/tissue if you do. Great tip about the oasis plug for quick opening - I'll have to remember that.

best wishes!
tracy
 
Thanks to all for posting your advice and good wishes! I agree with those who posted that I should take a lot of the pressure off by having others take care of many of the details. Fortunately, I have a top notch staff, who will do whatever it takes to make my daughter's wedding beautiful and memorable! I am truly blessed!

Heather-you are my idol! If you could make all the flowers for your own wedding, it should be a breeze for me to make Jessica's! I couldn't even imagine not being at the shop to make the flowers for my own daughter's wedding! Thanks for the inspiration!

Rich-you are so right on! Planning is key! The centerpieces are going to be 24" tall rectangular vases with submerged orchids. Rick King offered me plenty of advice for creating these spectacular designs. We have test run the arrangement in the shop twice, so we know exactly how to prepare for the big day! Thanks, Rick! The ceremony will be held right at the venue. The decorations will be simple but elegant. We have detailed planning, so I'm expecting the affair to go off without a hitch! Even if something does go awry...I'm not gonna let it spoil the day!

Cathy-Many thanks for your advice on opening the amaryllis. I will be using them in a hand tied bouquet with red intuition roses for Jess. The amaryllis came in today and they are "plugged"...baby! Can't wait to see if they popped tomorrow!

Doug-LOL! I will be walking Jess down the aisle to the tune of "Sweet Child Of Mine" by Guns & Roses! See the influence rock n' roll has on your children? The wedding will be anything but traditional. The band is called Martha Graham Cracker. The lead singer is a 6' 4" drag queen. My singer/actress daughter will be performing with the band at the reception...perhaps she'll surprise me with a tune from Savoy Brown! I know she is singing a tune in memory of her grandfather. It will surely bring my mother to tears. The song was "their song" which is "La Mer" better known as "Beyond The Sea". I hope I can keep my composure!

Twila-Uh...no...I don't want to hear any horror stories prior to the wedding! You and I will have to chat after the wedding. I can tell you this much-Jessica's wedding couldn't possibly compare to mine when it comes to horror! I'll look forward to chatting with you and seeing if you can beat my tales of wedding nightmares!

Rhonda-You are a gal after my own heart! I couldn't even imagine sitting around and not being part of the decorating! It would drive me stir crazy! It will bring joy to heart knowing that I created the flowers for my daughter's wedding.

Tracy-Don't give me all these excuses! You just better find time to get your arse out to Medford and help me "massage" some flowers! Hmm...some friend you turned out to be! :)

Thanks to all! I will post lots of pics after the wedding!
 
Best of Luck, you will do grea:blowkiss:t!!! Can't wait to see the pics and if I lived Closer I would come help ya for free!!! Just remember to have fun and don't get too stressed:tread:!!!!!!!!
Sorry I didn't reply sooner, but I have been really busy at the shop and I don't get a chance to get on here as much!!!
 
Dianne.....

as the Mother of the beautiful bride Jess, your ONLY job is to make sure that your daughter has as stress free a wonderful memory!!
It's pretty important to "isolate" YOUR sense of urgency, and "picture perfect" efforts, with a clear understanding that ONCE the day of the wedding arrives, YOU'VE done ALL you can, to make it that special day!!
IF something is not just "perfect"....let it go, or it'll eat you up!!
Your kid is just as bright as her mom, and ALREADY KNOWS, you've done, all that you can......
IF it rains, it rains, IF it snows, it snows, IF the amaryllis won't open, it WON'T open.
By the way...your "description" of Jess's brides bouquet sounds a tad "heavy".......eh......so what!! :):beerHave fun!!
 
Dianne,
I can't believe you've been on here, and didn't update this thread!!
How did it go?!?!

:)
tracy
 
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