The Goal : Green & White
Our first task was preparing for the engagement day. My mother is every bit a perfectionist and control freak, so I tried to go for a simple color scheme which would minimize the possibility of unmatched things - a big disaster in mom's book.I already had a gorgeous chartreuse kebaya in the making, so I went with a green & white scheme. Since the engagement was a small affair, I tried to DIY a lot of stuff too - also to minimize any drama caused by unruly vendors.
The Glitch
DIY is haaaaard, y'all!!! It's a lot of detailed work, not ideal when you have a busy working schedule. It would've been great if I had Santa's elf crew, or bridesmaids, or a hybrid of both, but I didn't. My girls were super busy career gals who could care less about weddings, for them to be able to attend it was enough support in itself. I kinda understand since I used to be like that myself a short while ago - you know, right about before a guy asked me to marry him. I know now why it's called Do It Yourself.
I set out to make pretty tissue paper flowers, but it was too much work than I can handle. I'm no crafty gal. So fresh flowers it is then! I intended to use local or cheaper flowers rather than the imported ones, so off we went to Pasar Rawa Belong, a local market specializing in fresh flowers.
The Greeneries
After walking through the market, rebuffing each stall owner's offers of imported roses and other expensive varieties, I finally decided on the flowers I wanted. To cut down on costs, I made a special arrangement with the florists : I set a ceiling budget for the flowers, the florists will then bring the flowers I chose on the morning of the event, I will determine which location points to be decorated and provide all kinds of available vases/glasses/jars/containers for them to put it in. Voila!
My biggest splurge was the Casablanca Lilies. These are my favorite flowers of all time, but since they were rather expensive I only bought several stems just enough for one big centerpiece.
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Casablanca Lilies, from Pinterest |
I love Hydrangeas, they're fairly cheap and make an instant statement by themselves. And they naturally come in green!
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Hydrangeas, via Pinterest |
Green Button Mums (or Kermit Mums or Yoko Ono) are the cutest things! They're pretty versatile and hardy, and you can come up with all sorts of arrangements.
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Green Button Mums, via Pinterest |
Mom loves Tuberoses, and the smell really provides some warmth to a room. Thankfully this is a local flower in Indonesia, and is very often used in traditional ceremonies as well.
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Tuberose, from Pinterest |
I rounded things up with some baby's breath, and assorted button mums for a little hint of color.
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Baby's breath, image from Style Me Pretty |
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I arranged these last minute to cover up the grimy bannister |
Good to Know
Here are some really pretty flowers you can use if you're thinking of a green color scheme. I found this inspiration board from The Flower Muse. Oh how I wish I'd found it way back when I was actually planning my engagement.