Hi everyone! It's Erin (I am Maya aka Violets' sister) ERIN: When I got engaged (almost 3 years ago to the day from when we got married!) I knew three things: I was so happy to marry Joe, I wanted beautiful pink/coral/orange/blush colors and I wanted to get married OUTSIDE with the beautiful Colorado nature as a backdrop and most of all: PEONIES and GARDEN ROSES! So much so, we extended our engagement to allow all our family and friends' schedules to mesh with our destination wedding since everyone but us was traveling from either side of the country. Thankfully, I have a floral designer/wedding planner in the family, so right away we knew what flowers/colors & we were going with - you probably will want to think this over. {MAYAS note: I actually called Erin the *minute* we found out she and Joe were engaged and asked, "So are we still on for coral, peach, orange, hot pink, blush and cream with LOTS of peonies and garden roses? And she said, "yep" and that was about it! But I've known her since she was born, I named her, for that matter! So, I would suggest that you do a free consult call with me so we can get your choices down pat!} All that really remained was to pick a date, venue, and a few small details, and we were done! Fast forward to May of 2018, I received a ton of well-packaged, easy to open, fragrant (wow!! they smelled SO good!! My whole house smelled like perfume between the garden roses, the peonies, and the stock!) I was able to open all flower boxes and cut them and put them in water buckets on my own, and then transported them to the rental house where my sister was staying so she could put everything together. Out of HUNDREDS of flowers, I had maybe 3 of the snapdragons' tips pop off, and we were easily able to use them in smaller arrangements/personal flowers. I was amazed by how well FiftyFlowers packaged everything from delicate garden roses and hydrangeas and peonies to the greenery. Delivery was seamless and they hydrated perfectly just by following the care tips. Customer service was SUPER responsive, I loved getting phone calls and follow up text messages to keep me on track. Even though my peonies had a one day delay, they came in great shape and bloomed out perfectly to larger-than-fist sized (but not too open!) dreamy blooms! It was exactly what I'd always dreamed of for my wedding day! Our wedding was full of hand-made and unique things that were done by my family (My pro tip: be related to someone who is a self-declared "flower maniac!"). My dad and amazing brother-in-law (he's Maya's husband, thanks a million Dad and RB!!) cut down a bunch of aspen trees and built our wedding trellis, then hauled it over two 10,000 foot mountain passes and then to the MIDDLE of the park, set it up in the rain, and made our ceremony site breathtaking. We plan on using it at our future home. Maya watercolored a flower inspiration picture that ended up being our save the date, and designed a custom monogram for us reflecting the flowers and colors that I love. Would I have wanted to tackle this job totally *on my own?* NO WAY! However, with a little help from my loved ones, our wedding was incredible and gathered RAVE reviews from well-heeled guests from New York, San Francisco, Chicago, etc - people that are used to seeing good design/pretty flowers are still literally RAVING about how epic and gorgeous our wedding flowers were! I dropped off bulk flowers to my Maya and then got to relax and enjoy our rehearsal dinner and wedding day prep. When I came to our wedding venue, the gorgeous Chautauqua Park / Chautauqua Dining hall in Boulder (special note for all Boulder area brides: THIS place is amazing and the food was EPIC! Everyone said the venue was so cute and it was perfect for our group of 50 people- cute, cozy, comfortable, and loaded with character! Props to Nia and the super helpful and friendly and kind staff as well!) So my first impression on walking into the venue and seeing everything set up took me by surprise; everything was so rich and lush! I did not see our trellis until I was under it, getting married, and it literally took my breath away; I'm STILL looking at the pictures to try and take it all in! I was stunned by the arch and its' lush 'boa" of flowers and the beautiful sheer drapery, and we were able to re-use the flowers from it at the reception, thanks to them being designed to come off in three pieces so they could be used on their own. {MAYA's note: We used three of the VERY LARGE! caged oasis to make this look - Each of these was about 3.5 feet from end to end, and they are easy to transport if you have an SUV, as they sit on their flat bases. I put them on upside down empty 5 gallon buckets to easily design onto from all sides.) HUGE GIANT THANK YOUS TO THE ENTIRE FIFTYFLOWERS TEAM! (but especially my supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! sister, Maya aka Violet) MAYA's notes: As noted above, I definitely did not need to "consult" with Erin on her colors or style (what else are sisters for?) - But we definitely pared down our different choices, colors and textures, as well as added in a touch of creamy white (hydrangeas, 100 white roses and a few of the garden roses) as we got closer to the wedding date. Since Erin and Joe only booked their venue 5 months before the wedding, the choices were fairly easy to make - and even though they got married on Mothers' Day Weekend (aka the Busiest Flower Holiday of the ENTIRE YEAR!!) FiftyFlowers totally stoked us out with FRESH!! and hardy and STUNNING flowers. What I made: -1 Bridal Bouquet (and how!) -3 large (I'd say VERY large) arch pieces that were re-used in different areas at the reception. Pro Tip: Use zip ties for easy fastening/undoing! -9 x 6.5 inch diameter opening vases (Pro Tip: remember to get our clear waterproof flower tape so you can skip the flower foam) -1 sweetheart table garland, loaded with a mix of their flowers in water tubes to stay fresh all night long! -2 dog leash/flower girl bouquets for our sweet little nieces, Ava and Endora, and Erins' beloved dogs, Cash and Rebel :) -2 Moms' bouquets (Pro tip: Don't forget the moms!!) -2 Sisters' bouquets (who are we kidding here? I wanted in on the fun, so I made one for me and our baby sister as well!) -Cake flowers (I actually gave the venue a large bucket of flowers) -9 or so buttonholes for the men, 9 wrist ties for ladies (I keep these fresh in water tubes with their natural stems till pinning) -1 large welcome arrangement at the reception -8 chair pieces that we re-used here and there at the ceremony and on the mantle -3 mini vases that were used here and there at memory tables and on the fireplace.
