We got married on a beautiful, sunny August afternoon in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota alongside one of Minnesota's 10,000 lakes. Little did we know when we had met almost six years prior to the day, and a few blocks down the road, we would be soon be standing side-by-side once again ready to face the rest of our lives together. We both knew we wanted a wedding where we could have all our friends and family come together in one of our most cherished places to help us celebrate in marriage. I have to say that during the beginning of the wedding planning process, flowers really weren't high on my priority list. My focus had been on location (so our family could be there to celebrate), food (everyone loves a good meal right?!), and music (because that's the one thing I knew my husband cared about). Along the wedding planning process, one of my family members had mentioned just doing lots of candles and have the bouquets be broaches (with no money spent on flowers... but that just didn't seem like a wedding to me), so I set out on the DIY flower planning process (my soon-to-be husband has a green thumb... so I figured we had this). My husband and I love to DIY projects and create one of a kind designs… many of the items designed for the wedding were DIY pieces that he and I had built together. I spent countless hours researching various types of flowers and their needs (hydrations needs, longevity in the sun, time to bloom, seasonality, etc). At first, I wasn't sure what types of flowers I wanted for the wedding but after many google searches, Pinterest and Instagram scrolling, and magazine scanning... I found a vision that had suited me. I wanted florals that were loosely structured with bright blush and ivory tones in a variety of shapes and textures. I wanted arrangements that matched our personalities and wedding style. I was looking for something upscale, but casual with some structure for support, and a lot of loosenesses to roll in the wind. With the variety of textures, arrangements, and types of flowers I wanted, I knew I would have trouble affording and obtaining the flowers for our special day. So, I did what I do best... I did more research. In one of my searches, I ran across FiftyFlowers and a few other companies who supply flowers for the DIY bride. FiftyFlowers was definitely the best route to accomplish my vision for floral arrangements right off the bat! They make it so easy to pick flowers based on color, type, season, and floral details. The added benefit, they had this awesome functionality that helped you "Make This Look!" It was so wonderful to scroll through examples and look at the various flower inspirations. Then you were able to adjust the arrangement recipes to make your own recipe. Such an amazing functionally that no other companies had available! Along the way, I used the chat function to help with any additional questions I had. They were always so friendly and helpful. In one instance, they tried their best to get a certain type of dahlia for me. It, unfortunately, didn't work out, but I really appreciated their sales clerks helping to try and make my dreams happen. In addition to asking FiftyFlowers MANY, MANY, MANY ( I mean MANY…) questions, I took a short flower arrangement course and watched countless YouTube videos to gain the confidence needed to complete the project. FiftyFlowers contacted me to help with the initial arrangements for delivery and all was right on track. The week of the wedding came and I was so excited for the flowers to show up mid-week, but it didn't happen. I was contacted late in the day after the flowers were supposed to be delivered and the flowers had been held up due to some wildfires in the south. I was assured that the flowers would be delivered the following day and all would be well. Hours ticked by on Thursday, and still no flowers. FiftyFlowers called to let me know that the flowers were unable to be delivered AGAIN (per the delivery company) due to some weather in the area (there was never a raindrop or cloud in the sky that day locally so I had no idea what UPS was talking about). I was now panicking. I was assured again the flowers would be delivered the following day (Friday), but this would be too late due to rehearsal and rehearsal dinner (we were doing the rehearsal dinner ourselves). I asked if anything could be done as the flowers had arrived locally, but were just unable to be delivered. After a few calls back and forth between FiftyFlowers, UPS, and the Mother-of-the-Bride, they were able to get UPS to approve the opening of the container (truck) and for the flowers to be picked up at the local UPS facility. I was so elated for all the effort that everyone went through (especially FiftyFlowers) to get the flowers to us on Thursday night so we could prep the flower properly for the arrangements. We prepped the flowers based on the specific care directions provided by FiftyFlowers and by the time of the wedding they had all opened up so beautifully. The living room was littered with flowers in the days leading up to the wedding. It smelt so amazing and looked like a dream with all the various florals around. With the help of my amazing parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and family friends, we all set out to arrange the florals for the wedding. We made numerous centerpieces and ceremony and aisle arrangements (I stopped counting after a while). It was so much fun spending this time with friends and family members putting the arrangements together. It was an amazing moment/memory and its one that I will never forget! The wedding was absolutely beautiful and what I had always dreamt of... but it was the flowers that everyone raved about! I still get comments every time the wedding comes up about how beautiful the arrangements were (little did everyone know... we did them ourselves). It was so much fun creating arrangements and it allowed me to have the flowers of my dreams on an affordable budget. FiftyFlowers definitely made my dream happen! I know it can seem that DIYing your flowers right before your wedding is a big task, but it's a totally manageable and amazing experience. The flowers were delivered in time for the wedding, they bloomed as described, and the help along the way from FiftyFlowers was outstanding. I have referred friends who are having upcoming weddings to FiftyFlowers because DIYing your wedding flowers was honestly a blast…. and who knows.... maybe I will be using FiftyFlowers here again in a few months for a spring-time tea-party/baby shower (wink... wink... there might be a baby on the way (but… shhhhh… the family doesn't know about it yet). Working with FiftyFlowers again in many future gatherings will defiantly be happening as I had just an amazing experience (I just might have found my newest passion... flower arrangements...:) ) Much Love, XOXOXO, Mr. & Mrs. Bernhagen
