Inspirations: Pop! Pop! Pop!

If you spend enough time with me, you'll know that I'm in love with soda bars. And with my sweet tooth, you probably know that I love those fruity, girlie flavors like Green Apple by Jones Soda.

I think it's a great alternative to the signature cocktail and let's be honest - it's so AFFORDABLE!!!! and they look so cute. Can't you imagine them all lined up like little soldiers?

Not only that, but soda pop has a great array of color that you can choose from so there is no shortage of choices to mix with any color palette.

I know that I'm suppose to introduce creative concepts but I had to "steal" this colorful inspiration board from my friends over at Project Wedding. It's fantastic.

So when you need to trim your budget, forgo the specialty cocktail at $10 a pop and introduce a little pop soda at less than $3.00 a bottle.

Behind the Scenes: The Story Within

I know I am not suppose to write this week since I'm taking a break...but I had to just share this one little photo and story of this Peonies bouquet!!!! ENJOY!

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A week ago, I had the pleasure of working with Chenin Boutwell of Boutwell Studio and Alice Grisez(I'm a big fan!). The wedding at the Fairmont Hotel was held on July 4th so you know it had to be special.

I'm going to do a more detailed story on Lindsey and Chris' wedding but I wanted to share with you one image by the talented Chenin Boutwell. You can see more of the gorgeous images from Lindsey and Chris' wedding on Chenin's amazing blog(love her soft romantic and fresh style).

And for those who aren't sure, yes, that was an all Peonies bouquet. Before everyone starts planning on Peonies for July, please be warned, we treated these Peonies with kid gloves. Lindsey's bouquet was an all David Austen garden rose bouquet in a soft cream and I had planned to go with the all rose bouquet knowing that the chance of an all white Peonies bouquet was very slim. During our wedding planning process Lindsey told me how much she loved Peonies and had her heart set on them but knew that the chance of getting Peonies the week of her wedding was very unlikely. Never once did I let on that I secretly had an idea....

To prepare for it....

The week prior, I decided to hold 25 stems of white Peonies from June 24th in my cooler. In our walk in cooler, we set it at a little below 40 degrees, I babied them for more than 7 days - keeping them hydrated, re-trimming them, placing paper around them to keep them from shattering and finally spraying the entire bouquet with Crowning Glory before we delivered them. In order to make this bouquet, we had to throw out 10 peonies in order to get the 15 I needed to make this delicious bouquet. So if you are even thinking about it, you need much more Peonies in order to make it. I knew the chance I was taking and that is why I never once told Lindsey that I could deliver her the bouquet. Even the morning of the wedding, I was nervous when I checked the cooler..but it stayed beautiful!!!
(And yes, praying does help!!!! )

Let me say one last thing, when Lindsey saw the Peonies bouquet, she was beyond thrilled. Her radiant smile and genuine happiness made the day(and the week of nursing the Peonies) worthwhile. Though I knew that Lindsey would also like the David Austen bouquet that we made, I'm glad that she walked down the aisle with the Peonies bouquet because it was a labor of love! Congrats Lindsey and Thanks Chenin!!!

Real Groom: What to Ask the Florist - Part Two

Last week, Real Groom, Danny Lai began a post entitled "What to ask the florist?". It's not just what to ask but also what to look for. Today, we are featuring the second part to Danny's great post. Enjoy!

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Inspirations -

When interviewing your floral designer, you simply should provide keywords describing your floral vision, and leave it up to the floral designer to show you ways to represent it visually. For instance, we used words such as "minimalist", "slightly asian", and "not pink" to describe our wedding, and left it up to our floral designer[Nancy Liu Chin], to show us how she would design the layout and arrangements.

Usually, a florist will [show] photographs of past work, or perhaps simple sketches or drawings.

Pay attention,
Take notes
Make suggestions to these proposals and sketches

This consultation is [sometimes] complimentary, and if the floral designer is good, you will discover new and interesting ideas to incorporate into your vision.

Collaborations -

Your wedding is a symphony of artists: photographers, videographers, floral designers, etc. As such, each artist has worked with many other artists.

Find out which wedding planners, photographers the floral designer has enjoyed working with in the past, and see if the names match those of the vendors you have chosen.
There's something to be said for the peace of mind in knowing that your floral designer has enjoyed working with your other vendors in the past.

When all of your vendors get along and play off of each other's vision and ideas, each vendor (including the floral designer) is much more willing to go the extra bit for your wedding.

Schedule -

Make sure that your floral designer has his/her priorities straight.

Have they been responsive by phone or email?

Do they plan to be on vacation the week or two leading up to your wedding?

Do they have another wedding scheduled for the weekend of your wedding? Make sure that your floral designer understands and budgets the leading days necessary to properly support your wedding.

Personality -

Finally, make sure that you enjoy talking to your floral designer, you find his/her ideas fresh and similar to yours, and that you trust his/her ability to design and execute.

All the logistics questions aside, what makes the working relationship work throughout the
planning process is the fact that you enjoy each other's company and you value each other's input.

Good luck!

About Nancy: To Write or Not to Write

Like I announced on Friday, I'm making some changes this month. In July, I'm going to 3 posts-a-week format. This week I'm taking a much needed break from writing. Sometimes you have to do that in order to become a better writer and to re-fuel the creative soul.

For today, I'm asking all of you - are we overloading on blogs? Is there too many blogs to read? Too many twitter tweats to catch up on? Too many facebook posts that we have to review?

Enjoy! Hope your Fourth was amazing and safe.

PS: You might have noticed that I have changed one small detail. I've gotten rid of {} in the titles. I learned from a Twitter post that bloggers should not do that in the title. See - Twitter is good for something!

{About Nancy: Three Times a Lady}

Well, it's Friday and I thought that I would announce that starting July, I'm going to 3 posts a week instead of the five that I've attempted to do. After talking to a few VFF and my support network, I've come to realize that when I write 5 times a week, the content isn't where I would like it to be.

Thanks for your patience and for always being such great fans. And honesty, I'll try to do a better job in the future because if you are going to do anything - do the best you can.

Keeping reading weddingbeepro, visit Pink Blossom List(pinkblossomlist), follow me on Twitter or Facebook.

You guys are the best!!!!

Happy July the Fourth!!! Stripes and Stars Forever!

Image by Lisa Lefkowitz