For our wedding this past summer, J and I decided to grow all of our own wedding flowers. It was a big undertaking, and I know it’s not for everyone, but we decided to take it on because it was in line with what matters to us. We didn’t want to spend a lot of $ on flowers, and we wanted them to be grown locally to reduce the amount of fuel needed to ship them. We also didn’t want flowers that had been covered in pesticides and chemicals, so growing them ourselves seemed like the way to go. J has been getting a plot at the community garden to grow his organic veggies, and this year he got a full plot instead of a half plot so we’d have plenty of room for flower beds. He researched which kinds would look good together in bouquets, and which would thrive in our environment. He chose zinnias, snapdragons, and bells of Ireland. We also tried to grow some dwarf sunflowers, but something else thought they’d be a tasty snack, so they didn’t make it to the wedding.
Here’s a photo of J with our buckets of harvested flowers a few days before the wedding.
We brought them home, and with the help of my mom and sisters, turned them all into bouquets and arrangements for the tables.
We used shepherds hooks to hang small jars of flowers along the aisle for the ceremony. We were lucky to be able to borrow vintage blue glass canning jars from my sister’s in-laws to hold all of the flowers. It was the perfect blend of local, fresh, and vintage that we were going for.
Plus, we have had bouquets all summer long– in fact, we harvested the last few flowers this past weekend. It was sad to see the plants go, after all the time and energy we put into them this year, but I know we’ll be able to grow them again, and J is going to try to harvest some of the seeds, so our wedding flowers will be their own sort of heirloom.
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