Ashley and Derek's June wedding at the Lander Community Center was one of the highlights of my summer and a great example of how to blend DIY flowers with a la carte floral designs from Dandelion Farm. The couple created a perfect wedding day with the help of family and friends - filled with beautiful pink peony bouquets, Ashley's embroidered beaded gown, bridesmaids in classic grey, and decor and florals that mixed rustic and garden-style details. Don't miss Ashley's tips for DIY wedding flowers at the end of the post!
The bouquets
Every bouquet has a story, and the story of the bridal party's bouquets highlights why I love providing locally grown flowers for weddings. When I first met with Ashley, she was excited to take the DIY approach for most of the wedding flowers - except her bouquet and the ceremony arbor. I was happy to design her bridal bouquet and arbor with her favorite flowers and provide DIY buckets of flowers with a light pink, dark pink, and grey palette.
The flower queen of June in Wyoming is the peony. Our plants are too young to produce enough flowers, so I cut light and dark pink peonies from gardens throughout Lander. Let me tell you, the face of every gardener lit up when I asked if I could cut a few peony buds for a wedding. I don't know the names of all the peony varieties I found - but they were all amazing!
Ashley's bouquet came together so beautifully, featuring pink peonies, iceland poppies, stock, lamb's ear, white dianthus, lavender scabiosa, white throatwort, bupleurum, and scented geranium. I attached sweet charms filled with loved ones photos, tied with lace and tulle from her grandmother.
The bridesmaid's DIY bouquets were stunning as well - each filled with one peony and complementary blooms of white throatwort, blue bachelor buttons, pink dianthus, and bupluerum. Ashley and her bridesmaids also made all the boutonnieres, corsages, ceremony aisle, and table arrangements. All the flowers came from Dandelion Farm, so the DIY and florist-designed elements coordinated perfectly. I love to see what others create with our flowers!
The white ceremony arch combined more pink peonies and greenery with glass flower-filled vases and white fabric draped inside the arbor. The ceremony aisle was filled with dianthus, bachelor buttons, chamomile, throatwort, and bupleurum from our DIY buckets.
The inside of the Lander Community Center was brought to life with tablescapes featuring small bouquets, wood planters, glass bottles, and local honey favors for guests to take home. The head table was full of color from the bridal party's bouquets.
DIY Wedding Flowers - Tips from the bride
I caught up with Ashley after the wedding and asked her a few questions about her experience using Dandelion Farm's DIY flower buckets. Here's what she had to say:
Any advice or tips for couples planning a DIY wedding?
"DO IT! You won’t regret DIY flowers! Teresa helped do my bouquet as well as our arch which was a huge help and relief but as far as the rest of them—it is totally manageable and worth it! I would highly recommend it!"
When and where did you/friends/family put them together and how long did it take?
"We put together the bouquets the morning before the wedding at my parents’ home. It took us about 4 hours to complete 5 bridesmaid bouquets, 1 Jr bridesmaid bouquet , 3 mother/grandmother corsages, and 11 groomsmen/father/ring bearer/officiant boutonnieres. The day of the wedding, my bridesmaids put together the rest of the flower arrangements that were to be put on the tables and in the aisle and that took them about 2 hours."
How many helpers did you need for putting together flowers?
"My bridesmaids and I put together all of the flowers so there were 6 of us total."
Any details or funny stories about the flowers you want to share?
"No funny stories to share but the flowers lasted a long time after the wedding! It was so nice to come back from our honeymoon and still get to enjoy them. We actually dried some of them as well because they were just so pretty!"
Why did you chose Dandelion Farm for your wedding flowers?
"I researched DIY wedding flowers and realized that ordering from somewhere that sells wholesale flowers and ships them to you might not be the best option as you don’t really know what the flowers will look like once they are shipped to you. I knew that Dandelion Farms was a much better option as, once I met with Teresa, I trusted her and the love and expertise she had with the flowers she was growing. I was also happy to support a local business! Dandelion Farms was a good choice because I was able to communicate with Teresa also and see how the flowers were doing as well as discuss the flower types and colors that would be available to me where if I had ordered from a wholesale place, I could have received any flower in any shape (my biggest fear—dead/droopy on wedding day) when they arrived!"
Congratulations to Ashley and Derek - and a big thank you for sharing their story!
If you are interested in Dandelion Farm flowers for your event or wedding, contact us for more information.