happy wedding day!

today is my friend, yvonne's, wedding day! :) since she is here in nyc without most of her family and friends, i wanted to do my best to make her wedding day special, even if it's not her official wedding with all the fancy food and decor.

yvonne requested a bouquet of light pink peonies, and i was at to the task. i took the day off and when kevin headed to the office, i set off for the floral district, just a few blocks north.

it's always an exhilarating experience to go to the floral district, but especially invigorating in the early morning when the flowers are being delivered to the wholesale shops. i made my way to "the shop with the cat", which is one door down from my usual shop. they opened at 5am and my head was spinning as my creative juices started flowing at the sight of all the beautiful flowers! after much perusal, i left the shop happily with my three bouquets: light pink peonies, peachy pink juliet roses, and ivory patient roses!

it was actually quite easy to make the bridal bouquet! and the supplies required are few: 

2 bouquets of larger flowers
1 bouquet of  smaller flowers
floral sheers
floral tape
vases with water
ribbon
pin

after unbundling all of my flowers, i immediately snipped the ends on an angle and put them into water so they could hydrate. then i removed all of the leaves and placed them in a pile to use later. next i picked the three flowers with the most open petals and taped them together with floral tape. i continued to add on flowers, from most open to least open buds, and periodically alternating the flowers and arranging them in a round shape. for this bouquet, i used about 25 flowers, but this will depend on the size of the flowers used. when the bouquet felt just about right, i added some of the leaves as accent, and wrapped the stems with an ivory ribbon secured by a pin. i think you can get very creative when it comes to bouquets and dress them up or down, but i tried to go with the look i envisioned when thinking of my friend.

and to keep the bouquet fresh, i place it in a vase with water in the fridge until her ceremony. from what i've read, flowers can stay fresh for 6-7 days without drooping if you keep them refrigerated at nights!

here's the final product :) 

congratulations, yvonne & gerry!!!! gorgeous bride and handsome groom!