Tess and Conor had a gorgeous outdoor wedding in March 2022, in Canmore, near Calgary Alberta. Tess did such a good job with their rust and pink themed florals, I thought you might be interested in what she had to say about the experience, so keep reading to see her take on it!
xoxo
Sarah
The Location:
Lake Minnewanka for ceremony
Sensory Canmore for reception
Their Recipe:
Peach Hypericum × 1 bunch
Eucalyptus – Silver Dollar × 1 bunch
Salal × 1 bunch
Pink (Quicksand) Roses – Standard × 1 bunch (25 stem)
Salmon/Peach Mums – Pom Pom × 1 bunch
Cream Roses – Spray × 1 bunch (10 stem)
White Mums – Large Size × 1 bunch (10 stem)
Tess’s Review
When we started planning for the wedding we were looking for a lot of vendors and stumbled upon Youfloral. We loved the color palette offered and we were planning for two bouquet, three boutonnières and bud vase centerpieces.
We had the flowers arrive on Wednesday and prepped them in water. On Thursday afternoon we poured some wine and along with my mom and sister and started trying. My biggest advice would be to just go with it, we let the flowers guide us and our roses and mums were the focal flowers.
We thought transporting from Red Deer to Canmore would be the biggest challenge. We arrange them nicely in vases and boxes and hit the road.
Honestly, I highly recommend it. My mom said a few times how cool it was that “we got to know each of the flowers”. I gained such an appreciation for the work florists do and I couldn’t have been more happy.
Q: What tips would you give to someone who wants to DIY their wedding flowers?
A: Get help! From family and friends. Make an example bouquet for your helpers to duplicate. That way it will only take a few hours (but plan for an entire afternoon) Make centre pieces as simple as you can without compromising elegance. Also be prepared that some of the flowers you ordered might not be available when your order is packed and you may have to make a last minute decision. Have backup flower choices ready in case this happens for one or more of your original selections.
Q: Why did you choose to DIY your wedding flowers?
A: My mom instilled her love of flowers in me; I looked forward to it being something we could do together.
Q: Did you DIY anything else at your wedding ?
A: Lots! My sister and I decorated the copper wedding arch that my husband built which was set upon a antique Persian rug in the middle of a wide open field with the view of the mountains; my sisters, parents, and friends collected dried flowers for us for months so that we could make the dried flower confetti for our walk back down the aisle; the table centre pieces (ruscus ring around a bamboo lazy-susan, and white lantern on top); a sprig of olive branch in the perfectly envelope-like folded napkins to symbolize peace; and wedding favours (little hand sanitizer bottles with copper clip that said “in sickness and in health”with our wedding date); and little decorative touches such as the flower bouquets made by me, my sisters and my mom, hanging on the aisle chairs that mimicked my and the bridesmaids bouquets. It was all outside, so on the weekends leading up to our wedding, I had also strung twinkle lights in all the lilac bushes surrounding were the open air tent was placed for dinner; homemade signs were also placed to guide guests. There’s probably more that I’m not remembering!
Q: What was the “theme” of your wedding?
A: We didn’t really have a theme but we wanted it to be elegant and timeless (focused on white/cream, dusty blue wildflower colours, and dusty rich greens found in eucalyptus and olive leaves).
Q: What was your favorite part about your wedding
A: My most favourite part was what our wedding symbolized to us and all our loved ones being able to witness that. However, my favourite details of our wedding was my wedding dress (rich ivory satin with a full skirt and satin buttons that started at the top of my back and went all the way down the end of the chapel length train, my custom made veil with wildflowers all along the trim around my face, the arch/altar decorated with blooming sage brush, lilac leaves and eucalyptus and olive branches from youfloral in the middle of the field placed upon an antique Persian rug, the bouquets that my mom made and how all the details came together to make it feel elegant and timeless.
Q: Anything else you’d wanna share!
my brother in law surprised us with his vintage baby-blue 1952? Chevy with white interior as our getaway car, got so many beautiful pictures with it!
Also loved our head table, an antique oak table with lion heads carved into each corner – made me feel like we were in Narnia 🙂 had a ruscus vines ontop of a printed wildflower runner
my mom also made our beautiful 3 tier wedding cake with the blue thistle flowers and my great grandparents’ and grandparents’ cake topper. It was beautiful.
Their Recipe:
Ruscus x 4 bunches
Anenome (White Panda) x 1 bunch
Blue Eryngium x 2 bunches
White Majolica (soft blush color) spray roses x 2 bunches
Kate & Jacob were married at a GORGEOUS family farm close to Coronation, AB. Their theme incorporated a number of western aspects, even down to the bridesmaids wearing cowboy boots! This wedding was very floral forward, they choose an amazing combo… wildflower combined with chic and classy – check out the photos below, and using the recipe, you can recreate this yourself!
I ordered flowers from two online vendors to mitigate any risks for my wedding and youfloral was by far the superior! The flowers were amazing! Very fresh and lasted forever even though it was 30 degrees Celsius the day I picked them up! So in love with how they turned out and the service from youfloral! Would definitely recommend!
Q: What tips would you give to someone who wants to DIY their wedding flowers?
Give yourself plenty of time to prepare, organize and DIY the flowers. I had 2 bridesmaids help me and I couldn’t have done it without them. To prep myself, I also watched your videos and other general tips on YouTube.
Q: Why did you choose to DIY your wedding flowers?
I was working within my small budget for flowers. Which we did! This was an intimate wedding of only 30 guests and I wanted the flowers to be a focal point and I knew I could do this myself.
Q: Did you DIY anything else at your wedding?
Sort of! I’m lucky enough to have friends who are makeup artist and hair stylists. So I really didn’t need to pay for any of those costs. The rental decor company was kind and set the ecyluptus on the archway for us.
My dress was custom made from an amazing Etsy shop in Russia for under $450. Overall, I wanted to stick within an affordable budget but I didn’t compromise on the quality of anything 🙂
Q: What was the “theme” of your wedding?
I would say romantic garden vintage! We had champagne linen and my bridesmaids were wearing shades in that colour. The venue is a beautiful historic building which fit perfectly I my theme.
Q: What was your favorite part about your wedding?
Overall I’d say the dinner and dancing in the moonlight outside enjoying the scenery.
