Working Tuesday: Wedding flowers

Every once in a while, for people I know and love, I do a bride's wedding flowers. I'd imagine my love of flowers started with clumps of flowers, pulled from my parent's yard. Mama would search for just the right "vase" - that could be anything from a fruit jar to a tiny pitcher that belonged to my great-grandmother - so she could put my makeshift bouquet in her kitchen window. I always wanted to arrange those little violets or hyacinths or hydrangea or peonies or daffodils (whatever was in the yard that season) so they'd be beautiful for Mama.

Mama was also a great role model. I can't really tell you the number of times we drove out into the country to pick wildflowers for someone's wedding. And then there was the butterfly weed. We'd drive down the interstate, someone would spot the bright orange clump of flowers and shout, "BUTTERFLY WEED!" Mama would quickly pull over to the side and, when traffic cleared, BACK UP (scared the you know what out of me) to get back to the spot we'd seen. I learned early to look way ahead so we'd not have to do much backing. Then again, we still tease Mama that she drives better backward than forward - especially when there's butterfly weed to be had.

We'd gather buckets of those flowers, take them back to the church, and just as we did when I was a kid we'd find the perfect container for that particular bride to arrange her wedding flowers. The riot of color from those wild blooms was always glorious to see. And I learned over the years the best time to pick those flowers, how to handle them to keep them alive longer and how to arrange flowers by watching and then helping Mama.

Living in an urban area, I can't use wildflowers in my arrangements. I have to rely on wholesalers for my bounty. My favorite time, however, is the moment the boxes arrive and I pull out bunch after bunch of beautiful flowers. This weekend was no exception. And in the end, from that mass of flowers, I was able to create these little beauties. I love.

DIY Monday: Flower Series pt. 1

So I'm going to spend a couple weeks laying out ways to decorate with flowers that are budget friendly and that might help you think about decorating in a different way. I grew up with flowers. My grandmother was a gardener. She taught my mother to be a gardener. And I too love to putter in a garden. For many years my job was to weed the flower gardens around our house, and some of the flowers in those gardens had been planted 100 years ago.

Because we had so many flower gardens, we almost always had an abundance of cut flowers in the house. No matter the season, we could go outside and find something in the yard. I can't count the number of wilted violet bouquets I took my mother. Sometimes, while they were still wet with morning dew, we'd gather armloads of French lilacs to perfume the house. And the grape hyacinths, with their fruity smell, remain a favorite today.

Mama always taught me to look at objects in a way that didn't always conform with their intended use. Certainly a tiny pitcher is lovely for pouring an individual serving of maple syrup, but it was also lovely for those grape hyacinths. Those little violets would be lost in most bud vases, but they were lovely in a child's teacup. Quite often silver sugar bowls or biscuit boxes would be pressed into service as centerpieces for teas or dinner parties. If it could hold water, it could hold flowers.

I've noticed more and more bridal and decorative magazines are featuring "found objects" as centerpieces. Martha Stewart Weddings dedicated an article to tea tin centerpieces. Eco-friendly brides are opting for tin can vases. I've even seen Mason jars pressed into service in some layouts. The key is in the groupings, the color and texture of the blooms and in being creative in how you define the word "vase."

*Photos property of Martha Stewart Weddings, Celebrations and Kathryn Leach Home.