Roses, peonies, ranunculus, freesia. There are so many flowers to consider for your wedding that something so exciting can be so overwhelming. Add to this the fact that two guys, with no floral experience, are the grooms will take the definition of overwhelmed to a new level. Here’s how Alan and Adrian found their perfect wedding flowers.
Wedding Floral: Our Process
Q: You are two guys planning a wedding. Honestly, how important were flowers to you?
A: Adrian and I wanted flowers but we wanted a masculine fee so we took a conservative approach to floral design.
Choosing a Vendor
Q: You’ve said in previous meetings that most of your vendors were included in your Aldea package. Did your florist provide the options you needed? Were you able to adjust your package based on your desire for a more masculine approach?
A: Aldea had only 1 floral vendor to choose from when we first started looking at florists. That florist didn’t want to customize the floral package (we obviously don’t need a bridal bouquet or toss bouquet) and we felt the communication was delayed. We struggled with how to move forward until Andy Castano joined the Aldea vendor list. What a blessing.
Q: How was Andy different than the vendor you had previously considered?
A: His style is primarily boho-chic but he was very open to our ideas. Andy also had no concerns about tweaking the venue’s pre-set package to better fit our needs. He added boutonnieres and the other touches that we needed without flinching. Even better, he stayed within our budget by suggesting alternative options!
Choosing Your Flowers
Q: Alan, we love that you and Adrian like to think outside the box when it comes to your wedding. Did this remain true for floral? Will you share with us what florals you chose?
A: Seeing that we are far from traditional we wanted to stay away from using a lot of roses. We just didn’t want that stereotypical wedding. Andy’s suggestions were amazing; he suggested that we use two different flowers – one to represent me and one to represent Adrian. The men in my bridal party (including myself) will be wearing cymbidium orchids and Adrian’s side will be wearing peach freesias. We asked Andy why he suggested those choices and his response was that the flowers were like our personalities – cymbidiums are loud and dramatic while freesias are more refined and sophisticated!
The Groomsmaid Bouquets
Q: What about the girls? What will they be carrying?
A: My groomsmaids will carry bouquets featuring cymbidium orchids, stock, Asiatic lilies, blush gerbera daisies and alstromeria. Adrian’s girls will have peach freesias, stock, Asiatic lilies, blush gerbera daisies, and alstroemeria. As a special treat, Andy wanted to get a photo of all our girls’ dresses because he wants to tailor each bouquet according to the style of each of their dresses Personal touches like this really made us feel that Andy wanted to make our wedding special.
The Reception
Q: Knowing that you wanted a more masculine approach to your wedding, did you choose floral for your centerpieces?
A: We’ve chosen a minimalistic look for the cocktail hour and reception. We added a few small peach flower arrangements to the lobby to help maintain the color scheme. Our centerpieces are black candelabras with rose petals sprinkled around the base. And, we’ve decided to repurpose the groomsmaid bouquets to dress up the head table.
Flexibility is Key
Q: You have gotten engaged, found a venue, selected save-the-dates, invitations and attire for both of you and your parties, and chosen a photographer, videographer, caterer, baker, hair and makeup artist, florist and planned a honeymoon. What was the most challenging step in the planning process?
A: By far, picking flowers! Adrian and I aren’t familiar with flower types and I’m colorblind so I had to learn what the shades of peach looked like. Andy was able to simply things for us to easily understand. I’m glad we remained open minded because the end result is far different than we initially imagined but will be incredible!