Gorgeous Centerpieces

I read 100 Layer Cake daily and absolutely worship everything that they post about.

My absolute favorite thing that they do is the Real Wedding series of posts. There have been 70 so far. And I'm pretty sure that each and every one of them has inspired me in some way. I've spoken about my love of 100 Layer Cake's Real Weddings before, but their most recent wedding absolutely blew me away. I love the bride's gown; the bridesmaid's dresses, while not my style, are really pretty; the setting is stunning; the reception-tent is everything I used to dream about.

But the flowers. The flowers are what captured me and floored me and prompted me to get up off my ass and actually post something serious for the first time in waaayyy too long.

What I love the most about these flowers, besides everything, is the color. And the way they appear relaxed and wild, while still looking neat and put together. I love the rannunculus. I love the poppies. I love the little grape hyacinths. I love that the flowers are in tea cups. And mason jars. I LOVE THEM.

Real Wedding

Take a look at 100 Layer Cake's most recent post. I'm in love with everything about it. The bride wears a stunning blue dress, because white gowns aren't traditional in her family, and the couple wrote their own ceremony that was intensely personal.

Personal ceremonies and vows has recently become something that I've been thinking about a lot. Since Zach and I basically want to write our own ceremony which leaves out religion and focuses on the love that we share, I'm particularly touched by this detail from their wedding.

"Their ceremony was super personal and focused on well written words and a reworking of tradition.

Listen to this one: 'We put a bottle of wine, two glasses, and a set of love letters (written in secret and unshared) into a wooden crate and then sealed it with nails (each nail was hammered by a family member to show their commitment to supporting our marriage and then finally by us). The crate is meant as an act of reassurance, a romantic gesture–if ever our relationship is in peril, we are to open the crate, drink the wine, and read the letters before we make any decisions about our future.'

Um, shouldn’t we ALL do that for our weddings?? At the very least you end up with a lovely aged bottle of wine."

Deep Purple Blue Green

I couldn't let this deep purple ranunculus go yet. This time I paired it with blue and purple hydrangea, blue delphinium and blue bells, as well as green hydrangea and ranunculus and white viburnum and ranunculus.

Sample Blue Green Pale Pink

Okay, so this palette focuses on the pale pink ranunculus, with heavy influence from the blue hydrangeas, delphinium, larkspur and blue bells. There are also green hydrangeas, as well as white viburnum and astilbe.

Sample Pink Blue Purple

I still think I did a better job with the blue/purple/green color palette, but I just love the ranunculus (the pink flowers in the center top, middle and bottom, and the top left) so much I'm not quite ready to give them up.

But I'm working with a new idea.

Sample Blue/Purple/Green Color Palette

This is the temporary one I threw together. There will be a newer, better one that's organized properly and has all of the references. Until then, enjoy the pretty colors.

There are blue, purple and green hydrangeas, as well as blue delphinium and blue bells. There is a purple rose and lilacs, and the bouquet on the bottom left is stunning, even though I'm not sure what the blue flower is.