More than just FLOWERS...

Today we met with our wonderful, creative, cheerful & simply amazing florist to go over all of the details of our flowers for the wedding.  I say he is our "florist", but what when it comes down to it, I really should say that he is our "wedding atmosphere & floral genius".  Lee Forrest of Lee Forrest Designs is not only the perfect florist for our wedding, but he made the process of picking the flowers we will see on our big day...a complete BREEZE!!!

I never thought that something like FLORAL would be such an easy category to check off for our wedding day.  I mean, c'mon - flowers are something little girls dream about when they try to picture their big day decades before the actual day gets there.  There are so many different choices and looks and shades and sizes to choose from, one could easily get overwhelmed when it's time to sit down and actually pull THE flowers you will be using for your wedding day.  So, needless to say...on our first consult with Lee, I was a bit nervous and anxious to say the least.

First, let me explain where the anxiety came from...

Before we met with Lee, we set up a consultation with another florist who we met at a bridal shower back in October.  He seemed to be a good florist and was great at coming up with unique ideas.  What I DIDN'T like about the first guy (which I won't list the name) is that we had to sit down and pick out every single little flower for every single little bouquet and centerpiece and boutonniere right then and there...on our FIRST consult!! What I thought would be an hour meeting turned into 2 and a half hours of tedious details I was NOT ready for whatsoever!!!  Mr. Hess and I both left the shop feeling drained, confused & overwhelmed.  And, the kicker is...he was charging a pretty hefty fee for all of "his" ideas!  

*Tip number one for any florist out there: DON'T DO THAT!!! 

So, you can imagine why I had the anxiety I did when going to meet florist number 2.  Luckily, just walking into his shop and meeting him quickly turned into a breath of fresh air.  Lee Forrest has such a cool, calm and collected approach to everything that makes me relax and enjoy the process of putting our dream wedding together!  What I thought would be another few hours of wanting to pull my hair out and re-using the phrase "I just don't know" a hundred times turned into an hour of excitement and pictures and talk about what our wedding was going to look like.  I didn't pick this flower and that flower, but instead we put together the "look" we were going for & I knew right away that we were in good hands.

Back in January, he even invited us to come see the set-up of a wedding at our venue that he was hired for.  He said the theme and look to their wedding was similar AND it was at our exact reception spot...so why the heck not?! I was excited to actually get to go see what a true wedding with his flowers looks like, in person & I was SO pleased.  What impressed me the most was how much he's willing to do for you.  Not only providing flowers, but an entire wedding theme...what a great day that was to see a wedding come together in the same very spot that our reception will be at! :)

Not exactly what our centerpieces would look like, but loved this creation of his!

Of course, there are a few staple flowers we HAVE to have in our wedding - and I'm sure you could have guessed one would be this one, if you know anything about what our colors are.  It's a very popular flower these days, but I have always loved orchids...ESPECIALLY in lime green & pink!!!

So, there you go...one flower you will for sure see at our wedding.  There are a few more must haves added to our list, but beyond a few we were totally open to whatever our florist decides to do!  After seeing his work and reading positive testimonial after positive testimonial, I feel 110% comfortable with what our wedding day flowers will be...and to be honest, I'm not even exactly sure WHAT they are! Isn't that crazy?!  We went over details of different centerpieces (which, I guess I'm telling you there will be some different ones) and chose some over others...but I can honestly say I really don't know what they will look like.  I didn't necessarily see a sketch of them, BUT I didn't ask for one either.  I seriously can't believe how much control I am giving up here....but I'm loving it.

As soon as I we got home tonight I had to sit down and share that for once, something about planning our wedding was just EASY!  After meeting with Lee today, I know our wedding will be filled with tons of beautiful flowers, pieces & ...artwork! It's a true miracle that I'm not worried about it one bit.  THANK YOU Lee Forrest for letting a bride-to-be breathe a month before the wedding day!!!!!!!

As you can see, I would highly recommend our florist for anyone looking for one.  Weddings, parties, private dinners or whatever...he can truly turn flowers into talking pieces & he is probably one of the easiest go-with-the-flow vendors I've met yet! You can find more info about Lee Forrest at his website: http://www.leeforrestdesign.com/

I absolutely CAN NOT WAIT to see how everything turns out!  

But I guess we'll ALL have to....

37 days and counting...WOW...

Presh