We got an embosser today

We want to have our monogram on our favors and invitations. First, we tried ordering small oval-shaped stickers from My Own Labels. They have great designs and gave us lots of ideas, but the style we chose looked horrible 😦 It’s hard to pick out this stuff online. Anyway, we decided to try the $40 embosser on Living Victorian. It came today, and I’ve been embossing everything in site. Literally every piece of paper. I love the way the monogram came out – very classy! The monogram goes Bride’s first initial, Groom’s last initial, Groom’s first initial, with the middle one larger. So, if we were Angelina and Brad Pitt, it would be “APB”.

We found a florist!

I have to admit, flowers are not my biggest priority in this wedding. I like so many flowers, so I am not choosy about what is in my bouquet. In fact, the simpler to me, the better. I looked at a florist recommended by a friend, Madison Floral, in Arlington. My friend said they were pretty reasonable. I also looked for florists online, and I found one, Holmes-Shusas in Worcester, that actually posted their package prices online. I was really happy to see that information so I could get a sense of what I would be spending.

From what I understand about wedding flowers, these are the things I should have:

1. A bouquet for me
2. A boutonniere for Mr. BostonBride
3. A bouquet for each of the 7 bridesmaids
4. A boutonniere for each of the 3 groomsmen
5. Corsages for my mom, my godmother, his mom, his godmother, his grandmother
6. Boutonnieres for my dad, my godfather, his dad, his godfather
7. Corsage/boutonniere for each reader
8. Flower girl basket
9. 2 vases of flowers on the altar at the ceremony
10. A ribbon on the ends of the first 3 rows to ‘reserve’ them for immediate family
11. Centerpieces on the tables in the reception site (really want raised ones)
12. Cake topper

So, since the church doesn’t allow a runner or for flowers to stay there, we can re-use the altar vases at the cocktail hour. Nice!
Madison Floral pointed me to a worksheet on their website that gave ranges for flowers. When I ran through their spreadsheet on the low end of the range, it ran me close to $4000. Albeit I have not gone to their store in person, I am afraid that this figure on the low end is still pretty high.

So my fiance and I trekked out to Worcester to meet with Paul from Holmes Shusas. He was really nice to start, and when I told him costs were a high priority and flowers were a low priority he didn’t cringe and throw me out. In fact, he suggested lesser expensive flowers and told me how to “beef” them up a bit by using filler flowers. He made me a small sample of a bouquet using hydrangeas and roses, and I LOVED it. It was perfect – not too much yet pretty and elegant. He even let me take it home! His estimate included my list from above and ran just under $3000. Yay Holmes-Shusas! We gave them our deposit and now have out first vendor lined up.