Inspired by...Flowerless Weddings

The Western bridesmaid tradition is thought to have originated from Roman Law, which required ten witnesses at a wedding in order to outsmart evil spirits (believed to attend marriage ceremonies) by dressing in identical clothing to the bride and groom, so that the evil spirits would not know who was getting married (Source: Wikipedia).

Do you remember your wedding day? {And if you aren't married yet, have you ever thought about the perfect wedding day?}

If you are like most you were planning it since the time you were small. You dreamed of fairy tale ball gowns, special flowers, candlelight and cake.


This is a picture of me on my wedding day, October 24, 1992. {I wanted to get married between Christmas and New Year's, but that was vetoed by my family and then I had to be sure to miss any major hunting seasons and whatever the Wisconsin Badger Football team ws doing!} It was a beautiful day, with sunny skies and 70 degree weather. Pretty good for late October in Wisconsin {when just the week before it snowed.}

In this picture is my sister, Kelly. She was all of about 20 years old. But she still looks this young today, I swear. {Me? Not so much.}

I wish that I could say that I made things for my wedding {we did have the bridesmaid dresses made from a picture we saw of a similar dress in the Victoria Secret's catalog that year} but I wasn't as artistic then as I am now. I shudder to think that I spent weeks looking for just the right earrings for me and my bridesmaids....at a department store! {Just say no!}

I did make my veil. I don't sew so that really was a challenge to do it all by hand. But it was, and still is, very beautiful. And I hope to pass it along to my own daughter one day. {Coincidentally, I made the First Communion veil for my niece to wear - she is now 23 I think - and my daughter was the last of the Hintz grandchildren to wear it last year. It is a similar style!}

And the flowers....those are the stargazer lilies and the white roses that I talked about. Fairly safe and predictable, maybe. But so very pretty.

The Inspired by...Wedding Flowers challenge is on! But so far I do not have one entry. {And I am remiss in creating my own...that is on the docket for this weekend!}. I thought maybe you might need a little more inspiration, so check out these really different ideas for flowers...

I found a cool article about the trend to go flowerless in the wedding world. You can have your bouquet made up of all sorts of things that are non-traditional. Like felt. Or leather. Or paper, especially recycled paper. Check out this article at the Best Wedding Blog Ever for more ideas.

Check out this way cool butterfly bouquet from www.bellzandwhistlez.com that would be perfect for spring or summer celebrations. I just want one for my house!

For sheer wow factor, I found a site called Emplume. They translate the traditional form of a wedding bouquet into a fantasy of feathered fantasticness! They evoke a sense of old-style Hollywood glamor and would be a wonderful thing to pass along to your own daughter or granddaughter on her wedding day. And I didn't find their prices for an everlasting keepsake that out of line! Wish this had been around when I got married....{she says wistfully...}



The things they do with feathers is outstanding. They even have a pretty cool blog. Check it out!

And my personal favorite for most unique...The Wedding Chicks show off these dynamite vintage-inspired, upcycled flower brooch bouquets. Such a clever and unique keepsake! Wouldn't it be great to use your own grandmother's brooches for this? Talk about something old!

If you need more details on how to enter the Inspired by...Wedding Flowers challenge, just go to this post here.

And if you need still more inspiration...the grand prize this month is a $100 gift certificate to shop at any of CSN Stores over 200 websites (like this one right here). For $100 you can get anything you may have missed out on registering for your own wedding there {even a toaster!}

And if you are looking for other opportunities to win something, check out the talented jewelry designer Lisa Leonard is wrapping up her 5 day Wedding Week giveaway. All you need to do is go to her blog and leave a comment. Simple as that!

What is your favorite wedding bouquet? Would you go with real flowers? Or maybe silk? Do like the feathers or the vintage brooch designs? Have you ever thought about felt, or leather, or crystals or recycled paper?

Do tell!

Enjoy the day!