Murphy Mondays: Keep Swimming

Last week I did something brand new. Something unexpected but completely awesome. I took a swimming class!! An ALL day swimming class!! My people found out about this amazing place not far from us where dogs like me hang out for the day and swim, play on the agility track, eat, relax, and do some overall socializing. Sounds great, right? I have to admit though...I had a couple of concerns. For one, how would they manage without me for a whole day at Bouquets of Austin? Secondly, I am not currently at what they call my "fighting weight."

Turns out, it was fantastic and I loved it!! Of course, the next day I was pretty beat and, therefore, not as much help with the wedding flowers as I am normally. When I got to the shop, first I did this...

 

Then I changed it up and did this...

 Then I thought Stephanie needed some help, so I did this...

Which, immediately after, caused me to do this...

Yes, I'm tired but I can't wait to go back and I'll get stronger every time. It's good advice for couples planning their weddings too...even when it gets crazy, keep swimming - something great is on the other side!

Have a great week!

Murphy

Let There Be Color!

Weddings have certainly changed dramatically throughout the decades, as have brides themselves. A 1950s bride may bear no resemblance to the modern bride of today. And yet - despite it all - they certainly share the desire to create a day that completely reflects their personality; what they love the most. In short, every bride wants their wedding day to be all about them.

As wedding florists, we love this simple truth because it allows us to creatively paint a picture of every bride and groom. Cookie cutter isn't our thing; it's always interesting to see what couples bring to the table and it's our job to help them express their personalities through the design of their wedding flowers.

Of course, when people think of weddings, they usually think white. Certainly white flowers are the quintessential wedding flowers. But over the years, we've also loved to see the dramatic use of color. Whether it's a color theme that is carried throughout the wedding or just a pop of color used here and there, there's much to said for the use of color in a wedding.

For brides wanting to make a little more of a statement with their bridal bouquet than the traditional white, the color possibilities are endless - maybe just a combo of colorful seasonal flowers and a variety of elements.
 
With this wedding, the bridesmaids wore chocolate brown and carried a smaller version of this vibrant bridal bouquet.

For a more modern look, use a single type of flower. In this case,  the bride carried a collection of these gorgeous gloriosa lilies. Her bridesmaids wore black and carried white cymbidium orchids with raspberry throats.

This bride loved variegated flowers and especially these gorgeous striped amaryllis. And for an extra special touch, we added some bling to her wrap. Her bridesmaids wore red and carried all white bouquets with pops of red.

There's so much that you can do with color. Don't be afraid to incorporate it into your wedding flowers!

Murphy Mondays: The Art of the Compromise

At Bouquets of Austin, we work in a business of compromise. I see it all the time when my people meet with brides and grooms who want a certain look for their wedding but don't have the budget to match. The humans here at Bouquets are great at helping couples find a compromise so that they can get a version of what they want and still work within their budget. It's one of things they do really, really well. Pretty wedding flowers and intact budget.

I am also quite fantastic at compromise. I have learned to be that way by watching everyone around me.

I know THEY would probably say that I'm not that great at compromising but let me tell you what has recently happened and you can decide for yourselves. I know that I've said before that I enjoy sneaking out when no one is looking. This is for several reasons...1. I can roam around at will and take my time doing it; and 2. I usually find myself at the vet down the street where they give me treats and wait for my humans to find me. Which they always do. And when they do, they are MAD. Totally worth it.

My humans know how much I love to sunbathe. It's one of my favorite things to do. But they don't want to open the door and let me enjoy the sun too much because they know that eventually I'll take off. Totally right.

So this is the compromise that we figured out. They open the door and let me sunbathe to my heart's content. In return, I am on a very, very long leash that allows me to roam but won't let me get away completely. Not bad, right? I didn't think so either. So now we both get what we want. Totally awesome.

Me with my Leash of Compromise

Long enough I suppose.

 See? I am not an unreasonable dog. I am able to compromise with the best of them. Except, if I'm being honest, when it comes to food. As far as I'm concerned there is no compromise when it comes to food. All bets are off and if I have to steal it out of the trashcan then steal it out of the trashcan I will. Totally worth it.

Have a great week!

MURPHY

Murphy Mondays: Musings & Messes

It’s wedding season people. That means that there are tons of flowers in the shop, happy brides jumping up and down on one foot, dropping off mason jars and heirloom lace for bouquet handles and candles and who-knows-what-else and stressing out in general. My humans are super excited because they love wedding season. This IS, after all, what they do for a living so, yeah, I get it. They love the flowers and the designing of the arrangements, and seeing their brides with their bouquets and the grooms with their boutonnieres. They love the running around and the fun and the energy that goes hand in hand with this time of year. I’m happy for them. Really I am. But wedding season means something very different for me. Mainly that there is less time in the day to pay attention to me and attention, ladies and gentlemen, is what I need the most (next to treats and other food related products). Since this space is supposed to be for me to vent my canine thoughts, today I would like to share with everyone my top five reasons why wedding season stinks like wet dog.

1. There’s a lot of stuff in the shop right now. Lots of flowers, lots of knick-knacks, lots of pieces and parts. This significantly decreases the square footage available for me and my bed. Thumbs down.

2. Like I said before, my people are busy. And busy means less attention paid to me and my many, many needs.

3. Because there are more weddings, there are less appointments; my people don’t have has much time to meet with brides and grooms. Less appointments means less people. Less people means less petting and attention for me (refer back to #2).

4. Normally wedding season means that the back door of the shop is open quite a bit because we do some painting and building and need the fresh air. In the past, I could easily sneak out during these times. But now that I’ve been caught sneaking over to the nearby vet’s office for some treats, they have me on lockdown. Now wedding season means that the door is open but everyone is keeping a close eye on me. No more vet for me.

5. Wedding deliveries sometimes means that I have to stay at the shop (why no one has figured out that I would be VERY helpful on deliveries, I’ll never know). I hate being left behind. Which is why, when I was recently left alone, I very clearly demonstrated my displeasure by emptying Dara’s trashcan in the way that I saw most fitting.

 

I am annoyed people. Hear me roar.

Yes, it’s a beautiful time of year in Austin. Yes, weddings are wonderful and romantic and blah, blah, blah. Just don’t forget us canine companions back home, holding down the fort. Okay?

Have a great week!

Murphy

Pieces, Parts & Priorities

Those of us in the wedding business are in the business of details. No matter what part we play in helping a bride and groom realize their wedding day dream - in the end - we take a certain amount of responsibility in helping to manage the details and pull it all together so that things go off without a hitch. The end result is a seamless wedding day; one in which the guests - and even the bride and groom themselves - are unaware of how much truly went on behind the scenes. It's all any of us - as wedding vendors - want at the end of the day.

As wedding florists, we are entrusted by our couples to manage the details that go into creating the most beautiful floral design - and to work in tandem with other vendors to make sure that our part complements and supports the overall theme and tone of the wedding itself. And when it comes to floral design, there is more to it than just the flowers.

We're talking vases, cylinders, mason jars, bubble bowls, arches, crosses, chuppahs, pedestals, urns, candles, and the endless variety of pieces and parts that go into pulling together the overall floral design; the details that can't be overlooked.


InTandem Photography

After all, these pieces and parts really speak to the personality of the wedding - the ghost candelabras for a sleek contemporary feel, hanging mason jars for rustic elegance, milkglass for vintage chic - and the list goes on and on.
What we've come to find over the years of working with many brides and grooms - with all manner of budget - is that these details are often their first focus when it comes to saving money. We're often asked by couples if they can supply their own vases, candles, jars, and more. The short answer is always, yes. We always welcome couples providing us with their own pieces and parts - especially if they wish to use something that is particularly special to them or something specific that we don't currently have in our stock. We only ask that our brides and grooms bring these pieces to us - completely clean and ready to be used - the week before the wedding so that we can design accordingly.


Tara Welch Photography

Geoff Duncan Photography

The long answer is that - while we're happy to do this - it doesn't save couples any significant amount of money; maybe a couple of dollars per table at best. The truth is that once these pieces are in our stock, they are ours to rent. We don't choose to ask for extraordinary rental fees. The money spent with us is largely based on the flowers themselves, our design capabilities and labor, and our delivery and setup.

Additionally, many brides and grooms find that while they may, at first, want to provide these pieces and parts, when it comes down to the final days before their wedding, they would have been happier to let us manage those details. After all, enjoying your day - from start to finish - should be the priority of all couples.

AJH Photography

Our priority as a wedding florist is to help couples achieve their wedding dreams within their budget and to manage the details for them so that they can relax and enjoy their day!

When, Where and All the Rest

Wedding planning...priorities, priorities.

Planning a wedding is not for the faint of heart; anyone who has ever done it can tell you that. Saying yes to the big question is a happy occasion to be sure, but the months that follow can easily become stressful for even the strongest of relationships. There are a lot of details that go into planning this most important event and when brides and grooms wind up in our consultation room, they are often overwhelmed by all that they have on their plates. As anyone knows, stress of this kind can overshadow even the happiest of occasions and can easily cloud decision making when it comes to ironing out the details of a wedding.

We’ve been doing this a long time and our advice to our brides and grooms is always to take it one step at a time. There is very much an order to wedding planning and putting one foot in front of the other - in the correct order - can do much to keep the stress at bay and support a more relaxed wedding planning experience. So what’s most important when it comes to planning? For the bride and groom - and even for our purposes - the most important aspects are the when and where.

When? Where? These are the first questions that we always ask our brides and grooms. The answers to these questions drive absolutely everything else. The date will obviously determine our availability. Once we know that we are available, we can begin talking about the details surrounding your chosen venue. Almost every venue - whether it’s a church, private event space, hotel, public facility, museum, etc. - has rules and regulations attached to renting the space. It is within these specific guidelines that we design our part of the wedding. As wedding professionals - and because our team has had the enormous honor of working often at so many of these venues - it is our responsibility to know these rules and regulations intimately. These rules - whether it’s the option to use aisle petals and open-flame versus LED candles or height/width restrictions and setup/teardown guidelines - allow us to do our job most effectively and, better still, make things easy and stress-free for our brides and grooms because we’re handling these details instead of them.

Intimate knowledge of these venues affords us the ability to help our couples beyond the restrictions that these spaces put in place. Because we know these venues, we also know what colors will look best in these spaces, what flowers will work their prettiest magic, and the sizes of flower arrangements that will best fill a particular room.

Most importantly, don’t be afraid to ask questions. Flowers are our specialty and our job is to create the most beautiful wedding arrangements for your special day; but we’re also happy to answer any questions you have about planning your dream wedding. We’re here to help!

Murphy Mondays: Paying for Flowers - What Boys Should Know

So, by now it’s been well-established that I’m a shop dog. But don’t forget, I’m a BOY shop dog. Which means that not only can I relate to my canine peers, but I can also relate to the male humans in my life - and that includes the grooms that sometimes come into the shop. We do get our share of men-people who come to Bouquets of Austin. Sometimes they are really happy to be here. Sometimes they just want to hang out with me (and really who can blame them?) so I consider a part of my executive duties to be keeping them entertained. Not that I don’t like the ladies - because I do. I really, really do. But sometimes a guy needs a wing dog and that’s me.

When I hang out with grooms, it also gives me the opportunity to explain some things about how wedding flowers work. You see, sometimes brides and grooms come here and they know that they are paying for their flowers together, which is totally cool. And sometimes, one of their family members wants to pay for all the flowers. That’s cool too. And super generous. And sometimes, the bride and groom’s families want to split the cost of the flowers the way that it’s traditionally done. Tradition is a tricky thing because sometimes things change along the way; but when it comes to wedding flowers there are some pretty standard ways that brides and grooms split the cost. Most of the time, brides seem to know the deal (girls really know their wedding stuff, huh??) but the boys don’t seem to know a lot of the time. This is where my executive lab status really comes into play; this is how I earn all my treats (although I still insist that I am seriously underpaid in this regard). I can share with the guys how this traditional flower payment works. Here it goes:

Traditionally, the groom pays for the bride’s bouquet, all the ladies’ corsages, and all the boutonnieres except his own.

The bride pays for her bridesmaids’ bouquets, flower girl pieces, the groom’s boutonniere and all the ceremony and reception flowers. Not fair? Probably not. But this is how it’s done traditionally. But it’s okay to do whatever is best for you. That’s why some couples decide to split it more equally. My people are really good at helping couples figure it all out so don't be afraid to ask lots of questions!

That’s my tidbit of information for the day. Feel free to send me any questions you have and I’ll try to answer them the best I can. But do me a favor and put in a good word for me for more treats. Seriously. More. Treats. It’s the least you can do. Have a great week!






Murphy