and crushin’ on these pillows too!

and her flowers…

Mark Held of MARK'S GARDEN

If you ask who is the “Florist to the Stars,” the insiders would tell you it is MARK’S GARDEN in Sherman Oaks, California. The owners, Mark Held and Richard David, along with their premiere staff, created the floral designs for such notable weddings as Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom’s, Fergie and Josh Duhamel’s, Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi’s, Kathryn Heigl and Josh Kelley’s and believe me, the list seems quite endless.  For two decades MARK’S GARDEN has been creating fairytale weddings for many lucky couples.

Mark and the rest of his talented team are currently preparing for several extravagant Valentine’s weddings and finishing their 17^th year planning the floral designs for the Academy Awards Governor’s ball. Held was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule to speak with me and share his tips for brides planning their wedding flowers.

Here are Mark’s tips…

(1)  “Before you start looking at your flowers, you first need to be realistic and confront your budget. If you have a small budget but want to invite 300 people, you cannot expect to be able to spend a lot of money on flowers. If you want more flexibility with your limited dollars, think about having a smaller guest list and a more intimate wedding.

(2)  The best way to save money on flowers and décor is to choose a venue that is already beautiful, that needs little enhancement. A beautiful garden, a panoramic view, a beautifully appointed room are all places where you don’t need to add too much to the scenery to have a beautiful wedding.

simone and martin Photography

(3) Everyone has a budget, even people who tell me they do not have a budget, have one. When you initiate a conversation with any of your vendors, be very upfront on what your budget is for their specific service. It is a waste of time for you or your vendors if you don’t do this. If they show you a proposal for something you cannot afford, you’ve just wasted your time and you haven’t seen what the vendor is capable of doing within your budget.

(4) Don’t skimp on your bridal bouquet. This is your day; you should get to have a beautiful bouquet to hold. However, don’t choose a bouquet that overpowers you or your dress. We want to see you first when you are walking down the aisle, not your bouquet. You are the star of the show. Brides come in every shape and size and your flowers need to honor that. You may see a bouquet in a magazine that you love, but it may take away from your own personal beauty. Make sure that you choose your dress first before you even begin a design conversation about your bouquet.

Gertrude & Mabel Photography

(5) Boutonnières are not corsages! I personally think men’s boutonnières should be simple and small. And bows on men’s boutonnières, I’m sorry, that is just one big no no to me.

(6) Don’t mix too many colors in your wedding flowers; it can really start looking like a circus. I think one or two colors are best. You can still make a bright and colorful statement with two great stand-out colors, but beyond that, it’s hard to successfully execute an elegant design.

(7) Bring tear sheets and pictures of wedding flowers you love and those you hate to your design consultation (mark appropriately so they know which you love and which you hate!). Bring material swatches of your bridesmaids’ dresses and your wedding dress (if you can get it). Bring pictures of all wedding party attire and your wedding and reception venue (if your florist is not familiar with the location(s)). The more information you give to your florist, the better they will be able to design something you will love.

Gertrude & Mabel Photography

(8) Be flexible with the type of flowers you want to use at your wedding. You may have one specific flower in mind but that flower may not hold up well in the heat of your outdoor wedding. Hopefully you are working with a floral designer that will educate you on what flowers will be the best for your special day given all the elements like the seasonal availability of flowers, the cost of the flowers (in terms of honoring your budget), and how that flower will hold up in your specific environment and in the overall look you want to achieve.

(9) Head wreaths are not a great idea for your tiny attendants. If your flower girl is under 5,  they will likely take it off as fast as their mother tries to put it back on again!  For flower girls under 3, consider giving them a very lightweight basket with a small arrangement in it instead of petals to throw. Heavy baskets get given to mothers to carry and petals often confuse little ones and rarely thrown, the way you want them to be thrown, when the flower girl is too young to understand.

(10) Most tall centerpieces are more expensive than low ones, so if you are trying to save money, either keep with all low ones or alternate them to save money – maybe 3 low centerpieces for every tall one.

Yitzhak Dalal, Dalal Photography

(11) Incorporating candles with your centerpieces can stretch your budget and creates a very romantic feel to your wedding. Inexpensive votive candles surrounding your centerpieces can enhance the overall look of any priced centerpiece.

(12) You can never go wrong with a clean classic look.

(13)  Make sure you are listening to your professional floral designer but also be sure that they are listening to you. My brides bring in some very fresh and wonderful ideas. If I were not listening to their creative ideas, I would lose the opportunity to design something truly personal and special for them. If your floral designer is not listening to you, find one that will. On the other hand, make sure you are listening to your designer’s wisdom as well. That is what you are paying for right?  Use the wealth of their experience to create the perfect look for you.”

Thank you Mark for sharing the wealth of your experience with us!

Mark’s aptly named book, Fabulous Parties, will be coming out in paperback in March.

Click here to be directed to MARK’S GARDEN’s website.

Use pictures as background on your table numbers

There are many ways to personalize a wedding. One very popular idea is to use pictures as part of your wedding décor. Most couples find that using pictures as focal points at their wedding and reception will not only make their “wedding-scape” truly one of a kind, but really helps break the ice between guests. Pictures bring back fond memories for guests to share with one another, relieving that awkward silence between people that only have the bride and groom as their common denominator. And the cherry on top of this idea? This couldn’t be a more budget friendly idea; you have the pictures and even if you buy new frames, you can use them for your home décor after the wedding. Personal, budget and green friendly; how much better can a decorating idea get? Here are a few ways to incorporate pictures in your celebration:

Show off your parents' cake cutting pictures on your cake table

Guest book – Instead of a traditional guest book, have your guests sign the matting that surrounds your engagement portrait.
Altar pictures- Place small pictures of your dearly departed, (or those who cannot attend your wedding), on the unity candle, communion or ceremony table.
Personal jewelry –A locket with your beloved’s picture in it is a nice accessory to wear when you say, “I do”.
Reception entrance – Display pictures at the entryway of your reception, either on stand-alone easels or on your placecard table.
Tabletop centerpieces – Set three or four pictures of various sizes on each dining table. Make sure you include baby pictures and those awkward pre-teen pix as well as recent couple shots of the two of you in the mix. Add votive candles and scatter flower petals, some decorative stones, crystals, or mirror discs around the pictures and you have yourself some great conversation pieces. People will walk around to see what pictures are featured at each table.
Head table –A framed picture of each attendant (hopefully you are in the picture with them as well) at their place-setting is a very special way to designate who sits where at the head table.
Cake table- Flank your wedding cake with pictures of your parents and grandparents cutting their wedding cake.
Entertainment – Many photographers and videographers have the ability to produce and present a video or slide show of your love story. If you or friends are on the creative side, try it DIY style and have your masterpiece shown at your reception.

Last but not least, be sure to include a picture from the wedding in your thank you cards. From beginning to the end, pictures can add so much to your wedding experience.

Question for our Experienced Brides: How did you use pictures in your wedding decor? Brides2Be want to know!

Walk into most any department in Wal-Mart and you can find something that may be useful for a bride and groom and generally speaking, you aren’t going to find it cheaper anywhere else. In their jewelry department you will find a few inexpensive engagement rings and wedding bands and a generous selection of accessories and gifts for an entire bridal party. Cubic Zirconia tennis bracelets, simple anklets, heart shaped and “Journey” necklaces with earrings to match, will accessorize bridesmaids well without emptying anyone’s piggy bank.

In the party section you will find several rows of typical wedding supplies for much lower prices than most specialty stores. A good assortment of Favor boxes at 50 for $12 can easily be filled with a sweet treat found in their candy department. Want the kiddies-at-heart to have bubbles? 100 Ring Bubble Wand Favors are only $15. For the computer savvy they have invitation kits at unbelievable prices and for the home bakers they have most anything you would need to make your own wedding cake or cupcake tower.

If you venture into departments not often thought of as wedding related, you will locate some great “finds” for a celebration. Do some price comparison and you may find that it is actually cheaper to buy whole sets of dinnerware than to rent them from a typical party rental company. On a recent visit to a Wal-Mart store, I found glass dinner plates for $1.50 each. The nice thing about purchasing instead of renting is you will have a large collection for all your future celebrations.

Decorating weddings with $5 vases, filling them with homegrown flowers and surrounding the vases with $1 votive candles can make for simple and inexpensive centerpieces. Purchasing a gazebo or an arbor in their garden department will allow you to reuse it in your own backyard after it has been the centerpiece of your ceremony. You can also get multi-use out of other special décor like lanterns, firepits or outdoor furniture that help create a very chic and contemporary styled wedding.

Right now, when the Christmas department is just being set up, it’s a great time to look at white lights to swag on your head and cake tables (underneath tulle or iridescent material). Or purchase Christmas ornaments and pile them in a crystal bowl for an easy centerpiece anytime of the year.

Don’t forget the personal health and hygiene departments to make “Wedding Day Emergency Kits.” Band-Aids, Tums, Aspirins, mouthwash, hairspray, deodorant, nail repair kits, Kleenex and smelling salts are just a few of the items key to a good emergency kit. Add energy bars, nuts and bottled water from the grocery section and stain removers from the laundry supplies and your kit will begin to look like a pro made it.

If your schedule is crazy and feet are sore, do some of your shopping on-line at www.walmart.com. By creatively thinking outside the box – you can come up with a Wal-Mart Wedding that won’t break the bank but can still be a very special celebration with all the trimmings!

Some of my favorite venues for Fall weddings are wineries, apple orchards, farms and rustic looking clubhouses with big old fireplaces.

Natural decorations that show off the beauty of the season can be inexpensive and stunning. Outlining a processional aisle with autumn leaves easily sets the tone for a fall wedding and can cost you nothing if you have your cadre of friends collect them the month before your wedding. Remember Runaway Bride when Julia Roberts finally married Richard Gere? The only decoration at that ceremony was a hill full of beautiful fall leaves.

I love to decorate with barrels of apples and apples as place-card or candle holders. And I am nuts about nuts in table-scapes. Decorative bowls of nuts (with nutcrackers handy) on each guest table, tall vases filled with nuts and topped with fall flowers, or nuts just strewn around a centerpiece provide some great accents. My girlfriend had a chocolate iced wedding cake decorated with maple candy leaves and marzipan fruit. The cake was surrounded by a variety of nuts and candles on a gold tablecloth; it was…fabulous.

I went to a wedding last year that served hot apple cider with cinnamon sticks and also had hot buttered rum drinks. At the end of the evening they handed out waxed bags filled with warm mini apple cinnamon doughnuts for the trip home. I am certain no doughnuts actually made it all the way home! At another wedding they had caramel apples as their wedding favors – what could remind you of a fall day more than a caramel apple?

Tell us about your Autumn themed wedding. We’d loved to hear your creative ideas!