The White Lily (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
thewhitelily) wrote2010-06-19 01:05 am
thewhitelily) wrote2010-06-19 01:05 am
Matron of Flowers
I'm an experienced Matron of Honour. I'll be reprising my role tomorrow, at Hubby's sister's wedding.
Even if I do say so myself, I'm a good choice to have on one's bridal team, because I sew. You need a flower girl dress? No worries, I'll design one to suit your needs. Your size 16 bridesmaid has quit with a month to go, dresses all ordered, and been replaced by a size 10? Perahps, given there's a size 12 and size 14 bridesmaid in between the two of them, we could alter the size 16 dress to fit the 14 maid, the 14 dress to fit the 12 maid and the 12 dress to fit the 10 maid? No worries. Seriously. Stop stressing, I've got it under control. (And I won't mention that this is my second night with absolutely no sleep *getting* it under control, because I don't want you to stress, right?) You need hems hemmed? Wraps made? Panties installed with an easy-access panel to allow for loo trips without disturbing assorted corsetry? No. Worries.
I'm used to dealing with sewing emergencies. I'm not so used to dealing with flower emergencies.
8:55am, day before the wedding. My mobile rings. I’m running desperately late for work and I have my jeans half on with no time to engage in the appropriate pants-dance to pull them up the rest of the way or I’ll miss the call. I don’t recognise the number.
Me: Hello, Lily speaking.
Her: Hi, it’s [muffled] here from [flower place]. I tried to ring the bride, but I think she’s having a sleep in or something and your father I think it was gave me this number. I was just packing up your order and... can you tell me what colour the bridesmaids bouquets were meant to be? Because we’ve made all the bouquets up red, and I was looking at the groomsmen’s buttonholes and thought it was strange that they’d be white when the maids bouquets were red, and then I looked at the order form and there was no notation there at all for the maids bouquet colour, it just says the dresses are red, and this has never happened to me before, so is that right?
Me: NO!
They're very apologetic over the mixup. But they don’t have enough white roses to remake the maids bouquets in all white. Instead, they’re going to unpin the already made bouquets and make them up again with a mixture of red and white, which will be lovely but was NOT the plan. And to get it done they need to push back the delivery until two hours later, so we might end up having to drive the groomsmens buttonholes into the church in the bridal cars.
Fine. It's what needs to be done to get it done. It's a minor hiccup that's now been solved, and we're all cool here.
Same day, 12:03pm, just four hours later. My mobile rings. I’m about to leave the car detailing place in our car, which has been in for its first cleanup ever because (as a convenient white car complete with Hubby as driver) it's in the wedding party. I'm running right on the edge of schedule to get to the church to start the process of setting up the draping and taping of bunting, and general arranging that is set to take five people all afternoon.
Me: Hello, Lily speaking.
Guy at the bride's house: Hi, it’s D here. Um. The flowers have just arrived.
Me: The... what? Today? No!
Guy: That’s what I thought. I’ll tell him to take them away again, shall I?
Me: That sounds like it would be best. They can put them back in the chiller and we can pretend this never happened.
Guy: He wants to know, should he bring them back at 12pm tomorrow?
Me: Yes. Wait! 10am, please. I think I'd like the chance to double-check them early.
AAAAAAARGH!!! Have these people EVER done a wedding before?!?! But we're all cool here, it's going to be fine, in fact it's going to be lovely. Flowers are very commonly arranged the day before required and left in the florist's chiller to keep them fresh and perfect for tomorrow, and they should be none the worse for their short trip across town. After all, we wouldn't want the bride (or in this case, since the bride herself is as chilled as the florist's fridge, the mother of the bride :P) to stress.
And I'm up writing an LJ post at 1am the night before the wedding, because venting cures stress-related insomnia, and I just wish I could shake the feeling that bad things (like all things, come to think of it) come in threes.
Fingers crossed a for threeless tomorrow...
Even if I do say so myself, I'm a good choice to have on one's bridal team, because I sew. You need a flower girl dress? No worries, I'll design one to suit your needs. Your size 16 bridesmaid has quit with a month to go, dresses all ordered, and been replaced by a size 10? Perahps, given there's a size 12 and size 14 bridesmaid in between the two of them, we could alter the size 16 dress to fit the 14 maid, the 14 dress to fit the 12 maid and the 12 dress to fit the 10 maid? No worries. Seriously. Stop stressing, I've got it under control. (And I won't mention that this is my second night with absolutely no sleep *getting* it under control, because I don't want you to stress, right?) You need hems hemmed? Wraps made? Panties installed with an easy-access panel to allow for loo trips without disturbing assorted corsetry? No. Worries.
I'm used to dealing with sewing emergencies. I'm not so used to dealing with flower emergencies.
8:55am, day before the wedding. My mobile rings. I’m running desperately late for work and I have my jeans half on with no time to engage in the appropriate pants-dance to pull them up the rest of the way or I’ll miss the call. I don’t recognise the number.
Me: Hello, Lily speaking.
Her: Hi, it’s [muffled] here from [flower place]. I tried to ring the bride, but I think she’s having a sleep in or something and your father I think it was gave me this number. I was just packing up your order and... can you tell me what colour the bridesmaids bouquets were meant to be? Because we’ve made all the bouquets up red, and I was looking at the groomsmen’s buttonholes and thought it was strange that they’d be white when the maids bouquets were red, and then I looked at the order form and there was no notation there at all for the maids bouquet colour, it just says the dresses are red, and this has never happened to me before, so is that right?
Me: NO!
They're very apologetic over the mixup. But they don’t have enough white roses to remake the maids bouquets in all white. Instead, they’re going to unpin the already made bouquets and make them up again with a mixture of red and white, which will be lovely but was NOT the plan. And to get it done they need to push back the delivery until two hours later, so we might end up having to drive the groomsmens buttonholes into the church in the bridal cars.
Fine. It's what needs to be done to get it done. It's a minor hiccup that's now been solved, and we're all cool here.
Same day, 12:03pm, just four hours later. My mobile rings. I’m about to leave the car detailing place in our car, which has been in for its first cleanup ever because (as a convenient white car complete with Hubby as driver) it's in the wedding party. I'm running right on the edge of schedule to get to the church to start the process of setting up the draping and taping of bunting, and general arranging that is set to take five people all afternoon.
Me: Hello, Lily speaking.
Guy at the bride's house: Hi, it’s D here. Um. The flowers have just arrived.
Me: The... what? Today? No!
Guy: That’s what I thought. I’ll tell him to take them away again, shall I?
Me: That sounds like it would be best. They can put them back in the chiller and we can pretend this never happened.
Guy: He wants to know, should he bring them back at 12pm tomorrow?
Me: Yes. Wait! 10am, please. I think I'd like the chance to double-check them early.
AAAAAAARGH!!! Have these people EVER done a wedding before?!?! But we're all cool here, it's going to be fine, in fact it's going to be lovely. Flowers are very commonly arranged the day before required and left in the florist's chiller to keep them fresh and perfect for tomorrow, and they should be none the worse for their short trip across town. After all, we wouldn't want the bride (or in this case, since the bride herself is as chilled as the florist's fridge, the mother of the bride :P) to stress.
And I'm up writing an LJ post at 1am the night before the wedding, because venting cures stress-related insomnia, and I just wish I could shake the feeling that bad things (like all things, come to think of it) come in threes.
Fingers crossed a for threeless tomorrow...
no subject
I don't understand the appeal of big weddings.
no subject
no subject
(Anonymous) 2010-07-16 11:08 pm (UTC)(link)But all that aside my wedding wasn't that much of a trauma was it? :-( I really appreciated everything you did.. and I'm sorry you felt like you *had* to do any of those things *hugs*
Loves ya.. bestest friend ever.
E.
no subject
And of course I didn't *have* to do all of those things! But I could, and while it was definitely work, I was glad to be able to do it and take a bit of the load off your mind - it was certainly no trauma! :)
*hugs* Bestest friend ever!