Monday, March 26, 2007

My love is like a red, red rose

On Saturday, I visited a florist.

I know, my wedding is eleven months away, and I'm already talking to florists! But things seem to get booked up pretty quickly in NYC, particularly anything affordable, so it behooves me to get started. Besides, it's not like I'm thinking about anything else, anyway.

So, I went to see a florist. It was this cute little shop in Jersey City, across the Hudson from Manhattan. I really liked the flowers on her website, and when I called and told her my budget, she didn't laugh. This seemed promising.

You see, we are getting married on February 17. Unfortunately, it is close enough to Valentine's Day that flowers are still going to be extra expensive. Furthermore, I want my color scheme to be primarily red. Red is the Chinese color for weddings, and it just so happens I love red. However, red roses around Valentine's Day are as in demand as, oh, World Series tickets, and just as expensive.

This is a problem, because in winter, roses are the cheapest flower around. If you're not getting married around Valentine's Day.

The first florist I called suggested I cut costs by doing nothing but roses in my bridesmaids bouquets and centerpieces. Then she sent me a proposal that was about $1,000 above my budget, $400 of which was delivery charges.

The second florist, the one in Jersey City, suggested using other flowers, and didn't sneer at my budget. I went in. We looked at lots of pretty pictures of amarylis, ranunculus, tulips, anemones, ilex berries, and all kinds of lovely red flowers that were not roses. She said she would send me a proposal. I am waiting with bated breath: I hope she still thinks she can do it on my budget after talking with me.

Today I called a third florst, who basically told me there was absolutely no way I could do anything on my budget; all flowers are insane around Valentine's Day. Maybe I should do candles for centerpieces and spend my budget on the bouquets.

I hate candles.

I am, as with the wedding in general, torn. I love flowers. My sweetie gives me flowers all the time, and they always make me happy. I just love their beautiful graceful shapes, their delicate texture, their bright colors. I think they are the ultimate extravagance, and I would love to have a wedding overflowing with flowers (would that I were marrying in the spring and could have an abundance of peonies, dogwoods, magnolias and lilacs!).

But on the other hand, they are so fleeting. I have a hard time spending thousands of dollars on something I will enjoy for only a few hours. Even though I love flowers, I do not remember the centerpieces at any wedding I've ever been to. These flowers would really be only for my pleasure; no one else will really notice. It's hard to justify.

I sometimes feel the same way about the wedding. My sweetie and I could use the same amount of money to travel around the world. But...I love weddings, and I think the ceremony, the public celebration, is important. I don't want to just go down to City Hall, spend the day in line, and then sign a paper and be done with it.

Well; let's see what the florist has to say.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

That plant is totally amazing! It's HUGE! You need to grow some basil now.
-cass