The Booq... The Bouq... The Flowers

I'm not what you'd call a huge flower girl. Sure, I love when Dustin sends me the occasional bouquet, but I don't plant flowers in the spring, and I don't even have a favorite bud.

Combine this with the price of floral arrangements and the long-distance drive and communication, and you've got yourself a bride that doesn't want a floral bouquet. I need something to hold, because I'll be nervous, and I pick at my cuticles when I'm nervous. I'm not too big on the parasol trend (looks great, just not for my Thanksgiving in the mountains wedding), and if I carried a lantern my arm would get tired and I'd catch my dress on fire. I like the way flowers look, but not so much on the silk flowers.

So I'm opting for something that will cater both to my penchant for vintage goodies and desire for something that at least looks like a traditional floral bouquet: a vintage brooch bouquet.

Feast your eyes on these babies:


I *love* these. They've got the color of a floral bouquet, but I don't have to 1)rely on importing flowers coated with chemicals and a huge carbon footprint, 2) paying for organic, locally grown flowers, 3) working long-distance with a florist, and 4) kick starting anybody's seasonal allergies.

I can customize a bouquet like this pretty easily, and brooches shouldn't be too hard to find. And I love that I'm perhaps saving some things from a landfill, too.

Now I just need to figure out how to put this thing together.

All images from Fantasy Floral Designs