Girl makes brooch bouquet

Boy proposes to Girl.
Girl says yes.
Boy goes to war.
Girl plans a wedding.
Girl asks for help.
Girl gets brooches.
Girl makes brooch bouquet.

When I decided to make a brooch bouquet... I had no idea what an undertaking it would be!
I had seen pictures and figured I was pretty good at crafts...

Little did I know...

After looking around on the internet and trying to figure out exactly how I wanted to do it, I came up with a plan... sort of.

Before I begin explaining this process, I want to give kind of a disclaimer:
1. This is a HUGE project. It takes lots of time and lots of patience. It also takes a lot of trail and error.
2. This takes a TON of brooches. I used about 80 brooches to get the full look of mine.
3. Some people seem to choose brooches of the same color scheme. I did not. I wanted my bouquet to have meaning, so my family and friends sent them to me. None of them matched. At all. But I loved it that way. If you are choosing your own, you could choose a color scheme, or even a metal color. Or simply all "flower" shapes. I chose not to do that... I had all colors, shapes, sizes and metals... I even had some that were not flower shapes.
4. This is not something I would recommend doing yourself. I did 95% of it myself, but my wonderful florist friend, Angela, helped me put it all together. Had it not been for her, It may have looked like a sparkly mess.
5. I am explaining these steps according to how I did it. I couldn't find step by step instructions anywhere, so I just kind of had to figure it out. You may want to change the way you do it to fit your style and what you want the outcome to look like..
6. The end result is VERY heavy. It is not easy to carry all day long, and can also make picture taking somewhat difficult. So be prepared for the extra weight as well.

With that said....

First, I headed to Michael's (craft store) and loaded up on all the stuff I thought I'd need. Needless to say, I made a couple of trips back. But this is what you will need:
1. 22 gauge green florist wire (lots of it!)
2. Pipe cleaners (at least 2 for each stem)
3. green florist tape (lots of this too!)
4. 50-80 brooches (vintage or otherwise. Other misc jewelry can sometimes be used also)
5. 2-3 stems of silk hydrangeas (I used white, but you could use any color)
6. Wire cutters
7. Needle nose pliers
7. 2 inch wide ribbon (I used off white, but any color would work)
8. Hot glue

Once I had gathered all the stuff I thought I'd need, here are the steps I took:

1. Prepare the brooches.
I made sure they were all securely pinned shut. For a few of them, I had to hot glue the clasp to make them stay. A few didn't have pins on the back, so I had to be sure there was some way to wrap my wire through them.

2. Attach wire to each brooch, creating a "stem"
Each brooch is different. So this was kind of a trial and error for each individual brooch. I wrapped wire around the pin part of the brooch and connected it in the middle of the brooch, twisting it tight so that when I held the wire, the brooch wouldn't flop. I twisted the two ends of the wire all the way down the stem to reinforce it. The needle nose pliers are a lot of help here. You want the stems to be close to a foot and a half (18 inches). I know it seems long, but they need to be long enough to go through the hydrangea and make a long stem for you to hold.

3. Reinforce the wire "stem" with pipe cleaner
I took a green pipe cleaner and wrapped it around the wire to give the stem reinforcement and thickness. The stems were long enough that it usually took two pipe cleaners for each stem. Sometimes three. It isn't crucial for the pipe cleaner to go all the way down... its most important on the top half.

4. Wrap the stem with florist tape
Starting from the top of the stem, wrap floral tape around and around in a diagonal motion to cover the stem. This reinforces it again, makes the stems look green like stems should be, and also gives the stems a little stick which will help when you put the whole thing together.

5. Continue this process with each brooch (or piece of jewelry)
It's good to have lots of different shapes and sizes because it will help your bouquet to have a full look. It will help with piecing it together and making the finished product.

6. Cut stems of hydrangeas
Not too short! You want them to be plenty long enough to hold with two hands... and still have a little room left. But most of the silk hydrangea flowers have SUPER long stems and that makes them hard to handle.

7. Hold hydrangea stems together
This will create kind of a mini bouquet, and the base for your bouquet.

8. Begin placing brooches
This is where it gets tricky and where I had help from my florist friend. She took each brooch stem and pulled it through the hydrangeas, letting the brooch sit on top of the flowers, and gathering the stem with your other hand. This is basically creating the bouquet. You do this much the same way you would with live flowers or silk flowers. It will get harder the more you do. It's best to start with the larger brooches.

9. Fill in the open areas with the small brooches
Continue the same process, but fill in the open areas with the smaller pieces. It will help your bouquet look full and complete. You can also use the wire stems to your advantage by bending them to fit where you need them.

10. Wrap the stems
After you have built the bouquet where you like it, and you are ready to finish it up, keep the stems gathered in one hand, and use florist tape to wrap the stems together. It may help to have another person helping you here. The bouquet will be full and heavy by this point and hard to handle with only one hand. Wrap in a diagonal motion all the way to the ends of the stems.

11. Finish off the stems with ribbon
Take the two inch ribbon, and starting at the top, wrap in the same diagonal motion all the way down the stems, being careful to completely cover the green from the stems. Use the hot glue gun to secure the ribbon at the bottom of the bouquet.

This whole process takes a long time... I did it over the course of several days. It is also a lot of trail and error and being patient. But if you can manage to do that, it is really a beautiful result.


Thanks to our fabulous photographers Chris and Erinn of White Haute Photography for the images :) And to my friend Angela of Perfectly Pink Florals for helping me with this huge project!

Boy and Girl take engagement pictures (part 2)

Boy proposes to Girl.
Girl says Yes.
Boy gets orders.
Girl wants pictures.

As I was writing yesterday's post, I went back to get a link to our engagement photos and realized that I never posted the second half here on the blog! If you didn't see the first half, you can check it out here. I spent a lot of time and energy while J was first gone planning this engagement session with the help of our amazing photographer, Jordana of Hazelnut Photography, and our wedding planners Ashlyn and Heather of Carter and Cook Event Co. I knew that I wanted our photos to be personal and special to us. So together, we pulled off a pretty cool little shoot. The reason I couldn't share it on here earlier is because it was picked up and featured on Green Wedding Shoes. There was so much thought and detail put into this shoot and I am thrilled to share it all with you now :)

Our theme was love letters and stars. The thinking behind it was a combination of several things... The stars symbolize the star in the Cuban flag (J is cuban) as well as the star that represents the Army. To me it also represents that old childhood tradition of wishing on a star. The love letters represent the long distance relationship between J and I. Obviously we have spent a lot of time apart and the letters have so much symbolism to the two of us. In addition to that, we added a little bit of a 1940s "Notebook" look. "The Notebook" is my favorite movie. I adore it. I love the love story that is so passionate between the two characters. I have told J over and over again that he is my Noah. And I feel blessed to have a relationship that is that passionate and genuine. I think it is truly rare.

Tying in with our vintage-y theme... this coke bottle holder has been my mom's for years! The coke bottles I got at Costco :) That compact mirror I bought at an antique show last summer.


I loved these books and HAD to have them when I saw them at the antique show last summer. Being a photographer, I loved the 1940s book written about how to make good pictures. The book below is a book of poem's that is actually refered to in the book, "The Notebook".





Ohhhh the letters! Some of these are real, and some of them are stuffed and made to look real :) You may also notice my cameras. I collect old cameras and they were a perfect addition to the shoot! The little white thing is my mom's. She's had it since I was a kid. The pocket watch just seemed too perfect. I got it at the antique show as well. Funny thing is that it's broken... but I love it!


J's vest. This is a hilarious story. My mom blogged about it. She is better with words than I am. But in a nutshell, we went looking for something for J to wear to the photoshoot and ended up almost getting security called on us in Forever 21. But we eventually made it out alive... and with this vest :)





Right before we left, I asked J's nephew if I could borrow a few of his Army men. I promised to make them famous... I ended up LOVING this shot!











Jordana brought this chair along and it was perfect! I was so glad that she did!


One of my absolute favorites.


Lauren of Lo Boheme made this amazing hair piece for me. I love her and her stuff. This was perfect! There will definitely be a few of these at my wedding *hint hint*


These stars were a labor of love. It took quite a while to put them all together, but I love how they came out!








These cake lollipops are our favorite. We eat them every chance possible! They are from Sweet and Saucy Shop. They will also be making an appearance at our wedding :)


J's Army boots




It makes a big difference when you have an awesome team assembled. I couldn't have pulled off this shoot if it wasn't for the incredible people that pulled together to make it possible!

Girl hires photographer

Girl goes through break up.
Girl gets a camera.
Girl starts shooting.
Boy meets Girl.
Boy and Girl become friends.
Boy encourages Girl.
Girl becomes photographer.
Boy proposes to Girl.
Girl says yes.
Boy goes to war.
Girl takes pictures.
Girl plans hires photographer.

Ohhhhh the Photographer.
Photography is my passion.
It is my job, but it is also one of my favorite things in life.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE photos.
I would probably decorate my entire house with only photos if I thought I could get away with it.
J on the other hand has never been one for photos. He doesn't even like to smile. I think it comes from his bad boy days. It's that whole tough guy thing.

But what I am finding, is that he knows how happy pictures make me, so he is learning to love them. Or tolerate them at least. When we took our engagement pictures, he was seriously amazing (which by the way, I just realized I never posted the other half of our pictures! I will do that soon!) He smiled and laughed and had a blast. He also promised me that he would smile during our wedding pictures, because ya know, otherwise it looks like my husband hates me. ;)

So the search for a photographer began. It got even tricker when we moved the wedding up 8 months and all the way over to Vegas. Not to mention the fact that I have so many AMAZING photographer friends. I wanted to hire them all. No joke. Like as in, yeah I have 50 guests at my wedding, but I'm rocking the 30 photographers who are here! Needless to say, I had to make a decision.

Being a photographer myself, I knew what I wanted in a photographer. I have read about 10 million articles on how to choose a wedding photographer and all that... and while they make some good points, I think everyone has their own criteria. Here was mine:

1. They had to be within my price range.
This is huge. Now I will be the first to say that you get what you pay for. And really, wedding photography is expensive. That's just the way it is. As it should be. Wedding photography is a LOT of work. I understand that because I do it! It isn't just showing up and shooting, its all the preparation, all the editing, culling, album design and communication. Not to mention all of the time and training and equipment purchasing it took to even get to that point. With digital photography and the internet, anyone can buy a camera, create a website and call themselves professionals. But the truth is, some are just better. For me personally, Photography was one of the 2 most important things to me. The other being my dress. Everything else was bendable. But we also had a budget. The fact is that we had 8 months less to save, and more expenses because we were doing a destination wedding. So I sent emails to my top choices to see if I could even afford them. Make lots of room in your budget for your photography... it's the only thing you have left after the wedding is over. But at the same time, understand that you have a budget... and keep that in mind when talking to photographers.

2. There had to be a first and second shooter.
I knew that I wanted two photographers. Not just one. I shoot weddings with a second shooter because I know the value of it. I also shoot as a second shooter. It's huge to have two views on the day. Two photogs are for sure better than one!

3. I had to love them and click with them on a personal level.
I read somewhere that you should want to invite your wedding photographer over for dinner. I have to say I totally agree! You spend more time with them than anyone else on your wedding day... and there is a lot of interaction leading up to it as well! If you don't click and get along, your photos will show it. It is important to make connections and build a friendship with your photographer!

4. They had to be able to make J comfortable.
As I mentioned, J is not a big picture taker. And if he feels uncomfortable or weird, then he will not do well in front of the camera. This is what I do, and I have had the privilege of being in FRONT of the camera on more than one occasion with several of my favorite photographers. I know that I want pictures badly enough that I will loosen up and enjoy the day. I will be comfortable much easier than J will be. It was crucial in choosing a photographer that it be someone that J would be comfortable with... someone that wouldn't make him feel akward.

5. They had to be fun and fresh and funky.
When I started looking at venues and vendors in Vegas, I was COMPLETELY unimpressed with photography. Especially when it came to photographers that were included in the packages. All of the photos looked like they came right out of my parents wedding album... but covered in CHEESE! They were stuffy and overly posed and not natural. There were no moments... just planned shots. I knew then and there that we would be bringing someone with us. I didn't want stuffy, typical wedding pictures. I wanted little pieces of art. I wanted little moments of time. Memories.

6. They had to be willing to break a few rules.
I am going to be writing more about this in a later post, but I knew going into this wedding exactly the kind of photos that I wanted. I knew where I wanted to shoot and the feel of the photos I wanted. I knew that to acheive that, I would need a photographer that was willing to break out of the mold a bit.

After lots of thinking and talking to a couple of photographers that I truly admire and respect, we chose a photographer. Well, two actually. They are photographers that I have shot along side of, and that have taken pictures of me before as well! They are not only amazing at what they do, but they have become my friends! I know that they will break rules, create art and make both of us incredibly comfortable.

Our wedding photographers are Chris and Erinn Austin of White Haute Photography.



Here is one from the shoot they did for me:


They are amazing and I know that we are going to have incredible photos of our day! We've spent a lot of time talking and planning, and I will be writing up a whole different blog about planning out our photos! But in the mean time, here is why we chose them. Check out their amazing work!

Girl breaks down

Boy proposes to Girl.
Girl says yes.
Boy goes to war.
Girl plans a wedding.
Girl misses Boy.
Girl gets overwhelmed.
Girl breaks down.

I walked in the living room in a daze.
I could hear my mom talking but I wasn't listening to her words.
"We need to talk... I think this wedding is stressing you out."
Then came the tears.
And the breakdown.

I sat in her living room that night and we talked through all the things on my mind.
The wedding that I couldn't seem to make any decisions about.
The boy I love that is across the country.
The happy time this is supposed to be but what it was turning into.

We decided it was time to find a solution.

"What is most important to you?" She asked me.
As I thought through that question... REALLY thought through it, I came to a simple conclusion. There were 3 things that were important to me:
1. That I marry J
2. That we are surrounded by the people that are closest to us
3. That we have beautiful pictures

Did I care about the colors or the bridesmaid dresses or the centerpieces?
Not so much.
Did it really matter if we had a garter and bouquet toss?
Not when it came down to it.

At the end of the day...
the day that we save and spend so much money on...
the day that we plan for months on end for...
the day that takes weeks to prepare for and hours to get ready for...
at the end of that day what we have left is a marriage and pictures.

So I decided to simplify.

I am a wedding photographer. I see so many weddings every year. In addition to the weddings I shoot myself... I read tons and tons of blogs. Blogs of my photographer friends, wedding planning blogs, blogs that feature real weddings... SO MANY BLOGS.

There is a sense in which I started to feel this pressure when I got engaged.
I started out with plans of planning this super wonderful wedding with 100 of our closest friends and family. I wanted it to be a great reflection of us individually and as a a couple. I wanted it to be unique... full of things that had never been done before.

Then somewhere along the line things got blurred... I felt like suddenly I was planning a wedding and thinking about all the blogs... instead of about our wedding. Suddenly the wedding felt like it was getting in the way of being married to the man I love.

Believe me, I am all for weddings. I'm a wedding photographer, DUH! But at the end of the day, it comes down to one thing. Being married. Marrying the man I love. Becoming his wife. Everything else is secondary.

So after deciding what was important to me, I was able to make more decisions.
This was HUGE.
I haven't been able to make a decision to save my life!

The first decision was this: I no longer wanted to wait an entire year.
J found out he would have R&R (rest and relaxation... where they send the soldiers home for 2 weeks to get a little break) during March. We decided that would be a perfect time for us to get married.

Next we decided that we wanted to go away... do a semi-eloping kind of destination wedding. As for where to do it... well that will take a whole blog of it's own.

We also decided we would keep the wedding to just our close family.
About 30 people.
Simple, small, understated.
No big ceremony venue with lots of decorations... something simple and outside would be perfect.
No big reception with tables and centerpieces and seating charts... a simple dinner at a restaurant instead.
Our bridal party? Yes, we still want them, but they will be more honorary. And they can pick what they wear :)

I alluded to some of this in my blog yesterday about my brooch bouquet. Because of these changes, we will not be able to have everyone we love at our wedding. But our family and friends are so important to us. We want to have a piece of you there with us. And we are working on some pretty cool things so that you can share in the day with us anyway. More on that coming.

As for the photographer... again, that is a whole other blog... however I will say this. One of the 2 things left at the end of this day will be the photos. And being a photographer myself, I know how important the photos really are. So so so important. The most important thing to me aside from the actual marriage. So we will be bringing a photographer with us. We will be carving out a very large chunk of our day for pictures. I am planning pictures as well as a wedding. I know this is where the majority of our budget will go and it will be well worth it. Because when the flowers have died, the dresses have been hung in the back of the closet, the centerpieces are trashed, the cake is eaten... what remains is the marriage of two people who love each other, and the pictures documenting that love.

And so the preparations begin. We now have 4 months instead of 12. And lots of decisions to make. But not nearly as many. I am so much more relaxed knowing that I will get to be married to J in only 4 months! And that this is so us. Relaxed, laid back, and simple.

I can't wait to share the rest of the details with you! Because believe me... even for a simple, relaxed, laid back wedding, there will be details :)

Girl chooses bridesmaids

Girl grows up in Oregon.
Girl is only child.
Girl moves to new school.
Girl makes friends.
Girl moves again.
Girl meets Boy.
Girl loves Boy.
Boy proposes to Girl.
Girl says yes.
Girl plans a wedding.
Girl chooses bridesmaids.

The choice of bridesmaids was not a difficult choice for me.
And while it took me longer than 5 minutes to decide, it wasn't much longer.
I moved several times growing up... and went to 3 different high schools.
I've had my share of friends, and what I've found is that there are very few friends that last a lifetime.

I wanted my bridesmaids to represent me... to stand next to me physically, spiritually and emotionally. But I also want them to be girls that I will still be speaking to 5 years down the road!

I wrote a few weeks ago about Davene, my maid of honor. She's been my friend the longest (outside of my family). I am so excited to be in her upcoming wedding and just as excited that she'll be my maid of honor!


(I'm on the left with blond hair! Davene is on the right)

I also have a beautiful, wonderful friend who I haven't known quite as long, but who has been there for me through thick and thin. We had a chance meeting... a blind date of sorts... and she has been a great friend to me ever since. She is the girl that will tell you the truth... even when you don't want to hear it. She'll pray for you, encourage you, and tell you when your jeans look bad. I am blessed that Bianca will be a bridesmaid, and even more blessed that she is my friend.


(Bianca is on the left, I'm on the right. I should mention that as fantastic as it looks, her hair is not normally this... full ;))

I moved away from Oregon almost a decade ago. Leaving behind my friends, and my extended family. Even though we've had distance between us, my cousins have been amongst my best friends over the years.

Heidi is my oldest cousin. I remember being a little girl and thinking she was the coolest. I would follow her around her house, wanting to do everything she did. I'm sure it drove her nuts, but she was so kind... even as a kid. Heidi has been my source of strength and encouragement through lots of tough times. She has been the first one I've talked to when I've had a problem... we've laughed together, cried together, struggled together and triumphed together.
(Heidi is on the far right. I am on the left)



(Rebecca is in the middle the above picture)
Rebecca is only a couple of years younger than me, as is Holly. But when we were little girls, and I was following Heidi around.. Rebecca and Holly and I had a rocky relationship. I'm not entirely sure when it changed, but it did. And what followed were long days playing with our dolls, making up choreographed dances and skits, laughing so hard that we couldn't even stand it, and begging our parents to let us stay together longer. We had slumber parties, and went on vacations together. All these years later, Rebecca lives in a totally different state. So does Holly. And yet, through the miles, we remain not only cousins, but also friends. Holly has been a big support for me in the time that J has been in the military... and especially with this deployment. Her husband is an Army man too. I am grateful for amazing beautiful girls who are not only family but also friends.



J is a package deal. He has a large, and very tight knit family. And I love them.
His niece, Crystal has quickly become a great friend to me. I feel like we've known each other for years. She is the kind of girl that you can laugh with for hours, and who will be there for you when you just need to cry. We've had countless conversations while riding all over the place in my jeep. She has been an incredible support in my photography as well as coming along to hang out, assist and second shoot for me. I am so proud of who she is becoming, and so thankful for the huge role she's played in my life.




I also have two very special little girls that will be joining me as beautiful flower girls. J's nieces, Samantha and Angela. J and I had already discussed having them as part of the wedding.
But then one night we were all at dinner and they walked up giggling.
Samantha said in a sing song voice, "Angie has something to ask you."
To which Angela giggled and whispered in my ear, "Can we be your flower girls?"
I looked at them wide eyed and said, "Well I don't know... do you have experience?"
Oh the list they gave me of their flower girl qualifications.
Needless to say, they will be fantastic flower girls :)


(Angela, me with blond hair, and Samantha)

Boy and Girl take engagement pictures (part 1)

Boy proposes to Girl.
Girl says Yes.
Boy gets orders.
Girl wants pictures.

I became a photographer because I love pictures.
I have always been that girl with 10 million photos strewn around my room and hung on the wall in various frames; the girl who carries around her camera, says "PHOTO OP!" at every possible moment and snaps away.

So it is only natural that as J and I have dated and done fun things, there are always pictures. J on the other hand has never been the one to jump at the chance for a photo. But he has very quickly adjusted to my love of all things photo.

When I found out we had two weeks together before he deployed, I knew I wanted to try to take our engagement pictures during that time. I knew that we'd be getting married shortly after J got back, and I knew I'd be doing a lot of the planning while I was gone, so I wanted to be sure that I had photos to use as well.

So I asked my WONDERFULLY talented friend Jordana of Hazelnut Photography to do some photos for us. She was so amazing and flexible and worked with us and produced some AWESOME pictures! Like I am seriously soooo thrilled! As a photographer, choosing a photographer is a huge decision. Maybe one of the biggest. I knew I wanted Jordana to shoot some photos for us because I've seen her work and it's gorgeous. But I've also shot with her and I know HOW she works. And I love it. There is so much to a photographer other than just their images. The reason that photographers get the pictures they get is not only great talent and great tools, it is also the ability to interact and direct clients. When you are choosing a photographer... think about the whole experience... not just the finished product.

The other thing that I think is so important is to plan for your engagement session. That doesn't have to mean you have to have a theme and props (although those can really add a lot!) but think through what you are going to wear, how it will photograph. Think about little things that are special to the two of you. For our shoot, I knew right away that we wanted to incorporate one of J's motorcycles. It's something that is unique and something that we love to do together. I also knew that I didn't want us to be too matchy matchy, and I wanted something that would look like what we wear on a regular basis. It was also important to me that our clothes added to the photos but weren't the focus of them. Here are a few of my favorites from the motorcycle portion of our session.



















We did some special photos that were styled by the wonderful Carter and Cook Event Co, but I can't share those quite yet, but I promise you'll see them soon :)

Thanks to all the amazing people who made this shoot possible. It's so much fun to collaborate! Especially when it's with friends!