Mike and I got married on August 4, 2006.  We were, and still are, crazy in love!  We were so young, and I was just so happy to be marrying Mike that I wasn’t very concerned about planning the wedding.  Now that I work in the wedding industry and see some of the most gorgeous details, I wish that I had cared a little more about table decorations, guest books, and even photography.  Our wedding is still one of the best days of our lives and the details could never change that.  My favorite parts that I would never change are my dress, the location, the flowers, and of course the groom.

I was not nervous at all on my wedding day, I was just excited for it all to be over.  Our wedding was completely DIY, and I was helping put bouquets together 30 minutes before the ceremony was suppose to begin.  My sister had to push me out the door to get my dress on.  Our wedding was suppose to start at 3 pm and I was promptly ready at that time standing at the top of the stairs with my father.  When we looked down we saw that people were still walking around and talking, so we quickly rushed inside and waited for everyone else to get ready.

I am so grateful for my mother to put up with me through all the planning, because I made her make almost all the decisions.  She had very little time to do it to, because it was all thrown together in about 2 months.  I know crazy right!  It is because of her that the wedding turned out so well, she even chose the flowers.  I didn’t even know what a hydrangea was, and now they are one of my favorite flowers.

It was a very green and sunny day and there were huge puffy clouds threatening to rain on our backyard wedding.  In my family, we were always told that if it rains on your wedding day it is good luck.  As a little girl I loved the Little Mermaid, so I walked down the isle to a piano version Kiss The Girl by the O’Neill Brothers. It did not rain at all during the ceremony and after we walked down the isle as husband and wife we went straight to sign the marriage license.  It started to lightly spinkle as we were signing and a drop landed on my signiture smearing the ink and leaving a perminent mark of the happiness, luck, and love we will have.

We did not have a photographer, which is crazy, but my family helped out taking lots of photos.  We hired a photographer, but she called two days before and cancelled!  I would never do that to one of my clients! Here are some photos from our wedding.

This is one of my favorite photos from our wedding.  Mike and I look like total dorks, and we were definitely acting like it, but I just love it.  My brother took the photo. He told Mike to swing me around, and neither of us knew what he was talking about, so Mike just grabbed me and started shaking me around.  We were laughing so hard, and this goofy photo is more precious to me that the pretty one of how the pose was suppose to look.

So since it is Flower Friday, I guess I should share a little about flowers :)

Hydrangeas stand for devotion, friendship, and understanding.  They come in a large variety of colors and are a summer and fall flower.

image by Anne Ruthmann Photography

So many color options!

On Friday my little brother graduated from high school, and because of all the excitement I neglected my blog for the weekend. I created a short flower Friday post though, and forgot to post it, because I thought the blog elves would take care of it :)

Here it is a few days late, and I hope everyone had a fun and safe Memorial Weekend!

It is getting hotter and hotter every day now, but I am not complaining because Arizona has had a great year so far.  May is just about over and I don’t know if we have hit 100 degrees yet, that is awesome!  They weather has been so nice lately, but now I am starting to prepare for the few summer weddings that I am photographing and am thinking about flowers of course.  Florists have been advising brides about flower selection and how the heat will effect the bouquets and petals.  I never even think about stuff like that.  So here are some few photos that I found of bouquets from florists blogs with flowers recommended for the summer.

This one is really interesting to me, because I have never even though of using babies breath for a bouquet, but it is really beautiful!

Image courtesy Lucas Allen

Those are carnations!

Gerber daisies are so much fun!

I love the idea of cactus and succulents for wedding arrangements!  If you didn’t know by now, I love the desert, and I love Arizona.  I think having cactus and desert plants with, or in place of, flowers is so smart.  Especially in Arizona, where they are so available.  These are some of my favorite bouquets, boutonnieres, and centerpieces.

Arrangement by April Flowers and Photograph by Ken Kienow Modern Weddings

Image courtesy Ryan Jensen Photography

Photo courtesy Lisa Woods & Shannon Cunningham Photography

Images courtesy Floataway Studios

image courtesy Katrina Andrew Fine Art photojournalism

Images courtesy Priscilla Valentina

I love these photos, there is a little of everything!  Succulents, flowers, and moss… so pretty!

images courtesy Creature Comforts

Today will be a quick flower friday.  This week I want to write about Peonies.  I love them!  I have also never shot a wedding with them.  Ahhh… someday.  They are such a gorgeous and delicate flower.  Once you know what they are, you see them all over.  Here are just a few photos.

photo courtesy Whole Blossoms

Image courtesy Kiss the Groom

Images courtesy Erik Johnson

Image courtesy Recycled Bride and Erin Hearts Court

I have been seeing so many gorgeous bouquets lately made of things I would have never thought of.

Images courtesy of PhotoTom

These ones pair brooches with flowers.  They are elegant and fun.

Images courtesy 2 Chic

Images courtesy of Anna Simonak Photography

Image courtesy of Brewer Photo & Video

Images courtesy of Alice Hu Photography

image courtesy of Abonen

image courtesy letters4lilly