If she wants a simple centerpiece with hydrangeas, I highly recommend just using potted hydrangeas in a simple, pretty container or pot. Even a little terra cotta pot works. It is the world’s simplest centerpiece, very lush and pretty and cheaper and a zillion times easier than cut flowers. I get the small ones and just plop them into the container while they are still in the plastic pot (in other words, I don’t replant them). You can rent the containers or you can get white ceramic flowerpots very cheaply at IKEA. If you are doing flowers yourself without a florist, this is a major time and stress saver. Cut flowers are a pain to deal with.
I also personally like daisies in mason jars (love the blue and green mason jars), but I don’t want to try to sway the bride to be that far over from where she is starting!
Glad you aren’t horrified at the popcorn idea. There is a place about 5 minutes away from the reception venue that has great prices on flavored popcorn. I’ll look for an opening to introduce the idea to the bride and her mother.
My youngest daughter for years has said that she wants loads of hydrangeas for her wedding. (No groom yet, but knows her flowers.) I have read that they really really really need water, as in, a hydrangea bridal bouquet may not last even through the reception. Of course, no problem getting reception hydrangeas in water, but I would worry if you had to set up the room a day or so ahead.
^^^This is a good idea. I’ll have to look for some photos to show her. Then we could take them home and plant them! Do they have small enough pots of hydrangeas? I can only picture the bushes. 
And yes, the bride has a secret board on Pinterest we all pin to!
They have them in little 3" pots usually. I’ve spent about $10 on them previously but I just looked on the Home Depot website and the cheapest ones they have currently are $16.99 (and a little bigger) which is above my budget. You’d have to shop around to see if they’d actually be cheaper than the cut ones in the end.
@musicamusica - Thanks for the heads up.
My daughter has been very carefully researching the K-1 requirements. She is uber careful about following the rules. She has been reading extensively on a forum for people working on K-1 visas and there are plenty of horror stories from people who did not follow the rules.
And oh my goodness, 700 guests! I couldn’t even name 700 people if my life depended on it! I can’t begin to imagine a reception that large.
Missypie, when you introduce the idea also show her some examples of cute little containers to have the popcorn displayed in and pouches or whatever for guests to hold their popcorn. Assure her that you’re not going to serve the popcorn in coffee filters.
There is a trick with hydrangeas - I’m familiar with it because of FDIL loving them and myself or S purchasing them for her and trying to keep them fresh! You smash or vertically slits on cut the stem ends and then immerse them in hot water for a minute or two - then place in vase water. Lots of versions of this out there - including one that uses alum as an additive.
mp- I LOVE the popcorn idea.
FDIL has a Pinterest site for wedding flowers, which the florist referenced to get a starting point for what she likes – very helpful, and I enjoyed seeing what appealed to her.
My lovely daughter is getting married in August. SHE is the planner …I’m just regularly consulted for my opinion. Shee booked the venue last August, contracted with the caterer last October. Wedding dress is (maybe) selected – she had an appointment in January to meet with the wedding consultant at the bridal shop, but just for fun we went to the local outlet from the same chain in December (David’s Bridal) - and of all the dresses she tried on, the one she liked best was marked down to $99. She wasn’t absolutely in love with it, but she bought it and had it shipped out to her in NY – and took it with her when she went to look for more dresses. She emailed me all the photos from the second round of try-ons, and $99 dress is still the favorite. She’s going to visit some other shops, but I think that is most likely going to be the dress. (I’ve seen photos of dresses I like better, but all very pricey).
Anyway… part of my lack of direct parental involvement stems from distance. I’m on the west coast, I’m not going to plan an east coast wedding. But it’s nice this way… it will be nice to simply be able to attend the wedding as an honored guest without feeling accountable for any of the details.
Wow, that dress deal can’t be beat!! ^^^
@abasket isn’t kidding about that dress deal! That beats the price on my 1979 wedding dress - $200;)
My DDs plan was to wear my mother’s designer off shoulder
satin 5’ train 1950 gown. We got as far as the first fitting.
Then life happened,
Thankfully she had nabbed a lovely dress on Nordstoms Rack for about 75% off that she planned to wear for the reception .
Wedding happened and bride was beautiful
I hope we could attend the wedding just as honored guests when it is our turn, because we live far away too.
Recently, at my company, two members (out of ten) in my group were married in the past two months. Another one was married about half a year ago. Still three have not married – but two of these three have had a long term (>4 years) GF/BF and these two would likely be the next.
My intuition tells me that if a young couple keep postponing their wedding, a part of the reasons could be the finance – for young man or woman who were graduated in the past 4-5 years, it is likely because their parents are somehow unable to help.
The two that were married in the past two months seem to have been helped financially greatly by their parents. (I heard both of them called their parents every single day in the past several years and they were proud of doing this. One of them told me that essentially everything his parents have is his, as if he were an “extension of his parents.”) How about one of them who have not got married? His almost-20-years-old car was broken more than 2 months ago but he decided not to have it fixed. He has relied on his bicycle + Caltrain as his transportation means since.
Fiance came over on Sunday afternoon and we talked a lot about wedding plans. She and her mom were not wild about the popcorn idea but have other ideas for the cocktail hour. Her mom is already blinging out some candle holders. They don’t really understand my (gently presented) point about the centerpieces being too “elegant” for a barbeque dinner served on paper plates. And do you know what? I am absolutely content. Fiance told me that she doesn’t have a lot of ideas on how things should look, but that her mother is great at all that. Totally fine with me. Her mother gets to have the ideas and I can bow out. We still don’t have a florist but we’re close. (Recall that I have to be involved because I am paying.) After that, I can recede graciously from the planning and just worry about proper mother of the groom stuff (i.e. not much.)
I’m not being sarcastic here. It’s their party to give. Their taste, not mine. I’ve made a few suggestions but they own it and I’m more than fine with that.
Darn Missypie, I love the popcorn idea! Fancy popcorn in adorable containers - the perfect accompaniment to the casual bbq dinner! What cocktail hour ideas did they have?
Your attitude is admirable and probably best for less stress during this time of planning. But I do have to say, while I don’t see you arm wrestling them to get popcorn or any other “your ideas” on the table, they should really be accommodating some of your ideas since you are kindly funding a good portion of the wedding.
Wise move Missypie. I think this wedding thing is the ultimate “pick your battle” scenario.
Chatted with D1 yesterday. Diamond is being reset at a jeweler near where she lives. Setting is being custom fabricated. The jeweler told her the diamond is a vintage hand-cut stone, probably from no later than the 1920’s. Because it’s hand-cut, it’s not perfectly round-which D1 says makes it even more special. I made her promise she would pass on the ring/stone to one of her sons/daughters since it’s been in the family for at least 3 generations.
D1 will leave for Australia a week from today and has promised to FaceTime me next week to show off the ring on her finger after her official proposal. She’s leaving the wedding dress at [her] home so maybe they won’t be eloping while she’s Down Under.
Fiance is trying to figure out the logistics of shipping his household stuff from Australia. D1 will help him sort and prioritize while she’s visiting.
@missypie, is the wedding going to be in the evening? So many of the weddings that D & I have been to (together or separately) now have an end of wedding snack like gourmet Rice Krispie treats, a variety of brownies, candy, etc. Something to finish an evening of dancing & fun. If your FDIL doesn’t want the popcorn for cocktail hour, I think it would make a great end of the wedding snack. One of the cake vendors we visited said that a significant number of guests don’t eat cake, so a snack like that would be cute.
I 2V, I actually mentioned that to the fiancé. Her reply was that someone would have to set that up and she didn’t know who that would be. Still considering whether to press on that one. College will be out by the wedding date, and my guess is that my one of daughters is acquainted with a reliable young woman who, for a few bucks, would put on a decent outfit and come set up the popcorn in a pre-arranged manner.
Just thought I’d share – the $99 wedding dress has gone the way of my daughter’s safety colleges. D & a couple of her friends went shopping again yesterday afternoon after work, and she found a dress that she absolutely fell in love with. Which, naturally, costs 10 times as much. (I’m so glad it’s not my money!) Anyway, I’ve seen the photos, it is a gorgeous dress. She says she tried on all sorts of dresses, but this is the one she knew was “the one”.