Wedding Planning: EcoFlower Review, DIY Centerpieces & Invite Hack

It’s been a hot minute since I’ve updated you all with my wedding planning, and the truth is… I hadn’t been doing much planning in the past few months. Everything took a back seat while we went through the process of buying our first house, then moving in and settling down. But now that’s behind us, and I’m jumping back into wedding planning head first.

EcoFlower Review

First of all, I received my delivery from EcoFlower with my bouquets and boutonnieres. They’re all from their Marsala line, which features ivory and blush flowers with accents of wine red— our main wedding color. The flowers are made of recycled materials that are biodegradable but can also be saved for years with proper care. Upon first researching florists, I was flabbergasted with how much our bouquets would cost, and they’d be wilting by the next day! EcoFlower was not only priced more affordably than the real thing, but my bridesmaids and I get to keep our bouquets as a favor to remember the big day.

I got two different packages— one with our boutonnieres and the other with our bouquets. They were all wrapped individually in bubble wrap and placed carefully. I was ecstatic unwrapping each bouquet. They looked better in person than I could have imagined. They were full, round, and actually looked pretty real. I had my reservations, thinking they might look shiny or gaudy, but they are elegant and downright gorgeous.

The bouquets are wrapped in twine and lace, adding a really beautiful rustic touch that will work well with my woodsy wedding. Some green sprigs also shoot out of the bouquet to add a little more texture and color.

There are a few things I want to point out if you’re thinking of trying EcoFlower. First of all, you may remember me saying that I ordered these in March. Their wedding orders are prioritized by your wedding day, so you won’t get them right away. With that said, I put my wedding date as August 15th when ordering for the sole purpose of getting the order early enough to share my thoughts with you. The boutonniere order arrived on the 10th and the bouquets arrived on the morning of the 15th. If that was my actual wedding date, this wouldn’t have been acceptable. Especially if you’re having a destination wedding, or like to have things ahead of time in general, I would have been ripping my hair out had the delivery been that close. So, I do suggest to put in a date way ahead of your actual wedding if you want to be sure they arrive in time.

Other than that, the only other thing to keep in mind is that the flowers are actually very fragile. They aren’t flexible like real flowers— so they are prone to holes or tears if you drop them, bump them, etc. I accidentally poked a hole through one of the flowers on the boutonnieres when putting the pin through the back. I’m glad I ordered a couple extra “emergency” boutonnieres because I know we’re going to end up with at least one person breaking theirs. Also, the green foliage does tend to shed as I take the bouquets in and out of their bubble wrap, so just be careful of that while unwrapping them. Overall I’m extremely in love with my bouquets and am so glad I went this route.

DIY Wine Bottle Centerpiece

As you may have seen on my YouTube channel, I’ve also started working on my centerpieces. I decided to DIY them because, again, the florist quoted me a ridiculous number to rent some. We’re also saving money by having the florist create aisle pieces for the ceremony that can be transferred into these vases for the reception.

Paying homage to our love of wine, I’m taking wine bottles and spray painting them to match our color scheme. We’ll have gold, burgundy and twine-wrapped bottles at every table. I have until the end of September to finish this project, since I’ll be handing them off to my mom next time I see her. She’ll take it from there in terms of getting them to the venue.

The hardest part of the project was actually figuring out how to remove wine bottle labels. The cheap stuff had labels that would come off easily, but I was putting in serious elbow grease with most of them. I found out that lemon oil basically makes the paper and residue wipe right off. Watch the video above to see the full tutorial on how I’m making these from start to finish.

Sending our Invites

Finally, we sent out our formal invitations over the weekend. Wow, that makes it real, doesn’t it?! As I mentioned in previous wedding planning updates, we received our invitations from Minted, which carries so many beautiful and unique designs from independent artists. Ours have embossed gold foil detail which really make them pop, while the rest of the design is quite simple and elegant.

The invites came with free printed envelopes, however we have had several friends who have moved since we got them made. So we did have to hand address a few ourselves. We also had to fill in the guest count on the back of all the invites. This was a little hack I learned on reddit that doesn’t leave any room for confusion. We printed “__ seats have been reserved in your honor” for us to fill in depending on whether they are welcome to bring their family, a plus one, or just themselves. We’re saving money by having them RSVP online via our wedding website, so no worrying about RSVP cards or return envelopes!

For the next couple months, it’s all about nailing down details. Check out below what we still have yet to do.

Venue
Food
Alcohol
Hotel Room Blocks
DJ
Photographer
Rehearsal Diner Venue
Night-Of Accommodations
Registry
Save the Dates + Invites
Wedding Website
Dress
Bridesmaids Dresses
Bouquets
Bachelorette Party
Decor
Bridal Shower
Cake Bakery
Dress Fitting
Party Favors
Photo Booth

Anything I should add to my last minute checklist?