Vintage Wedding Bouquets

I have been kind of obsessed with vintage wedding bouquets this week.  I'm not even into vintage stuff normally!  I guess it's been more of a trend at weddings lately, and for good reason - why not spend the money on a bouquet you can keep forever?  They are such statement makers, and will look great in photos.  A lot of bouquets I have looked at are made entirely of colorful vintage jewelry.  If your family has a lot of these laying around, it would be a great idea to incorporate them into a bouquet and have it be meaningful.  There goes your "something old".  There's a website called www.etsy.com, which is a place for different individuals all over the world to sell their arts & crafts.  There is a wedding section that has so many great things to browse through!  I found thousands of bouquets that you can purchase to be hand made for you.  Some pricey, and some not so much.  There is really a choice for everyone!  I am really obsessed with this one right now, but I think $600 is just too much for something that I will hold for 20 minutes, if that.  But I do get to keep it forever!

(If you click on any of the pictures, it will take you to the actual listing.)

Isn't it gorgeous??  It has the "something blue" too!  For $600 it can be mine too.  By the way, I'm pretty sure the dress featured in this photo is the same Tadashi Shoji dress I just bought from Bloomingdale's!  It looks great with the bouquet!  Oh, and I just learned this from a coworker - I never knew you are supposed to hold your bouquet low like she is in the photo, so that it's not in your face or covering your dress!  I'm so glad she told me!

I like the little blue decorated throughout the bouquet for a pop of color, while at the same time keeping it low key.  But this muted one is very nice as well:

Once again, $600 = a little too much for a bouquet.

Maybe this one is a slightly cheaper alternative at $450:

Here are some bouquets like what I was referring to earlier - made with lots of vintage jewels and very vibrant colors.  These are not quite my style, but I think they would look great with the right person.  I don't want my bouquet to steal the show from me and my dress, so I'd stick with a more muted color palette.  I know, I'm such a loser competing with a bouquet for attention... LOL!  I do wish that I had some old family jewelry that I could incorporate, but my mom and grandma aren't really into jewelry I guess.  So no luck for me.

$525

$495

$370

There are also lots of choices for the "edgier" brides like this one:  I think it's beautiful but again not something I would go for personally.

$446

$170

Also some even less traditional choices, like sea shells, buttons and feathers:

$435

$125 - cute for beach wedding!

$135

And then there are also lots and lots of good old silk flowers arranged beautifully together.  I don't think I would want to get one made entirely of silk flowers though, because I think the whole point of getting a unique bouquet is to stand out.  I might as well just go with real flowers if I wanted all roses or something.  But I did find some like this one that has a unique country flair, and also has decorative jewels on it to pimp it out a little.  I like this look, but is it a little depressing to hold wilted flowers as you walk down the aisle? 

$170

Anyway, that was probably bouquet overload.  But isn't etsy.com an awesome site??  You can get anything custom made for you for a decent price, and lots of choices.  Not to mention knowing that what you are getting is one of a kind.  If you want to change anything, you just contact the seller - everything is totally customizable!  I swear I don't work for them, but I've been spending way too much (work) time on this site!  Like I said, the wedding section is insane and has everything you could imagine.  I saw lots and lots of floral sashes and hair pieces that I might have to look into more later when I decide on a dress.  

And looking at all these bouquets is making me want to attempt to create one on my own!  LOL!  I can only imagine what a disaster it will be.  But hey, if it turns out decent it might be a fun project!  I've been googling DIY bouquets, and it seems do-able with the right stuff, like a bouquet holder, floral wires, hot glue gun, and some imagination.  There are lots of whole sale jewelry / arts / crafts / fabric, etc. etc. type of places in downtown LA that I can browse through and find the right pieces for cheap.  This will of course have to be done after I take that damn test that's taking over my life!  If I fail at my own creation I can always go on etsy and order one.  Should be a fun adventure!