Professional florist and member of the Offbeat Bride Tribe Tiffany Saul aka. Ragdoll shares with us 15 insider tips that florists don't want you to know! Oh and PS: All photos in this post are from the Offbeat Bride Flickr pool — click the photo if you want to learn more about the flowers pictured.

So I am a florist who strictly does wedding work, cake toppers, centerpieces, floral dog collars, and the usual, all for brides on limited budgets. I was visiting a friend of mine at her work (a big money sucking floral shop) and I over heard some things that I could not believe.

A bride was doing a consultation and the florist she was talking to kept trying to "up-sell" or downgrade every idea the bride had! There was nothing wrong with her ideas at all, except for the fact that they wouldn't put enough money in the florist pocket. It was sick. But the sickest part about it was that the bride agreed with every bad idea that the money hungry florist said. By the time my friend finished her lunch break, her coworker added at least a couple hundred more dollars to the unsuspecting bride's budget.

So I felt that I needed to share some tips with you. Tips from an honest, budget friendly florist:

Continue reading "How to not get screwed by your florist, by Tiffany Saul" →

I opted to not carry a bouquet; put something, anything, in my hands and watch me awkwardly bend, fold and fondle it into oblivion. Plus, for some strange reason, I didn't feel like spending a load of money for flowers that I was just going throw away at the end of the day. But if I wasn't so fidgety I would have definitely been one of those brides that opted for a bouquet alternative to flowers.

Since Offbeat Bride Kerry started a discussion called "Bouquet Alternatives" on the Offbeat Bride Tribe a wealth of amazing offbeat bouquet porn has been popping up. I thought I'd share a few of the unique and inspiring ideas.

OBT member Zan suggested making this bouquet out of "beautiful, cheap, fashionable feathers" that she'd seen at Hobby Lobby.

Continue reading "17 wedding bouquet alternatives for fearless brides" →

Inspired by a pair of wedding shoes that didn't fit…

…OBT member Sophomania mused, "Vegan footwear is not only hard to find but expensive. But hey, I am a crafty bitch! I might as well DIY it!" So she took a pair of cheap non-leather pumps from Pay-Less and painted them freehand. The results are stunning:

To see more detail shots of these inspiring handpainted shoes, keep reading…

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You know you're an offbeat bride when…

By Cassie…

…you ask your engaged friend, "What are your centerpieces going to be, and how are you making them?" and she looks at you funny and says the florist is bringing them. Then you remember, oh yeah, centerpieces are traditionally beautiful flower arrangements brought in by florists, not the homemade concoctions made from a combination of dried gourds, vintage buttons, wind-up toys, and mini cast-iron bicycles that you were planning on.

…your relatives think your engagement must be off just because they can't find a wedding website/registry for you on The Knot.

…you ask a bride-to-be what color her dress is and she says, "Like, do you mean ivory vs. white?" and you remember not everyone considers red/purple/rainbow/polka-dotted dresses for their wedding day.

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Welcome to another installment of OMGOBT, where I feature some of the best that the OBT has to offer. This time: OBT member Jen Han shows us her diy projects for her skull theme, which manages to be a little punk rock and yet totally adorable at the same time. So, take it away, Jen…

My fiance is OBSESSED with Duke Basketball… so the wedding colors are Duke blue. i reeeally love skulls so we are incorporating skulls into the stationary, place cards and cake. i'm pretty proud of the subtle incorporation of skulls in the invitations:

Continue reading "My DIY skull theme, by Jen Han" →