Grandpa Kline's Poppycock {Not Your Average Caramel Corn}

With every wedding (since there are 4 girls in our family) there is an area where you try something new. So, Mom and I decided we would tackle the flower arrangements for the reception centerpieces.

We realize up front we need to apologize to everybody in the Clemson area. The reason it has been flooding is that we have had a network of Campbell girls praying and PRAYING that the hydrangeas would last until our wedding, and the Lord answered that prayer! In fact, the week after our wedding most of the hydrangeas around town started dying because of the heat.

Since I have been a young girl my favorite flowers have been tulips and hydrangeas. Growing up we would go to Grammie's out at the farm, and she always had the most GORGEOUS hydrangea bushes. I love them! So, we decided to pray alot and use hydrangeas from our yard and our kind neighbor's yard.

Wednesday before the wedding, 7:00am: Julia Fernandez, Sarah and I began cutting all of the hydrangeas we could. Mom, Rach and Carrie started cutting magnolias from the yard, as well as several other types of greenery. We went to work, and around 8:30 met back at the house to brave the drive to Greenville.

We picked closer to 200 hydrangeas, and even used some from Grammie's yard. They were perfect!

 Once we got our flowers in order, the girls and I headed to Greenville (Jules also :)) to assemble. Of course, we had our Diet Dr. Pepper on hand (DDP)...

Rach, Mom, Carrie and Sarah worked on washing, trimming and organizing the flowers while Jules, Sharon Niega and I assembled centerpieces. We did about 19 large centerpieces, then probably close to 20 smaller arrangements to go on the bistro tables and in the soft seating area. It took us a few hours and was a BLAST!

We were so excited about the finished product and were so thankful that they let us go to Zen a couple of days early to assemble our centerpieces! What fun memories we made. We even took a lunch break and met the Sute's and sister Katie at Zoe's for lunch. It's a Campbell sister's favorite for sure!

So, If you have an army, beautiful flowers in your yard, and vases on hand, why not try to get creative? Just remember, if you do try to tackle your own flowers, practice weeks before to be sure you know how your specific flowers will respond when picked. We spent the month before the wedding cutting different plants around the yard and putting them in water to see how long they would stay fresh. It's IMPORTANT to practice!

1. Start with the base. GREENERY. We used japanese maple leaves, magnolia leaves, eucalyptus and twigs. Several other unidentifiable, GORGEOUS green plants in addition. :)

2. Fill in with the flowers. We put between 5-7 hydrangeas in each large arrangement. We also tried to mix the colors and give every arrangement a pop of PINK. The lipstick, ladies! Remember, if you use an odd number of flowers, it will be more visually appealing than if you use an even number.

3. Dangle. :) This is where we used the eucalyptus and ivy. You could use any type of vine.

4. Height. You always want something coming upward to give some height to the arrangement. Look at the height of your vase and that will give you an idea how tall the arrangement should be. We used twigs from our yard and they worked well!

And ALWAYS have a florist ready in case the flowers wilt... thanks to Adina at Frilly Bloomer Florals for being on standby for us! (she did our bridal party flowers and they were beautiful!)

This is NOT a picture of the finished product... but it's my cute groom. :) Thought I'd just throw that in here!

 And... the FINISHED PRODUCT!

Special thanks to all of my family and the couple of friends who helped, as well as Zen for the use of the tall vases. It was SO MUCH FUN and made the decor so much more special!

-- Alli May Morris