The Flowers (or lack there of)

I feel like it's time that I mention one of the aspects of the ceremony and reception that will actually be done completely DIY style- the bouquets and centerpieces. Now while I find flowers beautiful of course I also feel like there is something a bit depressing about cutting them off of their plant homes and putting them in vases so that they will die after a few short days. additionally I think it's one of the most inflated wedding costs that can be gotten around pretty easily. One thing that helps a bit in this category is my intention to have the ceremony outdoors in a place that will likely be brimming with flowers of all sizes, shapes and colors, and if I get my way with the reception plans it will be in an art gallery which will need very little extra decor. While on etsy (my favorite place in the whole wide web) I stumbled across one of the most adorable lil things I've ever seen- button bouquets. Apparently these have been around for awhile but I had somehow never heard of them until now. So I'll show you a few examples of the amazing ones I have come across in my research.

these are a perfect example of bridesmaid bouquets and are made by lilfishstudios on etsy

and this is one that would make a beautiful bride's bouquet from letters4lilly on etsy

exactly what I want my own bouquet to look like, not too sure where i found this pic but it's stunning.
Here are are few examples of perfect versions for centerpieces

found on buttons.net

found at this websight which also includes a great tutorial.
So as much as I love all these designs and agree that they are completely worth the money you'd spend on buying them from their incredibly talented designers, I've decided to take the project on myself. I went on ebay and bought a lot of mixed buttons, I got over 500 of them for $16 including shipping and have started with designing my own centerpieces using the tutorials found on the last websight I listed and a few others. I have yet to find instructions on how to make the bridal and bridesmaid bouquets but I think I can figure it out once I get better at the centerpieces. I'll post some pictures of my attempts pretty soon, my buttons just arrived yesterday and I'm already midway through my second bouquet.