Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!

Yesterday, my boss called me into her office to speak to me. I felt my heart drop as I thought of all the things that I could have done wrong. I couldn't really think of anything as I sat in the chair opposite her desk. All of a sudden I hear, "R and I have decided to pay for your wedding flowers. I heard you say that you're not having any flowers and I want to give them to you. I believe that every girl should have exactly what she wants on her wedding day."

.................uh what?

I stared at her blankly and asked her to repeat herself. Yep, I had heard correctly. R, a volunteer at the art gallery I work at is a florist by trade and has connections to get flowers for my wedding at cost. T, my boss had decided that R and her were going to go in together on the cost so that I can have real flowers at my wedding. She said they were going to be paying for my bouquet, bouquets for my girls and flowers for the flower girls.

As I sat there in utter disbelief, she asked what kind of flower I wanted besides tiger lilies (my favorite flowers ever.) I told her that I hadn't really thought about flowers since we weren't going to have any and asked if I could get back with her. I left her office speechless with my mind racing.

When Keegan and I first started talking about the wedding and our budget, I figured we wouldn't be able to afford flowers. After a few emails to florists, including a family friend, that thought was confirmed. Honestly, I was disappointed for about a day, and then realized how much money we were saving and now able to spend on other things. Also, as much as I love flowers, I felt bad about the fact that they would die the day after the wedding. My mom had fake flowers at her wedding and she still has her bouquet. I love that idea and decided I would make my own bouquet out of fake flowers.

Back in January, Keegan, my mom, and I went to Hobby Lobby and got enough flowers and other supplies to make my bouquet for under $25. I was extremely proud of what I paid for my huge bouquet, but it didn't actually get finished until April.

Here is Keegan modeling it. It's had a few changes since then, but it's basically the same.

All along, I've looked at decorations and centerpieces that don't include flowers. While I still don't have our centerpieces pinned down, (shut up,) I'm 99% sure of what I want to do, and it doesn't include flowers.

With my boss so graciously offering to pay for my flowers, I'm so torn. I love what Keegan and I have come up with so far. I think that our wedding, from the ceremony down to the decorations represent us and who we are. And we didn't need flowers to do that. On the other hand, Keegan said it best when he said "We would be crazy to turn this offer down. It's free flowers!"

I honestly don't know what I'm going to do. I don't know if I want to dive into the world of flowers and figure out what I like/don't like, what's in season in August, and how to keep them alive for the wedding. Also, we didn't invite R who would ultimately be putting together the bouquets. If we do "hire" him, I feel like he should be invited, but wouldn't it be tacky to give him an invitation now? Or is it implied that he's invited since he's a vendor?

Currently, I'm leaning towards politely declining my boss' offer. It is so unbelievably generous for her to do, but I honestly don't have the time or mind power to dive into the world of flowers. Also, as a small detail, I would feel weird that my girls would have bouquets, but the boy's wouldn't have bouts. Also, what about corsages for the moms and grandmas? I feel like if half of the wedding party has flowers, everyone should, but there's no way that I would ask my boss to pay for more.

I think that Keegan and I need to sit down, look at some pictures, and talk about this over the weekend. Hopefully by Monday, we'll have an answer for my boss.

Anyone else have someone unexpectedly pay for something for their wedding? Did it throw a wrench into your plans, or did it make your life easier? Any opinions on what we should do?