Grow your love

As we have been plannng our wedding I've thought about messages or themes we wanted to convey. Yes, it's a party, and yes, we want aesthetically pleasing images, but we wanted it all to mean something in the end, rather than wedding-porn-worthy photos. That's when I became fixated on the theme of growth. Marriage is not the pinnacle of love -- it moves forward, it progresses, it evolves from the day vows are exchanged.
Yes, I am guilty of looking at hundreds upon hundreds of wedding photos in the blogosphere and I've coveted countless dresses, centerpieces, decorations and photography angles. But I noticed something when I drew up a preliminary timeline for our ceremony and reception. All of this will last five hours -- just five. All these months of planning and daydreaming culminates in five hours. When put in that perspective, you start to realize that letting you life revolve around five hours is pathetic. The abundant, lush centerpieces you see in that photo will all wither and die in a matter of days, hours even! That $1000 you paid that florist was used for a whole 5 hours, and only remembered by you. Sure, your photographer may have captured lovely shots of your bouquet, but who else besides yourself and a few family members are going to look at it again?
Nothing material will ever really take the place of two people's love and their commitment to nurture that love. But thinking about it, all these shortlived, materialistic things that we spend on does nothing to really convey what our love is about.
 So how do I balance the practical side of me -- the one that's screaming at me to forget all these materialistic things and high-tail it the altar in my jeans, with the girly side of me-- the one who likes things chic, stylish and a bit more refined?
There's no easy compromise, but I think I found one area that both sides can agree on--the centerpieces. Walking around the Asian Mall in Westminster, CA, my fiance and I noticed gorgeous potted orchid plants. They were in stylish bamboo pots and were only $12 each. They were simple and minimal, but our eyes were instantly attracted to them.
If I were a guest, I would rather take home flowers that will last longer than a day. Guests can keep it, plant it or water it at home. The orchids would be long-lasting tokens from our wedding that would only need nurturing care. My fiance and I loved the idea of potted orchids as our centerpieces --especially since they're beautiful, eco-friendly, affordable and they fit nicely with our theme--growth.
Here are some potted orchid centerpiece examples. We thought of dressing up the base with extra flowers and candles.

Not bad, huh?