As we talk about Mennonite weddings today, a disclaimer.  I am a Mennonite and since my audience is mostly (but not all) fellow Mennos, I will be alluding to our Mennonite wedding traditions throughout the series (read THE FIRST POST here), with a brief intro in this post.  If something sounds foreign to you, please ask questions!  We will try to explain our cultural oddities.  😉  I also recognize that most of my audience are bargain shoppers and DIY mavens like us, which is why we, The Florists Who Charge You MONEY, are doing a series on how to do it yourself and cut down on flower costs.  There are about 5 other series brewing in the back of my brain that have to do with current floral trends, seasonal wedding flowers, and the best flowers to choose for weddings, so if this topic on weddings-for-a-penny doesn’t interest you, come back later.  M’kay? 

Shall we begin?

MENNONITE WEDDINGS

Mennonite weddings are rich with tradition.  We value families and community so it follows naturally that when a new family is created, we celebrate.

This celebration, though, coincides awkwardly with our value of simplicity and modesty, which has resulted in the Mennonite solution for most dilemmas: rules.  If you were to attend a Mennonite wedding today, you might not feel like it is much of a celebration.  There is no dancing except in the long line to the ladies’ room, no alcoholic beverages (only sparkling grape juice on the bridal table, please), and hardly any tinkling glasses.  Sometimes we forget ourselves, though. 

I didn’t think we had unique traditions as Mennonites until I started writing this post, and thought, “There are people who are reading this who won’t have a clue what I’m talking about.”  So here are some of the things our culture finds important when it comes to weddings.

What Were Her Colors?

Wedding colors are big news.  We dress everyone who has part in the wedding in matching outfits that coordinate beautifully with the flowers, color of the punch, and the ribbons on the backs of chairs.  There are gift receivers, guest book registrars, bridal party servers, regular servers, dessert & beverage servers, and the clean-up crew, all dressed in the wedding colors.  There are even parking ushers, but they usually wear black and white.  Recently, though, we’ve cut back on family-style meals and been doing more cafeteria style meals, so the server scene has died down some. There aren’t quite as many pink-clad angels floating around the reception hall anymore. They now scowl at us from behind steaming roasters as they ladle mashed potatoes onto our plates.

How Were Her Flowers?

Whether they are simple or elaborate, there are flowers at every Mennonite wedding.  We’ve fallen pretty hard for the baby’s breath trend, and lately, eucalyptus.  In addition to the bridal party we usually pin flowers on ALL the important wedding guests, like family members, gift receivers, parking ushers, and sometimes even the pastor, poor fella.

What Did You Eat?

There is usually an appetizer and/or punch table, a welcome relief as we transition from a long ceremony to a time of quiet feasting.  There are ALWAYS big, beautiful, home-cooked meals.  It’s kind of our thing, and it’s probably the only bright spot for every single male in attendance.

We Do It Ourselves

Because we are kind of the ultimate DIY kings and queens (think: barn raisings) we have historically relied on our community for help with our weddings.  We never used to hire wedding professionals, but instead ask our talented and organized friends to step in for us.  (And, there is nothing wrong with this!)  No sense in hiring a caterer if six couples from church can spend their day fiddling with roasters in the hot kitchen.  Rent a facility? We’ve got our church basement or the gym down the road.  And flowers?  I know someone that did them for my brother’s sister-in-law’s wedding.  She’s good and she’s cheap.

We will, however, usually spend well for a photographer to capture the entire wedding day.  The list of photos to capture usually include posed shots of the bridal party, our large families, our singers, servers, and ushers, every reception detail, and maybe a few stolen kisses.

Don’t know how to grow your own cut flowers?  Check out our online gardening classes!

Check out Our Gardening Classes

Current Mennonite Wedding Trends

We find ourselves at a crossroads today, with one foot in the traditions of Mennonite weddings and one on a banana peel.  We want awesome, one-of-a-kind weddings, too, and realize too late the effort that goes into those affairs.  Pinterest has found us.  And with that, our treasured simplicity is on its last leg.  If you, like me, are feeling a little wistful about this, we might talk about a return to simplicity (you know, alternatives to eloping) toward the end of the series.

Mennonite weddings today might be held in a renovated barn or under a tent or on someone’s back lawn. We’ve loosened up on our church basement policy and are surprisingly willing to pay $5,000 for a venue.  The food might be a little trendier, too. I’ve seen donut bars and coffee stations and there was even rumor of a taco truck. (OK, I saw it on Instagram.) We’ve apparently loosened up a bit on the mashed potatoes, too.  And the weddings are smaller because invites aren’t landing in every church mailbox anymore.

Mennonite Weddings and the Flower Budget Dilemma

But, one thing we haven’t quite decided on yet is the flowers.  We are hanging onto our ideas of small flower budgets with one hand and desperately clutching a stack of Pinterest inspirations with the other.

That’s where we as florists find ourselves today, wanting very much to give someone with an $800 floral budget at least a hint of the $10,000 floral budget inspiration photo we were given.  We love the challenge, and it was us that asked for those inspiration photos in the first place.  But until we got into wedding floristry as a business, we too, had no idea how much wedding flowers cost.  We lost money on some weddings until we finally realized that someone always pays for the flowers at a wedding.  And maybe, after all, it shouldn’t be us.

“Let’s start a conversation about wedding flowers,” we said, “and see where this goes.”

Should be fun.

-LaRonda

Read the NEXT POST here.

(To all of you beautiful people who responded to our Instagram survey, we were blown away by the response and are so grateful for your courage.  You rock our socks.)