Steps to a wedding: Bouts or no bouts?

To tell you the truth, this was never question that crossed my mind (or even worried me) during our wedding planning. If you ask my opinion about it, I probably won't have a straight answer to give you. I have mixed feelings. Generally boutonnieres are not a thing I'm into.

Just a quick search on google images for the word boutonniere and you'll see what I mean. I have chills all along my spine! Creepy! But then, as you get to know all this amazing creative people on web, you begin to see things in a different perspective, and you start to enjoy things you never did before. Like bouts. If not, just look at these...

via ruffled

via oncewed

Gorgeous, right? So, these got me thinking. Hum... Maybe wouldn't be such a bad thing... Actually now I see that, if done properly, it is as a great way to unify the groomsmen outfits without having the need for them to wear exact same suits, when that's the case (here there's no such thing as groomsmen or bridesmaids, and thank God for that).

via erin hearts court

via little miss martha

One day I found myself at one of those not-so-amazing wedding planning sites (don't even ask me why I was there. I'll spare you the pain and won't reveal the name) and saw a girl asking for help at the forum. It went something like this: Please help me! My future husband insists on wearing a white suit on our wedding but I'm afraid it will outshine me and ruin my princess day!! How should I talk him out of it? Well, I would be as concerned as she was, if I had such lack of brain! Oh, did I just said that out loud? Ok. I'm not gonna lie, I thought that girl was a bit stupid, sue me, but that thing got me thinking. It was meant to be OUR DAY! Not the day I would be marrying some guy. The same way I was not supposed to blend with the crowd, for I was the bride, I wanted him to stand out. Equally. (well, as much as possible... there's something about the bride we cannot deny)

We already had decided on his outfit, manly to go with the relaxed country feel we were having, the same as with my dress. He would be wearing a normal suit, no shiny satin fabric, no vest, no cufflinks, no handkerchief in the pocket, nor cravat with pearl pins. We went for a natural beige linen suit, but still... I started to doubt my own decisions. Was it going to be too simple? Looking back, it was perfect, as we envisioned. But at that point we question everything.

The question floated on my head till the very day of the wedding. More precisely about two hours before. I remember being alone at my room looking at my dress hanging and then it came to my mind again. I went downstairs and grabbed my bouquet. I look at it and smiled inside. Yes, I said to myself, as I gently plucked two tiny roses. Then I run out to my mother's garden and picked a piece of a beautiful a succulent (we both love succulents but ended not including them on the wedding). A bit of string and a safety pin, and it was done. From here, I don't remember much. I actually have no idea who delivered it at his home. I do know that my sister and his mom helped him having it placed. Why would that be?

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photos by our friends João and Rita