For those of you reading who were in my wedding party, or more specifically, for you Staci who I probably exchanged 10,000 emails with as we planned that wedding, you might remember the traumatic maiden hair fern incident with the wedding florist.
Let me explain. I was absolutely besotted with this incredibly delicate and glorious little fern pictured above and just had to have it in my wedding flowers. I wanted it in all the bouquets as well as all the table arrangements. I provided photos for our florist.
The day of the wedding, the bouquets for the wedding party arrived and to my absolute horror, these were the “maidenhair ferns” in every single bouquet — Northern Maidenhair Fern. Because that’s a thing. I guess the countless photos I shared with our wedding florist didn’t tip her off that we might have two very different versions of this fern in mind. At the time, it was just enough to tip a bride over the edge, but now, years later, I am almost ready to laugh about it.
See above for “Northern” Maidenhair fern. #WTF
All kidding aside, as much as I butted heads with our wedding florist who wanted the freedom to explore her own artistry and snuck orange roses— not peach — as we’d discussed ad nauseum into just about every single arrangement despite my sharing that I absolutely abhor the color, I AM OVER IT. Can you tell??! I kid.
In all seriousness though, I actually laughed out loud recently as I was reading a bit more about the maidenhair fern since I was looking to buy one for our new home and read it described as “the diva of houseplants.” Of course it is. I can never choose the simple thing or the easy route. Maybe because I love a challenge. Maybe I’m the diva. Who knows.
The other (now) hilarious thing I want to remember always about this diva of a plant that I just had to have in my wedding flowers is that I saw the exact type of maidenhair fern growing with wild abandon ALL OVER HAWAII where we honeymooned immediately after said wedding. I saw it as I scaled down cliffs to get to a waterfall in Maui. It lined paths to the Queen’s Bath in Kauai. It was literally everywhere we went.
I share these little anecdotes not to bitch about how much I butted heads with our wedding florist or even to alert all the brides to be out there of the importance of verifying all genus of fern or flower if you choose to micromanage your wedding to the extent that I did.
I share this now because all these years later, I can finally laugh about it. Our wedding was absolutely beautiful, but it was also just the beginning of an even better story to come. And now I know that the maidenhair fern is the diva of houseplants.
Married with Style 