DIY flowers redux

Following up on my previous DIY flowers post, here's another from Better Homes and Gardens. From that site, I've been immersed in researching flower-decorating ideas. Following is my work-in-progress, draft vision.

BANQUET/RECEPTION
For the banquet at night, I was thinking of gathering a bunch of shiny buckets (probably of different sizes) and arranging them in various groupings -- some scattered by the sign-in table, some by the cake, some on the head table? -- instead of having just a few of the giant floral arrangements that many florists will make. I think the same groupings can be made for the front of the church in lieu of the main altar centerpieces. The only thing left to figure out is what flowers to use. I think I will need at least some flowers with some height, like the gladioli at right (though I'm not a fan of the gladiolus, so maybe some branchy orchids or willow?).

CEREMONY
Ideally, some of the buckets for the banquet decorations would come from these buckets hanging from the pews, via Martha. Using less arranged pieces would also make it easier to give out the flowers at the end (they'll likely last longer too b/c they'll probably be sitting in water, not stuffed into foam).

Here is also an interesting idea from Martha, but not sure if it'd be tacky/too casual. It looks like they used a Chinese tea container too -- can you imagine other Chinese tins, like cough drop tins?Other ceremony decoration ideas:

lush head of hydrangea from Knottie AllAbtDetails

same example in purple, from www.winecountryflowers.com

Or, instead of a ribbon hanging from the flower, flowers hanging from the ribbon, from www.wiggyflowers.com.

And maybe once the ceremony is over, all the pew decorations can be gathered into one big container for the reception welcome centerpiece, like this:


BOUTONNIERE IDEAS
Most likely it'd be a double flower for the groom, just one for GMs.
I do lke hydrangeas but not sure if it'd be easy to find an appropriate color (purple would clash with the red, I think).

Here's a good how-to on corsages (sans feather please), which I imagine is similar to making boutonnieres.

(SOME) BOUQUET IDEAS/HOW-TO
- simple orchid bouquet how-to

- calla lilies (I like the color but not sure if it will be available

- red bouquet ideas

Some bouquet color combinations that I like:

And I love the orange of this Mokara orchid. Maybe something like this can be used on our cake? (from mayesh.com)


SOURCES?
http://www.freshflowersandmore.com/flower-care.html
http://www.mayesh.com/wedding.htm
http://www.1888orchids.com/catalog.php?id=2

I've also heard that you can order flowers through Whole Foods (specifically the one at Columbus Circle, though I have a feeling any of them would) and Costco.

(All images, unless otherwise noted, from bhg.com)