I like the suggestion of kale but sometimes getting it to be at the right stage at the right time for a wedding can be tricky in a home garden. For an autumn wedding, you'd have to start it from seed in summer, transplant into the garden in autumn, and keep it sprayed to keep the cabbage loopers (I've been hand-picking them off cole crops all week longs) or imported cabbage worms from leaving holes in the leaves. You also could grow it in containers. I wouldn't try to raise kale plants in anything smaller than a gallon container, with one plant per container. You could put several of them in a really large container though, or grow a row in your garden to harvest and use as needed. Ornamental kale comes in green (kale's green tends to be a dark bluish-green), white, pink, red, and purple, although the red is not a bright red---it is more of a subdued wine red or almost burgundy. Most ornamental kale plants are two tone---like green and purple, green and white, green and pink, etc. Growing kale from seed is ridiculously easy---you grow it the same way you grow cabbage, broccoli, etc. Grasshoppers prefer edible garden kale to all other kale crops, at least in my garden, but rarely touch the ornamental kale. Maybe they don't like the frilly leaves. The ornamental kale plants in my garden were planted into the ground in early October from transplants started from seed in August, and they're about 1/2 grown now. They might be larger but early in the fall they had to fight a lot of hot, dry weather and grasshoppers. I have seed for pink, red and white varities for spring. For fall, I am growing white and purple ones. There's a special kind of kale grown for cut flowers. The variety of the cut flower kale with which I'm familiar is 'Crane' and it comes in several colors. It is a hybrid which means you would get fairly uniform plants with it, which would be important if raising them for a wedding. I'll link one example of crane below. Harris Seeds has a good selection of ornamental kale varieties as does Pinetree Garden Seeds. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Kale Crane at Harris Seed

Let me first say, wow! For taking on planning the wedding & doing the flowers. Your in a completely different zone than my zone 5/6 so I am not to familiar with your bloom times etc. If your starting plants from seed & they are perennial, some my not bloom the first year. Annuals may be the way to go here.Also, do you have friends who garden, who wouldn't mind "donating" for the occasion. Most friends would be happy to help. also, on the bulb thing, if they don't have to be blooming & it's for favors, you may want to just give the bulbs instead of having them in water. Just make up cute little decorative bags to give. I'm sure others who are in your zone will chime in.....Good luck & congrats!

I don't want to rain on your parade, because I know you want to do the cooking yourself, but please, please reconsider about getting the food done for you and some professional or even amateur help to set it out and clean it up. Of all days for you to have to worry about feeding SIXTY people -- in your home -- I am just afraid you are pretty much going to miss your own wedding! If it were me, I would cut back on just about any other expense first (please don't tell me you are having things like a limo, an expensive gown, and professional makeup, but trying to do the reception all by yourself!). You deserve to be a guest -- indeed, the guest of honor -- at your own wedding reception, not a server/dishwasher. ilovepink makes a very good point: you may well find you can get this catered for little more than it would cost you to DIY. As they buy in bulk, they can do things a lot cheaper. At least do the research to make an informed decision: set a budget and call 2-3 caterers (even the kind that just prepare food to be picked up, as opposed to the whole party planner type shebang). Tell them that your figure is FIRM and ask them to tell you what they can do for that. That doesn't cost you a cent, and I bet you you will get a pleasant surprise. As ilovepink points out as well, that's a slow time for caterers, and they may well be happy to do it for close to cost. earthlydelights' idea about a tech school student is excellent, too. In any case, do hire a couple of people -- even teenagers in a pinch -- to set up, replenish, and clean up (which has to be done all along, as people leave stuff around). Consider also that this is not just affecting you; it's for your guests. They want to see you relaxed and celebrating, not waiting on them and possibly stressed out. Please take all our comments in the spirit intended. I have given parties for lots of people and done all the work myself, so it's not like I'm saying it can't be done. But for such an important family event? I wouldn't even consider it -- in fact, that's when I splurge on the caterer that I know thinks of EVERYTHING, so I don't have to do or even think about ANYTHING when I am busy with my friends and relatives. The caterers all have good food, but I pay extra for that one for that peace of mind alone -- not just or even primarily that day, but for all the worrying and planning in advance, at such a busy time. I'd sooner have her serve chips & dip than try myself to serve much better food at such an important day. Best wishes to you!

I don't know if fake flowers are cheaper than real ones. Find out names of reliable florists in your area, give them a budget, and ask what they can do with it. If you come in saying you want a certain kind of flower or something, you might unknowingly raise the cost a lot if it's out of season. Let them tell you what gives you the most bang for the buck in your time frame. The biggest problem you have is the number of people. Whether it's fancy or casual, buffet or plated, no matter what -- feeding 300 people gets very expensive. Liquor, too. Do NOT try to do the food yourself or have your friends "cater." 300 is just way, way too many for amateurs. You could avoid serving a full meal -- but ONLY if you carefully avoid meal times, which isn't easy for an hours-long event like a wedding. 2:30 or 3:00 pm until 5:30 or 6:00 might work. Then you could serve as little as just cake and coffee. Often, a lunch or brunch costs less than a dinner. People drink less, too. But they also don't dance as much or generally get into a party-party mood until after dark, either, if that is important to you. You can eliminate liquor altogether, or serve just wine or wine and beer, perhaps a signature cocktail. You're going to need chairs, too, for a wedding at a lake, unless there is a pavilion or something with seating provided. Skip limousines and favors. Make your own invitations on a computer and try to keep them so that there is not extra postage. This will sound counter-intuitive, but the best money-saver we have found was hiring an experienced wedding coordinator right at the beginning of the process. She doesn't make choices for you, she helps you realize your own goals. She has paid for herself every time by steering us to good and reasonably priced vendors, and, even more important, steering us AWAY from ones she knew were unreliable, dishonest, or too pricey. They also know a lot of good tricks that save you a lot of money. You're going to need someone anyway, with 300 people to wrangle. So get them now, at the planning stage, and ask them about money-saving tips. They know lots. Good luck!