Practical Wedding Planning Advice About Florists
A successful working relationship with your wedding florist starts with determining your flower budget. You have to know what you can spend before you start picking out bouquets and centerpieces. Also think about what you really want from a florist. While most brides hire a floral designer to do all of the wedding arrangements, some brides DIY some of their decorations and only hire a florist for specific things. For instance, you might want to make your own centerpieces, but have the florist create the bouquets and boutonierres.
It is helpful to know what role you want a florist to play in your wedding planning before you start meeting with them. You may find that some are very flexible about providing a la carte services, while the big name floral designers may want to have creative control over the entire event. It is also smart to have at least a general sense of your wedding decorating style in mind before signing a contract. While most can certainly create beautiful arrangements in a wide range of styles, it helps to have a florist who “gets” your sense of style. A florist who specializes in formal, elaborate centerpieces might not be the best one to decorate your whimsical reception or rustic casual wedding.
Come to your initial interview with a florist prepared with color swatches, pictures of bouquets and centerpieces that you like, and photos of your wedding venue. Be sure to let them know if you have any special requests, as that can affect the quote they give you for their services. Perhaps you want to have crystals added to your bouquet to match your crystal bridal jewelry or you would like to carry the same variety of orchid that your mother did. At the same time, it pays to be open to suggestions from the florist. They are the professionals, after all, and if they are advising against choosing a specific out-of-season flower or recommend switching out one variety for another to trim costs, they probably have a very good reason.
Something else that will enhance your working relationship with your florist is to expect professionalism, but not unrealistic perfection. Flowers are natural things, after all, and each one is unique. It is always possible that your roses might come in looking more peach than apricot or that a certain flower is suddenly unavailable at the last minute due to a weather issue. As long as the florist delivers gorgeous arrangements in the generally agreed upon style and color, it’s all good.
Filed under Bridal Jewelry, Wedding Planning | Tags: Bridal Jewelry, wedding bouquets, wedding centerpieces, wedding florist, wedding flowers, Wedding Planning | Comment (0)The Essential Flowers for Your Wedding
There are a number of flowers that are needed for a wedding ceremony. Chief among them, of course, is the bride’s bouquet. For a wedding with attendants, bridesmaid bouquets are also a must. They can be identical or you can mix and match different flowers for each bouquet. As long as you pull in some of the colors from the bridesmaid jewelry and dresses, they will look very pretty. If budget allows, it is always nice to add some crystals or pearls to the center of the bridesmaid and bridal bouquet flowers. Brides who will have a flower girl will also need a small bouquet or rose petals for tossing. A floral wreath is traditional for a flower girl, but not mandatory.
Next on the list are the flowers for the men in the wedding. You should plan to order boutonierres for the groom, groomsmen, ushers, fathers of the bride and groom, and grandfathers of the bride and groom. While you are at it, be sure to order flowers for the mothers and grandmothers of the bride and groom as well. Corsages are the traditional ornament for those special ladies. The trend right now favors wrist corsages over the type that pin to a dress. An update to this concept is to have the bride and groom’s mothers carry small posies of flowers and give the corsages only to the grandmothers.
For your ceremony venue you will need flowers for the altar area at the minimum. Jewish brides might choose to use flowers to decorate the chuppah, although it can be dressed entirely with a piece of fabric if you prefer. Flowers for the pews or aisle seats are a nice touch, if budget allows. Always ask the florist to transport the altar arrangements to the reception site so that you can reuse them. Optional flowers for the ceremony would include floral wreaths, garlands, and petals to line the aisle for an outdoor service. They are all lovely, but fine to omit if they are too costly.
The bulk of your floral costs will be in the centerpieces for the reception. You will need at least one per table, so if you had 100 guests sitting at round tables for 10, that would be 10 centerpieces. Considerably smaller floral arrangement can be used to dress up the cocktail hour space. Since the cocktail tables are generally quite small, a vase with just a few blossoms will be enough. Also plan on a small arrangement for the bar. Additional bouquets for the guest book and gift tables, escort card table, restroom, and entryway are beautiful, but not required. A great trick is to order extra empty vases and have the bridesmaid bouquets serve as the decorations for those extra tables.
Filed under Bridesmaid Jewelry, Wedding Planning | Tags: Bridesmaid Jewelry, ceremony flowers, wedding bouquets, wedding centerpieces, wedding flowers | Comment (0)Colorful Flowers for Summer Weddings
What could be more cheerful than a daisy? A brightly colored gerbera daisy! These happy flowers come in virtually every color a bride could ever want for her wedding, making them a terrific choice for an informal summer wedding. Combine fuchsia and orange gerberas for a spicy summer look, pale pink and lime for a preppy ceremony, or yellow, hot pink, and orange for a casual backyard wedding. Gerbera daisies usually look best as round bouquets, but for other decorations they can be displayed in all sorts of creative ways. Hang strings of daisies behind an outdoor ceremony altar, place single stems in test tubes down the middle of a table for a modern centerpiece, or plant them in boxes of wheat grass for a whimsical design.
Zinnias are a wedding flower whose stock is on the rise. They are not as widely used as traditional blossoms like roses or peonies, but maybe they should be. Zinnias have a lot going for them: they are inexpensive, full, and come in tons of vivid hues. They are generally regarded as an informal flower and would be fantastic for a country wedding. Pop mixed colors of zinnias into vintage tea tins, white hobnail pitchers, or Mason jars for a great look. Feel free to mix and match unexpected shades of zinnias like bright purple and crimson. You might just like the combination so much that you have custom bridesmaid jewelry made to coordinate.
If you really want to make a splash, opt for dinner plate dahlias. True to their name, a single blossom is as large as a plate! It won’t take many of those stunners to create a remarkable summer wedding centerpiece or bouquet. Dahlias can be found in a gorgeous array of vivid hues like yellow, red, pink, purple, and orange. Some of the most spectacular dahlias are variegated blossoms with more than one color per flower. Picture enormous flowers in orange and yellow, pink and white, or red and white and you get the idea. A single dinner plate dahlia tied with a satin ribbon would be a very chic bouquet for a bridesmaid. It would look marvelous with a polished cotton strapless bridesmaid dress and custom bridesmaid jewelry in a coordinating shade.
Colorful flowers will add a festive and cheerful flavor to your wedding. Whether you mix in a few with more classic white and pastel blossoms or go for an all out explosion of color, the bright flowers will look fabulous. The upbeat hues are just perfect for a summer wedding.
Filed under Bridesmaid Jewelry, Wedding Planning | Tags: Bridesmaid Jewelry, colorful wedding flowers, custom bridesmaid jewelry, summer wedding flowers, summer weddings, wedding flowers | Comment (0)Popular Types of Flowers for Weddings
Roses. Weddings and roses just seem to go together. With its status as one of the most romantic types of flowers, it is no wonder that so many brides choose roses for their bouquets and centerpieces. The rose is the traditional flower for the month of June, which makes it a natural choice for a June bride who likes wedding classics like pearl bridal jewelry. Because roses are so popular, they are grown year round, so the December bride will have almost as many options for colors and varieties of roses as the summer bride.
Hydrangeas. Loved for their enormous blossoms and unique colors (particularly the blue and green hues), hydrangeas are one of the top flower choices for late spring and summer brides. They have a strong appeal among preppy brides, perhaps because of their association with Nantucket, pearl bridal jewelry, and classic taste. The nice thing about hydrangeas is that they are easy to arrange in centerpieces that are formal, casual, or anything in between. Hydrangeas tend to be expensive, but their large size means that few stems are needed to get a great full look.
Carnations. The carnation has experienced a real Renaissance in recent years. It has largely shed its former reputation as a cheap filler flower, and has become very popular for contemporary wedding centerpieces and bouquets. There are several reasons why carnations have seen a resurgence: the wide range of colors available (they are also easy to dye, if desired), their hardiness, their full ruffly blossoms, and yes – their affordable cost. Because they are reasonably priced, carnations are a favorite choice for creating very full and round wedding decorations like pomanders and floral balls for centerpieces.
Orchids. The very word evokes luxury, style, and sophistication. Brides who wish to create bouquets or centerpieces with maximum drama often turn to this exotic blossom. Orchids come in a variety of shapes and sizes, as well as a remarkable range of vibrant hues. If you want wedding flowers which are striped or spotted, you will be able to find an orchid to suit your style. The primary drawback to orchids is that they are very costly. Because they have a more open and fluttery shape, it takes a large number of orchids to make an impressive display. There is one very chic and economical way to use orchids, which is the submerged floral centerpiece. Orchids are available year round like roses.
Filed under pearl bridal jewelry, Wedding Planning | Tags: pearl bridal jewelry, popular wedding flowers, wedding flowers | Comment (0)Fabulous Floral Pomanders for Weddings
Floral decorations are a mainstay of any wedding. If you really love fresh flowers, it can be fun to think beyond the basic bouquets and centerpieces and embrace other forms of floral design. One of the most delightful types of floral arrangement is the pomander – a perfectly round ball of flowers, usually hanging from a ribbon. Take a look at all the wonderful ways you can use fabulous floral pomanders for your wedding.
One of the sweetest ways to use a floral pomander in your wedding is to have your flower girl carry one in lieu of a basket. Make a fairly diminutive ball of blossoms so that it does not overwhelm the little girl. It would be lovely to make her pomander from the same blossoms the bridesmaids will be carrying in their bouquets. For that matter, you can also consider substituting pomanders for the bridesmaids’ bouquets. They should be slightly larger than the one carried by the flower girl. A beautiful idea is to accessorize the pomander to coordinate with the bridesmaid jewelry. If they will be wearing pearl earrings, suspend the floral balls from a rope of faux pearls instead of a ribbon for a very elegant design.
Pomanders also make outstanding ceremony decorations. They are especially versatile for an outdoor wedding. Hang pomanders in several colors from an arbor for a ceremony in a garden. Tie the floral balls to the ends of the rows of chairs (this also makes a beautiful pew decoration for a church wedding). Pomanders look wonderful when suspended from shepherd’s hooks planted along an aisle for an outdoor ceremony. Bright colors tend to work the best, as they have a great “pop” when seen from a distance. Hot pink, lime green, yellow, or vivid purple all work beautifully. It looks fantastic to combine two bold colors, such as cherry red and lime green. The great news is that carnations can readily be dyed any color, so if you want turquoise blue pomanders, you can have them.
There are some beautiful ways to use floral pomanders to decorate your wedding reception. They look very charming when hung from the backs of the bride and groom’s chairs at the dinner table. It is a nice way to make the seats special. They can be strung along porches, placed on stands as centerpieces, or hung over tables instead of chandeliers. If you love flowers and whimsy, floral pomanders might be just what you need for your wedding decorations.
Filed under pearl bridal jewelry, Wedding Planning | Tags: floral pomanders, pearl earrings, pomanders, wedding flowers | Comment (0)DIY Flower Dying for Weddings
Many a bride has decided upon a stunning color palette for her wedding, only to discover that she cannot find blossoms in exactly the right shade. What’s a creative bride to do? Create her own custom colored flowers, of course! This is what you need to know about diy flower dying for your wedding.
When selecting flowers to dye for your wedding, it is generally best to start with white flowers, as they are the easiest to manipulate. Flowers with open stems will absorb dye more quickly and reliably than those with woody stems. Some excellent varieties to dye include carnations, Queen Anne’s lace, daisies, allium, and tulips. Gather your flowers, some standard food dye, and the vases, and you will be ready to get to work.
If you are planning to dye your flowers to a custom hue for your wedding, you will definitely want to do some experiments in the months before your event. Take notes about your samples, so that when you create the perfect shade of apricot to match the bridesmaid jewelry or the most vivid turquoise blue for your summer celebration, you will be able to duplicate the result later. Be aware that the food dye can also dye the leaves of the flowers, so keep a careful eye on how long it takes for the flowers to become the right color, without leaving them in the dye so long that the leaves take on the same hue as the petals.
When prepping flowers to dye, the first step is to cut the stems at a sharp angle under running water. The food dye will not harm the blossoms or cause them to wilt. Then place them in the vases with the colored water. The more food coloring you use, the more vivid the end result will be. So if you want to create navy blue flowers for a wedding with a “true blue” theme, right down to the bridesmaid jewelry and cake, you will need to use a high concentration of dye. Yearning to decorate your ceremony with ballet pink Queen Anne’s lace? Just a few drops of red coloring will do the trick. Allow about 24 hours for the flowers to take on the color of the water. Just think about how much fun you can have creating a one-of-a-kind flower color for your wedding!
Filed under Bridesmaid Jewelry, Wedding Planning | Tags: Bridesmaid Jewelry, diy wedding flowers, dying flowers, wedding flowers, Wedding Planning | Comment (0)Wedding Flower Basics
A great place to begin planning your wedding flowers is by looking through magazines and wedding websites. Bring the pictures to prospective florists so they know what you are interested in for bouquets and centerpieces. The more information you can bring to meetings, the better each florist will be able to understand your vision and provide good advice and an accurate quote. Useful details include swatches of bridesmaid dresses, pictures of the wedding venue, and a head count of the bridal party and number of reception tables. Also let the florist know about your wedding theme or any special accents which appeal to you, such as crystals in the bouquets to match your crystal earrings.
When interviewing florists, take a look at their albums of previous weddings. Use key words to indicate your style like modern, eclectic, classic, or bohemian. Be upfront about your budget, and ask what the florist can do within that price range – you may well find significant variations from one florist to the next. The best florists will offer suggestions on how to get the look you want for your flowers within your budget by giving you similar alternatives to pricey blossoms. They should also be able to advise you about what flowers will be in season during your wedding and be comfortable warning you against your first choice if it is not the best option for the time of year when you will hold your wedding.
The exact number of wedding floral arrangements you will need will depend on the size of your wedding party and the layout of your ceremony and reception sites. In general, plan on a bouquet for the bride, each bridesmaid, the junior bridesmaid, and either a basket of petals or bouquet for the flower girl. You will also need boutonierres for the groom, groomsmen, and fathers and grandfathers of the bride and groom. For the mothers and grandmothers, corsages are the traditional option and small posies are the contemporary choice. Then there are ceremony flowers for the altar, aisle decorations, and possibly a wreath for the church door. If you wish to have an aisle runner, that is usually arranged by the florist as well, as are candles for the church.
Flowers needed for the wedding reception will of course include a centerpiece for each dinner table, but that is only the beginning. You may wish to have arrangements for the bar, cocktail hour tables, food displays, the cake table, guest book table, gift table, and even the ladies room. Speak to your florist about how some of the ceremony flowers can be re-purposed to decorate the reception space. Bridesmaid bouquets, for instance, can easily be dropped into vases to serve as decorations for the guest book or gift tables, which is a great way to make the most of your wedding flower budget.
Filed under crystal bridal jewelry, Wedding Planning | Tags: bridal bouquets, centerpieces, crystal earrings, wedding flowers | Comment (0)Cheerful Yellow Wedding Flowers
For a charming homespun wedding style, try combining yellow flowers with red and white accents. This is not the red of seduction, but rather the classic red of mittens, Radio Flyer wagons, and folk art. A bouquet of round yellow button shaped blossoms tied together with a red yarn bouquet wrap would be absolutely adorable. Decorate the handle of the bouquet with an eclectic assortment of colorful buttons to play up the handcrafted charm of the arrangement. For the reception, red and white patterned tins can be used as centerpiece vessels filled with informal yellow blossoms.
A sweet old-fashioned yellow wedding flower is the sweet pea. The ruffly blooms simply exude the feeling of a simpler time gone by. Combine yellow sweet peas with blossoms like white garden roses, trailing ivy, and white lisianthus in loose arrangements for the wedding bouquets. They look marvelous with a soft organza bridal gown and delicate drop pearl earrings. For bridesmaids, pair these charming yellow and white bouquets with dresses in a contrasting color like spring green or lilac.
What could be more cheerful than a daisy? A bouquet of bright yellow gerbera daisies would be a fantastic addition to any informal wedding celebration. There are so many other wonderful things which can be done with yellow daisies. Suspend the round blossoms on ribbons to create vertical hangings behind an outdoor altar or the head table at the wedding reception. “Plant” the daisies in containers of wheat grass for fresh summer centerpieces or use them in a more minimalist fashion by lining the center of a long reception table with clear glass bud vases, each with one perfect yellow daisy in it. They are sure to bring a smile to the face of every guest.
After the grayness of winter, bright yellow flowers are one of the favorite signs of spring. If your wedding is to take place during the spring months, fill it will sunny daffodils and tulips. They combine beautifully with fresh white blossoms to tone down the yellowness of the floral arrangements, or stick with all yellow for a super happy look. A great thing about both tulips and daffodils is that they come in a nice range of varieties, including ruffly parrot tulips, two tone tulips and daffodils, and delightful mini-daffodils. A mini-daffodil bouquet carried by a petite bride in a lace gown with pearl earrings would be a delightful sight indeed on a beautiful spring day.
Filed under pearl bridal jewelry, Wedding Planning | Tags: bridal bouquets, centerpieces, pearl earrings, wedding flowers, yellow flowers, yellow wedding flowers | Comment (0)Shopping Online for Your Wedding
Most brides are busy enough without running from store to store trying to round up everything they need for their weddings. The great news is that these days you can get almost everything you need online. With a few clicks of your mouse, all you have to do is sit back and wait for your package to be delivered right to your house. These are some tips for shopping online for your wedding.
You would be amazed at how many of your wedding supplies can be found on the Internet. It is an especially wonderful resource for the bride who wants to make some of her own decorations. Starting with the wedding flowers, you can get all the supplies you need to make stunning DIY centerpieces and bouquets online. The prices are much lower than those of a retail florist, the selection is broad, and you can have your blossoms delivered fresh to your door a couple of days before your wedding.
Another thing which is great to buy online are your bridesmaid jewelry gifts. You can get customized sets of jewelry handcrafted from stunning Swarovski crystals or pearls in colors to coordinate with the bridesmaid dresses. Not only is it super convenient to have your gifts of bridesmaid jewelry delivered right to your door, but chances are the prices will be far more affordable than what you see in a traditional bridal salon. While you are at it, order a set of bridal jewelry and headpiece for yourself too. If you choose the right online retailer, you may even be able to score free shipping!
Speaking of free shipping, why not order your wedding shoes from a website like Zappos? Any of the shoe websites which offer free shipping both ways are an ideal source for your bridal shoes. The selection will be far superior to what you can find in any one regular store, and searching for shoes on the Internet allows you to do it at a time which is convenient to you, rather than battling the crowds in the shoe stores on a Saturday afternoon. From favors to candles to the guest book, almost everything you need for your wedding can be easily found on the Internet.
Informal Centerpiece Ideas
Informal flowers are a wonderful place to begin when designing casual wedding centerpieces. There are many wonderful varieties, quite a few of which are also rather hardy. For a spring wedding, the sweet look of classic white daisies with yellow centers is always charming. Arrange them in lime green flowerpots for a fresh take on an informal garden wedding design. Or use the daisies in a more minimalist fashion by using clear “test tubes” in holders and placing a single blossom in each one. Arrange a row of the test tubes along the length of a long family style dinner table.
Mixed arrangements of wildflowers can make for lovely casual centerpieces. Take flowers such as asters, daisies, and dahlias in a range of colors and loosely arrange them in simple vases. Mixing colors will tend to give the centerpieces a more relaxed and fresh picked look. Very unique designs can be created by substituting containers other than standard vases in the centerpieces. You could use anything from baskets to rough hewn wooden boxes to pitchers, depending on the theme and style of your reception.
Some brides like casual weddings with a very handmade look in everything from their dress and jewelry to the decorations and cake. Bold colors and warm, fuzzy materials tend to work best to add the feeling of homespun charm to your wedding. Instead of using glass vases, cover tin cans with colorful felt or even yarn wrapped tightly around the can. Fill these handcrafted vessels with bright flowers in a single contrasting color. For instance, you could cover your vessels with yellow felt and fill them with clusters of bright red carnations or geraniums. Small button mums also work very well; lime green “Kermit” mums are especially popular. They would look great in a “vase” covered in a wooly red yarn or a red and white gingham check fabric.
Not all centerpieces have to be based around flowers, either. Fruit can be a wonderful choice for a casual centerpiece. Large clear cylinders filled with whole lemons or limes adds a great splash of color to the receptions tables. In the autumn, handpainted bowls filled with bright red apples make a seasonal and edible centerpiece. Creativity is key, and when designing informal centerpieces, there are really no rules.
Filed under Wedding Jewelry, Wedding Planning | Tags: casual centerpieces, handmade wedding jewelry. centerpieces, wedding flowers | Comment (0)