Archive for the ‘Wedding Flowers’ Category
Posted on November 10th, 2008 by Kori Ellis in Wedding Flowers
If you are trying to cut costs on your wedding, eliminate the fresh flowers. 
I don’t mean get rid of flowers altogether - instead use silk flowers.
Silk flowers are simply gorgeous and no one will know the difference. You can utilizes them in your centerpieces and then re-use the centerpieces in your own home for years to come.
If you love the scent of fresh flowers, you can still use them in your bridal bouquet and replace all the other flowers at the wedding and reception with silk.
Photo credit: Tome213
Posted on September 21st, 2008 by Kori Ellis in Wedding Flowers
Flowers are some of the most beautiful, and oftentimes most expensive, elements of your wedding. Marcy Blum, wedding and event planner and author of Wedding Planning For Dummies, talks with Lisa Birnbach of Howdini.com about wedding flowers.
Marcy offers some great tips for cutting costs on flowers, including the use of seasonal flowers or inexpensive varieties, such as sunflowers. She also provides some decorating advice to make things a little more dramatic, including the use of candles and only one type of flower rather than mixed bouquets and arrangements.
You should also consider using silk flowers instead of fresh, particularly in centerpieces. Or another alternative is to use flowering potted plants or baskets of fruit instead of traditional floral centerpieces. If other aspects of your reception are more important to you, such as food, wine or the location, don’t be afraid to cut back on your flower budget.
We all know about silk flowers and fresh flowers. But for a new twist on wedding flowers, how about paper?
Amy Y. Yang offers beautiful floral origami bouquets and arrangements in fabulous colors. Check out here website at FloralOrigami.com where you can purchase finished pieces, or individual flowers and leaves to arrange as you like.
Since the flowers are made of paper, they are hypo-allergenic and can’t wilt. If you are having an outdoor wedding in a warm climate, you might consider floral origami for your table centerpieces.
To learn more about Amy’s work or to order paper flowers for your wedding or event, contact her at (310) 903-1181 or visit the Floral Origami website for more details.
Garden weddings have become more and more popular in recent years. For couples who love the outdoors, it is simply the perfect opportunity to add a memorable backdrop to your wedding.
When planning a garden wedding, you should incorporate the garden theme into all aspects of the wedding from the decorations to the menu. What you want to have in mind is a classic garden picnic – but on a larger scale.
For tables, consider using large round tables that seat up to ten people. Each table should have an umbrella. The umbrellas should be light in color for fresh and lively appeal. For centerpieces, you can make a decoration that includes both flowers and fruits. To carry the flowers and fruits, consider using something you might find in a garden like a fruit basket or a straw hat. Look for locally grown fruits and flowers.
The food at a garden wedding should be light. Sandwiches, vegetarian dishes, pasta salads and fruit salads work well with a garden wedding. A wedding cake topped with strawberries will match the scenery. In terms of drinks, you should consider having fresh squeezed lemonade, sweet tea and exotic fruit juices to go along with alcohol beverages such as wine spritzers and raspberry martinis.
For music, you should keep it light and bubbly. A single harpist would be appropriate during the ceremony. For the reception, find a DJ or band that has an expertise with light jazz music that will blend into the background.
Throughout your wedding, don’t be afraid to add as many plants and flowers as you wish. If there are trees to work with at your location, use the trees as natural shade for your wedding party. Trees can also double as built in decorations. If you are using many potted plants and other floral arrangements, after the wedding is over you can donate them to a local retirement home, hospital patients or another organization.
The best wedding favors are seeds or bulbs. Truly Wedding Favors offers these plantable wildflower hearts that are just perfect. These heart shaped, plantable seed packets are available in a choice of pink, lavender, sage green, blue and white. You can slip in a handwritten note to each guest inside the envelope for a personal touch.
When selecting attire for a garden wedding, the bride should wear a more simple wedding gown than for a church wedding. Some brides are even wearing short wedding dresses for outdoor weddings these days.
The groom and his groomsmen should wear light colored suits in linen, beige, grey or green. The bridesmaids should dress accordingly - shorter bridesmaids dresses in light airy fabrics.
For all the women, including the bride, skip the stilettos which can easily sink into the ground. Instead wear ballet flats or chunky heels.
The most important aspect is to have fun with your wedding and enjoy the beauty of our green earth.
Your choice in flowers can really add to the beauty of your wedding ceremony and reception. Sometimes brides get overwhelmed by all the floral choices. Though the decision is ultimately yours, you should try to talk with florists, wedding experts and other brides to get an idea what is working (and not working) in wedding flowers this year.
Clara Varga-Gonzales, owner of Tiger Lily Florist in Charleston, S.C., which has been named Elegant Bride Magazine’s Top Wedding Designers for 2005 and The Knot Best of Flowers 2007, offers up the following trends they are seeing for wedding flowers:
First there is definitely still a curiosity about natural elements. Flowers and botanicals, such as grasses, pods, herbs and lichens, are incorporated into all aspects of the wedding - from boutonnieres to pew markers and cake flowers.
Designs that focus on grouping materials such as chocolate artichokes, fern curls and green Goddess Callas lilies are presented in artisan containers and gracing the tables at outdoor receptions.
In color palettes, green is still the most sought after color with accent shades of creams and white or hot pinks and mango coral. However, combinations of deep burgundy red Black Magic roses, Black Forest mini Callas and rich purple, almost black, tulips are striking against ornate damask linen. No more white linen on guest tables for sure.
Ceremonies that are being held outdoors are letting nature provide the back drop, which can be quite dramatic here in the Lowcountry. Emphasis on ornate aisle starters and chair markers allow the bride and groom to be the main focus for guests during ceremonies.
Everybody’s going green! I’m surprised there wasn’t already an organic florist open in NYC, but last month Gardenia Organic became the first. Gardenia Organic LLC is the first environmentally and socially conscious florist in New York.
Gardenia Organic sells individual flowers, pre-made hand tied bouquets and custom floral arrangements made only with flowers that have been produced using environmentally and socially responsible practices. All of their flowers are either USDA Organic or VeriFlora certified, whether they are grown in the US or overseas. VeriFlora is a certification program that ensures flowers have been grown using sustainable farming methods and fair labor practices.
Hannah Ling, the store’s owner, is making it her mission not only to highlight the issues within the floral industry, but also to prove that ‘green’ does not necessarily have to be more expensive.
“As consumers, we shouldn’t have to pay more to make conscious choices when making a purchase. Being environmentally and socially responsible needs to be a way of a life or it’s just not sustainable. Choosing to buy green should not be inconvenient or more expensive”, says Hannah. She also points out that organic flowers smell better and last longer.
Few people are aware that conventionally grown flowers are laden with unseen dangers. Eighty percent (80%) of the flowers sold in the US are imported from South America, where they use over 25 pesticides that have been outlawed in the US due to their carcinogenic nature. Coupled with child labor and poor working conditions for the farmers, there’s good reason to start buying organic and VeriFlora flowers.
And that’s not the only way this florist is doing her bit for the environment. The vases are made from recycled glass, the tissue paper and shopping bags are recycled and she even composts all flower waste. Ultra eco-friendly rickshaw bikes deliver flowers to anywhere in Manhattan.
Gardenia Organic also sells Fair Trade and/or environmentally friendly gifts and greeting cards for all occasions such as bamboo salad bowls, organic cotton baby clothes, hemp dog toys, candles, jewelry, body lotions and books.
Hannah moved to the US from England nine years ago. She comments that “You can buy fair trade all over London so I was surprised that so few people in New York even know what it means.”
To learn more about the organic flower concept, visit their website at gardeniaorganic.com. Gardenia Organic is located at 526 Hudson Street and can be reached at (646) 688-5753.
Tara Simone Powell is a floral and event design expert and owner of Barbara’s Flowers, an innovative flower retail boutique with two locations in New York City. Barbara’s Flowers offers clients a glimpse into the range of possibilities for extraordinary blossoms with a plethora of design choices.
Her impressive and extensive list of corporate and celebrity clientele include: Con Edison, CBS, Lehman Brothers, McGraw Hill, Essence Communications, Merrill Lynch, Macy’s, Senator Hillary Clinton and Alicia Keys. Tara was kind enough to share with us the trends in wedding flowers.
From Tara …
EMERGING TRENDS IN WEDDING FLOWERS:
TRENDS IN COLOR PALETTES: Sepia or Chocolate brown as an accent color to a cool color palette has been particularly trendy amongst brides this year. We have worked with mint green and chocolate brown, raspberry and chocolate brown, sky blue and chocolate brown. The intensity of the chocolate brown offers a warm balance to cool colors. Fiddle head, which resembles a chocolate straw, is often used as floral accessory in this palette.
TRENDS IN FLORAL MENU: Many cost conscious and younger brides are opting to veer away from the exotic and elegant and find flirty uses for the everyday blossom. Whimsical bouquets designed with gerbera daisies or dare I say “carnations!” Carnations, so often frowned upon as a “funeral flower” come in a wide range of colors and of course are very reasonably priced. For a day time wedding, consider a “tussy” of carnations bound with a whimsical patterned ribbon!
TRENDS IN DESIGN: We have found that many of our brides have opted for a blend of the chic and rustic. Often combining a natural vessel with elegant blossoms such as Cymbidium orchids. This offers a delicate balance between a well stylized design and something ethereal and abstract.
WEDDING FLOWERS FOR SPRING AND SUMMER:
FRAGRANT FLOWERS: Spring and summer are the perfect time to experience the fragrance that many flowers offer. Some of the more fragrant blooms are: hyacinth, lilac, lilly of the valley, freesia, Casablanca lilies, gardenia, tuberose and roses.
BLOOMING BRANCHES: One of the true signs of spring are the blooming Cherry, Quince and Pear branches. These delicate blossoms on tall branches offer a dynamic visual presentation for reception designs. The key to using blooming branches, however, is keeping them in receptacles that hold plenty of fresh water and in environments where the temperature is regulated between 65 – 70 degrees.
PURE WHITE: Crisp white blossoms offer an elegant palette for day or evening spring/summer affairs. Among my favorites are: Casablanca lilies, ranuculus, French tulips, peony and Cymbidium orchids.
We all know that a red rose represents love, a yellow rose expresses friendship, and a white rose symbolizes truth and purity. But what does a platinum rose represent? And what about gold or silver?
Believe it or not, you can now add gold, silver, and platinum to your wedding color scheme options, and you can order your roses to match your metallic theme! After a little bit of web searching, we found some interesting floral options at Love is a Rose, an online merchant offering 24 karat gold, sterling silver, and pure platinum dipped roses.
So if your theme includes platinum, gold, or silver hues, you could always show your diva side by carrying a bouquet of metallic flora down the aisle. The best part? You can be certain you’ll have at least one memento that will last forever.
After all, a rose by any other name might smell as sweet, but precious metal isn’t a bad alternative!
One cute idea for a creating your own wedding favors is to buy small terracotta pots that contain flowers or blooming plants. Then you can decorate the pots with acrylic paints to personalize them.
You can even put the name of each guest on a pot and they can double as a placecard holder. It’s a wedding favor, placecard holder and reception decoration all in one!
If you aren’t artistic, don’t worry! You can just stencil the name of your guest on one side of the pot and your wedding date on the other. It’s very simple! Stencils and acrylic paints are relatively inexpensive; you can find them at most craft stores.
You can also buy empty terracotta pots and give them as favors, along with a pack of seeds, and let your guests do the planting!
For more inexpensive wedding favor ideas, don’t miss the wonderful selections at Truly Wedding Favors.
There are hundreds of flower types to choose from when you’re selecting your wedding flora. There might even be thousands of flower types if you count the many variations of each species, and just getting started selecting your floral theme can be overwhelming! It’s probably safe to say that selecting flowers for your wedding bouquet is not likely to be easy. It’s even harder, though, if you’re concerned with sticking only to flowers that are in season to cut costs.
If you’re into the idea of keeping your wedding bouquet in-season, here are the most popular flower choices divied up by their seasonable months to make the selection process a little less daunting:
January – Bells of Ireland, Bird of Paradise, Candytuft, Delphinium, Heather, Protea, Star Gazer Lily, Sweetpea, Tulip, Waxflower
February – Bells of Ireland, Daffodil, Eucalyptus, Heather, Leptospermum, Ranunculus, Scabiosa, White Calla Lily
March – Assorted Lilies, Daffodil, Delphinium, Godetia, Heather, Protea, Scabiosa, Sweetpea, Tulip, Waxflower
April – Boronia, Candytuft, Delphinium, Godetia, Lisianthus, Peony, Ranunculus, Sunflower, Tulip, Veronica
May – Aster, English Lavender, Gladiola, Hydrangea, Miniature Calla Lily, Love in the Mist, Star Gazer Lily, Statice, Trachelium, Yarrow
June – Baby’s Breath, Bells of Ireland, English Lavender, Lisianthus, Gladiola, Godetia, Hydrangea, Protea, Statice, Sunflower, Trachelium, Tuberose, Veronica, Yarrow
July – Candytuft, Delphinium, Gladiola, Hydrangea, Lisianthus, Phlox, Scabiosa, Sweetpea, Tuberose, Yarrow
August – Aster, English Lavender, Heather, Love in the Mist, Phlox, Protea, Sunflower, Veronica, Yarrow
September – Bells of Ireland, Chinese Lanterns, Godetia, Leptospermum, Lisianthus, Ornamental Peppers, Protea, Scabiosa, Sunflower, Tuberose, Veronica
October – Aster, Chinese Lanterns, Delphinium, Eucalyptus, Godetia, Heather, Leptospermum, Phlox, Statice, Tuberose, Veronica, Yarrow
November – Bird of Paradise, Candytuft, Gladiola, Heather, Love in the Mist, Ornamental Peppers, Phlox, Scabiosa, Sweetpea, Veronica
December – Assorted Lilies, Calla Lily, Daffodil, Heather, Leptospermum, Lisianthus, Protea, Sweetpea, Tulip, Waxflower
