Photo by gorriti

Wedding flowers are one of the few things a bride doesn’t need to micromanage. Once you have decided on a few basics, a skilled florist can take over. It’s important that you can place your trust in your florist, so choose wisely. Here are five things to look for when choosing a florist.

Personal Recommendations

This is the best way to choose your florist. Ask people you know to recommend a florist that has catered for a large event, preferably a wedding, and start with those first. If one of your friends or relatives has been married, ask about the florist they used and whether they were happy with their services. Ask what they did and did not like about them and what, if any, problems arose.

Another way to get a great referral is to look to the weddings that you have attended. Is there one ceremony that really stands out? If so, get in contact with someone directly involved in the event and find out who their florist was.

If you can’t get any referrals, talk to your wedding venue. They may be able to suggest some preferred vendors. Remember some locations have restrictions on which vendors they work with so check in advance.

Sensible Pricing

After gathering a few names, start visiting them to obtain quotes. It’s important to remember that the cheapest isn’t always the best but that doesn’t mean the most expensive will be either. Find out what’s included in the price. You don’t want to be surprised when the bill comes and you find things such as delivery and set up have been charged for when you assumed they were included in the package.

A good florist should be able to help you choose flowers within your budget. They should be able to suggest seasonal flowers, which will generally be cheaper along with other ways to stretch your flower budget while maintaining a beautiful and elegant look.

Their Shop Appearance

While visiting florists take a minute to look around at their displays. The shop’s appearance speaks volumes about their service. Are things organized and kept clean? Is there a variety of displays and arrangements? Does the shop give the impression they work in a professional atmosphere?

If a florist can’t be bothered to keep their own shop tidy and professional, they will probably take the same approach when working on your wedding.

Answers to Your Questions

Take a list of questions you want to ask prospective florists. Their answers will give you a better idea of what to expect from them. Here are a few questions to ask:

• When looking at samples or photos of their work, ask who did the arrangements and if that same person will be looking after your arrangements as well.

• Ask for their opinions and ideas. This doesn’t mean that you have to take them to heart but they are professionals and they may be able to add on to your ideas.

• Do they have rental supplies?

• Find out if they will need directions to the different locations where you will need flowers delivered.

• If you change your mind, how easy is it to change your order?

• Are samples of your bouquets going to be available?

• Have they worked at your wedding venues before?

Professional Rapport

You will get a good idea as to whether or not you will enjoy working with this florist while you are visiting with them. If you feel pressured at any time, or you feel as though they will not be able to give you their full attention, look elsewhere.

As with every other aspect of wedding planning, if you feel like you can’t work with one vendor, there are many others just waiting for your call. Walk away, and be happy with your decision about finding someone that will suit your needs, someone you will love working with.

Photo by Muffet

Before you even start planning your wedding, you probably have a good idea at just how expensive they can be. There are so many things to think about and so many things to pay for. Meanwhile, the budget is only so big. Brides are often looking for ways to cut costs without having to compromise class and elegance. Flowers can take up a big part of your budget but are also an area where you can save a lot of money giving you more cash to spend on other aspects of your wedding or to save to begin your new life.

The first thing you need to do when planning your wedding flowers is to speak to a florist. Give them your budget and ask them what is in season. Seasonal flowers won’t have to be shipped too far, making those particular arrangements cheaper.

Give your florist something to work with. Choose one or two flowers that you love and absolutely need to have as part of your wedding. Tell them one or two flowers that you can’t stand and that in no way can be a part of your big day. Once you have stated your preferences, let them take the reins. They will have the best ideas as to how you can get inexpensive flowers and you need to have some flexibility to allow them to do that.

Of course it’s easy to say to find the cheapest flowers that you can but a lot of brides don’t want to do this because they think it will take away from the elegance of the event. However, there are some flowers that are extremely cheap, such as carnations that can be done quite nicely. By snipping off the greenery from the carnations, for example, you can then place them in a square, shallow dish on the tables for centerpieces and they will look spectacular!

Choosing a venue that won’t need a lot of decorating is another way to really save on flowers. One way to do this is to hold the ceremony and/or the reception in an outdoors park or garden that will allow Mother Nature to take care of the decorating for you.

You can also plan your wedding during a certain holiday season such as Christmas or Easter. This is especially useful when you are planning to get married in a church as these venues are often already decorated with poinsettias or Easter Lilies. You can also ask at the venue to see if there will be any other weddings there that day. If there are, you can ask to get in touch with the other bride and see if she is interested in splitting the costs of the floral decorations. Many brides are willing to do this as it saves everyone money.

Although planning your wedding during the holiday season will generally save you money in decorating, there are some holidays that you may want to avoid because the price of flowers greatly increases during these times. Valentine’s Day is the most obvious holiday to avoid as retailers and florists take advantage of the abundant need for flowers. But it’s important to consider other holidays as well. The price of flowers also shoots up during Mother’s Day. Although this is not a particularly romantic holiday, it’s still a holiday where many flowers are bought and given so the price will be more expensive then as well.

It’s also important to remember that potted plants cost less than cut flowers. To save some extra cash, you may want to have potted plants on the reception tables as centerpieces and you can also ask about decorating with large potted plants. You can use these in your new home after the wedding or hand them out as favors.

Consider where your flowers will be and who will see them. You may want to spend a little more on centerpieces that will be sitting on a table all evening where people will be very close to them, but choose to spend less on altar decorations. The general rule is that large arrangements are seen from far away. For this reason, your guests won’t even notice what flowers you are using in those decorations, nor will they be looking at them for long periods of time. Consider flowers such as carnations or snowball mums that are much more inexpensive than other flowers.

It’s becoming increasingly popular for brides to create their own floral decorations. They do this by simply buying the flowers and taking them home to make them themselves. For the bride’s and bridesmaids’ bouquets, they may choose three or four simple flowers and just tie them with a beautiful ribbon.

A great idea for centerpieces is to find flowers that are very cheap and place the petals on a white or clear plate. In the midst of the petals, place any kind of candle that you love and you will have a beautiful and elegant centerpiece!

Photo by la fattina

When you are choosing a color scheme for your flower arrangements, you’ll want to stick close to the colors you have chosen for your wedding. Here are a few different schemes for your wedding and tips on choosing the right colors for your flowers.

White

An all white color scheme is very popular. It matches the bride’s dress and it also lends a clean, crisp feeling to everything. Include lots of lush greenery so that your flowers don’t get lost in a sea of white. To give all white arrangements extra flair, add bold shades that make great accents. For the bridal bouquet for instance, you can mix red roses with white roses. Or give the bridesmaids bouquets of red roses while reserving white bouquet for the bride.

Pink and Green

A pink and green color scheme is very popular for contemporary weddings. For centerpieces, choose soft pink blossoms that are surrounded with lots of greenery. Pastels work well so choose blooms of the softest shade possible. The bride can carry pink roses on a background of rich foliage.

Seasonal Colors

Some colors work better in some seasons and not so well in others. For example, a burgundy and emerald color scheme for a wedding is perfect for a wedding around Christmas time. The flowers that work best with this type of scheme are red roses, holly berries, and poinsettias. Flowers such as hydrangeas, calla lilies, and lavender roses work well for the winter bouquets and decorations. Get creative and compliment your arrangements with bold shades of dark evergreens or pinecones that have had their tips spray-painted gold.

Red and black is another wonderful color scheme to use at winter. This is a very dramatic look and is mainly chosen by adventurous couples who want to add a little bit of a gothic feel to their wedding. Although it’s unconventional, this look can be made elegant and beautiful by using deep red roses that have black lace loosely wrapped around them.

Traditional spring arrangements lend themselves to pastel yellows, pink, and lavender. Lily of the Valley is a very traditional spring wedding flower but can be expensive. Gardenias and roses are also very popular choices and fall in nicely with the color scheme, as they’re available in just about any color you choose.

The modern spring wedding is slightly different, commonly using bright pinks, yellows and purples. Choose to use brightly colored designs or have arrangements made mainly of white flowers with bright blooms used as accents. Following the theme of spring, tulips are a preferred flower to used. Colored calla lilies are another great option. Make an impact with bright flowers by placing a different color at the center of every table at the reception. It will stop individual colors from overwhelming and will create a beautiful air.

Pink

All pink is a wonderful color scheme for either a traditional or modern spring wedding. This look portrays a sense of super femininity and crafts an air filled with romance. Pink roses will look stunning but if you feel that roses are too overdone, calla lilies, dahlias, pansies, peonies and hydrangeas all work well.

Yellow

Yellow gives the atmosphere a sense of a new beginnings and optimism, perfect emotions to display at a wedding. Options for yellow wedding flowers choose among roses, lilies, tulips, daffodils, and gerberas.

Because there is such a large variety of floral color schemes available, first decide what you want the color scheme to be for the entire wedding and match your flowers to that.

Flower placement is a major aspect of your wedding decorations. You might have a few ideas already but it’s helpful to know some of the general do’s and don’ts of flower placement.

Do

Make sure that you get bouquets and boutonnieres that are elegant and beautiful

Don’t

Go too lavish or spend a large portion of your flower budget on them. They are only used for pictures and the receiving line and then are put down on tables while the person they belong to dances the night away.

Do

Place large arrangements at the altar.

Don’t

Have those as the focal point. Two large arrangements placed on either side should suffice. You want everyone’s attention on the two of you proclaiming your love, not those lovely peonies.

Do

Have fabulous centerpieces on the reception tables.

Don’t

Make them so grand and tall that guests can’t see each other. It’s easy to have beautiful arrangements that include a few classy and beautiful details without obstructing anyone’s view.

Do

Have a flower girl tossing flower petals along the aisle. This creates an excellent aroma as well as decorating your path into marriage.

Don’t

Give her a basket filled with a combination of flower petals and glitter confetti. It will save you on costs but you don’t have to compromise on an elegant petal strewn aisle.

Do

Place flowers on some of the ceremony chairs that sit on the edge of the aisle.

Don’t

Place them on every chair. You will get the same effect by placing them on just a few than having them on every chair and you will save yourself a lot of money.

Do

Place one or two potted plants along the front of the entertainment stage at the reception.

Don’t

Line the entire stage with flowers. Not much attention will be placed on the stage and when people are looking at it, they’re likely to be looking at the band or DJ, not the decorations.

Do

Go big at your reception with large arrangements that fill the space while not making it appear crowded.

Don’t

Place the large arrangements side by side. It will deliver a nicer look if they are sporadically placed throughout the room.

Do

Offer your bridesmaids a place to put their bouquets during the reception. Place a vase at each bridesmaid’s table setting. If the ends of the bouquets are free-hanging stems, place a bit of water in the vase to keep the flowers looking fresh. If the bottoms are tied or wrapped, leave the vases dry.

Don’t

Think that doing this means you can skip the head table decorations. Only the bridesmaids will have these and you want an overall decoration look for the table.

Do

Have an archway for the couple to walk through as they enter the reception.

Don’t

Use expensive flowers to decorate the archway. People will only be looking at it for a couple of minutes and after that, it will be forgotten.

Do

Decorate the bride’s and groom’s chairs with flowers.

Don’t

Use flowers that will discolor onto clothing. Avoid this by ensuring the flowers are on the backs of the chairs and secured down.

Do

Place edible flowers on the wedding cake for added decoration.

Don’t

Use anything but edible flowers! Make sure they are safe as many guests might assume that they are edible and disaster could strike!

Do

Place flowers and ribbons around the bride’s and groom’s toasting champagne flutes.

Don’t

Make these too large or lavish. You don’t want to have them getting in the way while people are toasting.

Do

Put potted plants around the dance floor.

Don’t

Make the dance floor crowded with them. Just line the outermost boundary with them and space them two or three feet apart.

Do

Place flowers in small vases as centerpieces and allow guests to take one home with them.

Don’t

Use expensive flowers, as you will need to buy one for every guest.

Do

Wear flowers in your hair for an extra fresh and innocent look.

Don’t

Only use one set. Ask your florist or stylist to give you a double of every one you use. If they become wilted and droopy you can easily replace them yourself.

Do

Have flowers framing pictures of loved ones if you have decided to display the photos of loved ones that couldn’t be there.

Don’t

Spare expense when you do this. Usually, these are pictures of people who have passed away and you want to give them all the respect they deserve.

Do

Choose a bridal bouquet that you will absolutely love.

Don’t

Make it so big that people won’t be able to notice the dress or so small that no one notices the bouquet!

Photo by forbescreative

Arranging your own flowers can save you a ton of money. Though, the task may seem a bit intimidating, if you have the ambition to even ask yourself if you could do it in the first place, you can make your own beautiful wedding flower arrangements.

Start by looking through magazines, florist catalogues and online to find arrangements that you truly love. This will give you a model to work with and something to follow.

Here are some important things to keep in mind when ordering your flowers.

Order enough

Order more than you think you need. Having too many flowers is not nearly as bad as scurrying around just before the wedding because you don’t have enough.

Care with lilies

If you are ordering flowers including lilies, know that they can take three to four days to transform to full bloom. Closed lilies don’t look nearly as nice.

Be sure to give the store you are ordering from the date of your wedding and emphasize the need for open blooms. The store will then either ship you closed lilies a few days ahead of time or they will ship open lilies just before the big day. If you’re standing over closed flowers the day before your wedding, place them in warm water and sit them in sunlight. Sometimes, this makes them open quicker.

Practice beforehand

Buy silk flowers to use for practice. Besides silk flowers, you will also need floral foam. This is foam that can be wet and will have flowers stand inside it. This will give you more control over the arrangement and will keep your flowers looking fresh.

Hair barrettes can be used for the corsages. You will want to buy barrettes that are long and snap closed tightly. A ribbon can be placed in the inside so that it can be tied nicely to the wrist. Use the same barrette for corsages that are pinned on as well as the boutonnieres, but use a hot glue gun to glue large sewing needles onto the back so they can be pinned onto clothing.

Once you have constructed a floral arrangement that you are happy with, write down the instructions. These help you work quicker and will also be a handy reference for any friends you enlist to help you. Now you just need to wait for the flowers to be delivered.

Keep your flowers fresh

Once they are, approximately two days before the wedding, be sure to place them in cool water right away. Buckets are best used to place the flowers and you should make sure that the buckets are fairly tall so that they will support all lengths of flowers. The buckets should then be kept in a cool room but cold air should not blow directly onto them. Remove any the thorns with a thorn stripper that can be purchased online or from a florist.

Start arranging

Begin by arranging your centerpieces. This can be done as far as two days in advance. Once they are assembled, make sure to put them back in a cold area and mist them a few times to keep them looking fresh. Cover them loosely with a plastic bag and that will also help keep them fresh. The day before is the best time to make the corsages and the boutonnieres. Arrange the way you have practiced and pack them in a resealable plastic bag. Then place them in the fridge. Give these a quick spritz with cool water if you notice any wilting.

On the morning of the wedding, prepare the bouquets. Cutting it close eh? In order to keep the bouquets looking as fresh as possible, you shouldn’t really do these too far in advance. This is where the practicing pays dividends.

Finishing touches

For a chic finish remove some of the petals from any flowers you haven’t used and place them in resealable bags. When you get on-site, sprinkle them on tables, down the aisle, and wherever else you want to create a fresh fragrant atmosphere.

Assign one or two trusted friends to display the flowers where you want them to be when you get to the site. You will be far too busy to worry about placing flowers in the exact spot so make sure that you give the task to someone who you know will do an excellent job of this! Bring along boxes that the flowers can all be placed in and ask someone to collect the flowers for you. The arrangements took a lot of hard work so be sure that you don’t leave them behind!

Making your own flower arrangements for your wedding is a great way to unleash your creativity and save some money. It’s not easy, but it’s fun and a great way to really bring more of your personality into your big day.

The Posy Bouquet:

This type of bouquet is largely used for bridesmaids’ bouquets because they are easy and light to hold. Brides also often carry posy bouquets that are much larger than the bridesmaids’. The flowers in the posy bouquet will have their stems cut and the florist will insert florists wire into them and then tie them together with ribbon, lace, or whatever you choose. Get really creative and add beads and other embellishments!

The Nosegay Bouquet:

This type of bouquet is generally quite small with a few small flowers all held by a tussie-mussie, which is a metal, cone-shaped holder. Traditionally these have been reserved for bridesmaids and flower girls as well but if you want a smaller bridal bouquet, these can work very nicely.

The Biedermeier Bouquet:

This is a very popular choice among brides because of its dramatic and bold look. With this style of bouquet, small flower blooms are arranged in a circular pattern and layered beside each other, forming a half-sphere for you to carry. Each layer of flowers is a different color and type of flower to really add for dramatic flair!

The Presentation Bouquet:

The presentation bouquet is a type of bouquet that uses large, long flowers such as orchids, lilies, long-stemmed roses, and gladioluses. This style of bouquet is carried cradled right inside your arm and looks most stunning with modern wedding dresses. You can choose to only have blooms at one end, with the stems showing at the other end or blooms at both ends so no stems are visible. Either way, tie it all together with a beautiful satin ribbon for the perfect finishing touch!

The Composite Bouquet:

This style of bouquet looks simple, elegant, and beautiful but it takes a very long time to create and is one of the most expensive styles of bouquets you could choose. With this style, individual petals are removed from flowers so they can be rearranged within the bouquet to make it look like one giant flower.

The Fan Bouquet:

The fan bouquet looks exactly like it sounds. Imagine Asian-style paper fans that are in the shape of a half-moon. This is exactly what your bouquet will look like but a lacy paper fan is generally used and flowers are attached to it. These are wonderful for Victorian or Asian-themed weddings.

The Cascading Bouquet:

You couldn’t talk about bridal bouquet styles without mentioning the cascading bouquet, the most formal and traditional bouquet of them all. This type of bouquet starts off round at your hands and then flows downward, coming to a point. Many flowers are used and you can use just about any color or style that you prefer. Cascading bouquets are generally very large but you can get a smaller one by asking for a teardrop or a trailing bouquet, which is the smaller version of the cascading bouquet.

Know your Date and your Budget

When you’re thinking about what kinds of flowers you want to use for your wedding, you want to consider what time of year you are getting married. Orchids and lilies can be beautiful nice light touches to weddings in the spring and summer while heartier flowers such as roses and gardenias are better suited to winter and fall weddings. Asking your florist what flowers are in season at the time of your wedding will be helpful with knowing which flowers will look great at your wedding.

Knowing what flowers are in season during your wedding is also important for setting your budget and set your budget you must before you even start to think about picking out your wedding flowers! Because you can put a flower just about anywhere in a wedding, it’s easy to get carried away imagining a room filled with fragrance instead of considering the practicalities of your budget. Before you hire a florist or look at bouquets, decide on how much you have to spend on flowers and take this number to your florist first. They can help direct you as to what you can afford, and will look beautiful!

Hiring a Professional vs. Do-it-Yourself

With wedding flowers you can leave everything in the hands of your florist or stay up the night before your wedding twining bouquets together and placing baby’s breath in just the right places. Both are great options, depending on your personality and how much you like to do these kinds of projects. However, if you are going to get really carried away with flowers, a combination of do-it-yourself projects and a florist is the best choice. This way, you have professional help for things such as making sure everything’s refrigerated the night before but you can keep your budget in check by doing some of the other items, such as centerpieces, yourself!

Colors and Types

Ten years ago just about any wedding you attended was sure to be filled with the sweet fragrant scent of roses. But today many more flowers are starting to pop up at weddings including exotic blooms such as orchids and daffodils and featuring ever color of the rainbow from red to orange to blue! When you’re choosing what colors you want for your wedding flowers, it’s always a good idea to keep them somewhat along the lines of your wedding colors but feel free to accent your bouquet with bold colors and to choose a flower that best suits your personality – not what tradition states!

Air Drying

You certainly don’t need to be a florist or a chemist to preserve your wedding flowers by air-drying them. This is the most basic method of preserving flowers and can be done by removing all the leaves and wrapping the stems of the bouquet with twine. Choose a spot that is dry and dark to hang the flowers and leave them until they are completely dry. The best thing about this type of wedding preservation is that it will cost you nothing and anyone can do it. However, the flowers will darken considerably and if you had white flowers at your wedding, they will turn brown when they dry. The flowers also shrivel considerably and don’t hold their shape. The flowers will also not last forever.

Silica Gel

Using silica gel for wedding preservation also won’t last forever but your flowers will last a little longer than if you had air-dried them. Preserving your bouquets with silica gel can also be done yourself at home by purchasing the gel from a garden center or a florist. You will need about 3 pounds of gel for every 12 flowers. First, place the gel in the bottom of an airtight container so that it covers the entire bottom. Trim the stems of the flowers and remove any leaves and place the flowers into the gel. Use the gel to cover any part of the flowers that are not covered with gel and place the lid on the container. Taping the lid is also a good idea to make sure that it’s very airtight. After 10 days check to see if the flowers are dry. If they feel like paper, they are and if not, replace the lid and leave them for a few more days. Drying with silica gel will leave your flowers much more natural-looking than air-drying and they will also keep their color better. However, flowers are just as frail as they are when air-dried.

Pressing

Pressing flowers works best if you are pressing flat flowers such as daisies, peonies, and pansies. Pressing full blooms such as roses is difficult because you first must press each petal individually and then shape it to look like the original flower. To press your flowers, place them between two pieces of blotting paper. Place the paper onto a flat surface and cover with something solid (such as plywood or a book.) Place weights on top of this evenly across so the flowers are evenly pressed and dry at the same time. The flowers will not always keep their exact color but they don’t darken quite as much and the flowers will last forever! This can also be done by anyone.

Freeze-Dried Flowers

If you want your wedding flowers to look as close as possible to how they looked on your wedding day, you’ll want to hire a company to freeze-dry them but be warned that this method will cost you. Freeze-drying involves placing the flowers at extreme temperatures and then over a two-week period a vacuum is used to remove all the moisture from the blooms as the flowers are slowly warmed to room temperature. When the process is finished, the flowers will be treated to help them maintain their look and if you take care of them, they can also last forever!

Adding Flowers to your Dress

If you want to make your wedding dress really special, you can add miniature flowers throughout it, along the folds or along the hem, to really make it stand out that much more! You can add flowers to just about any element of your wedding dress. Maybe you have a favorite type of long and thin flower that could be entwined around your wedding straps or maybe you’ve always dreamed of wearing a sash around your waist constructed entirely of daisies. However imaginative you are there is a florist willing to take on your challenge so think about your dress in its entirety and how you can add some pizzazz with petals!

To your Hair

Of course when you first hear of floral accessories for your wedding, most brides think of hair accessories. This is because floral hair accessories are so easy to play around with and just about any way you can imagine to get flowers in your hair, it can be done! Ask a florist to weave a halo of flowers for you to wear down the aisle orhave a hairdresser experienced with working with flowers to place them strategically throughout your hair. For a simpler route, you can also choose one or two blooms that you really love and tuck them behind your ear. For this look, big and boldly-colored flowers generally work best.

For your Jewelry

Don’t feel that just because you want to accessorize with flowers it means that you are limited to putting a few in your hair. There are tons of ways to accentuate many different areas with flowers including adding them into your jewelry repertoire. Have a florist create a choker from small blooms and wear that wrapped around your neck on the big day. This is an especially attractive look with sleeveless dresses.You can also do the same with bracelets, simply having them sewn into a band and then attaching it around your wrist. If you really feel as though you can’t find a way to accessorize with real flowers, try to do it with silk flowers or with flower jewelry. This will still give a nice effect and you won’t need to worry about keeping them fresh!

Adding flowers into your wedding attire is a wonderful way to incorporate beautiful colors and a natural look into your wedding look. You probably won’t be surprised that once you find a way to accessorize yourself with flowers, you’ll soon be doing it with your bridesmaids and everyone else in your wedding party!