Color combo of greatness. Plus artificial pros.

This year, a popular color combo is PURPLE paired with GREEN. I just so happen to love, love, love this color scheme, so I am very excited to do another wedding with these colors.

Here are two bouquets featuring callas, orchids, gerber daisies, ranunculus, and spider mums. Take note that these are both fashioned with artificial flowers. There are several benefits to artificial, including:

• Ability to re-purpose arrangements (especially good if you'll be having multiple receptions and prefer to save a little money. Maybe you can even convince whoever is paying for the flowers to put the money saved into a honeymoon fund. Just an idea!)
  
• No need to worry about keeping them watered and away from heat/sun or cold/drafts.
  
• Lighter than real flowers. I know a bouquet really isn't all that heavy either way, but holding it for hours on end can make your arms pretty tired!
  

Artificial flowers have come a long way....looking more and more realistic for less expensive prices. Of course when you are doing wedding work, you want to make sure you get high quality floral stems. Plan on spending between $1-$7 per stem depending on which flowers you choose. This definitely makes an artificial arrangement a bit more expensive than a real one, but perhaps the pros outweigh the cons. It all depends on what you like and what you need.

This particular bride is having two receptions a week apart. She will use these bouquets as toss-aways, as well as for her bridal photos (a week before the wedding). See all that re-purposing? Awesome money saver! Not to mention much less stress.

She still wants real flowers, too. (There really is just something nice about fresh flowers, isn't there?) So we will be fashioning her wedding day bouquet from fresh flowers. Really, she's getting the best of everything!

Wild and Elegant

Today I am doing flowers for a wedding with a Beach theme. The bride wanted to incorporate a few seashells into her bouquet, and have a soft, elegant feel.

When I think of a beach, I automatically think of wind (and messy, wind-blown hair) and waves and interesting rocks and creatures. I know that doesn't sound like an elegant picture for a wedding...BUT I think all the feel of that beautiful mess can be captured in a beautiful bouquet. Here is the result. What do you think? Does it feel like the beach to you?

A Few Favorites

Here are a few of my favorite arrangements and bouquets I've made over the past several years.


I just love the colors and textures in the bouquet above. So light, airy, and elegant!


The slight cascade of this faced bouquet made a few flowers go a long way. The same number of flowers in a hand-tied round bouquet would have looked much smaller. So if you want your bouquet to look bigger, but not cost (and weigh) a ton, consider doing something like this.

This cute centerpiece of hydrangea, statice, and waxflower added just the right touch to a dinner table. The size of the arrangement, however, was a little small all by itself, so I added a little something extra. The "place mat" underneath is is simple a coordinating piece of scrapbook paper topped with a weaved ribbon mat and sprinkled with glass "water droplets". This super easy, super inexpensive addition makes the whole arrangement look bigger.


Topiaries are SOOOOO fun! Once again, the visual weight is greater than the number of flowers actually used. You can get the height and feel of a large arrangement from combining three small ones. These look great on a banquet table, flanking an entryway, or in a corner.


More topiaries, this time centerpiece-sized. Simply take three roses (or other flower of choice) and bunch them together. Insert them in your container, then fill in the base of the container with other flowers (carnations, baby's breath, more roses, etc). I also lined the clear glass container with leaves to hide the floral foam. These are short enough that you can still carry on a conversation with the person opposite you on the table. Try adding some sort of decorative place mat (like mentioned before) to make them appear more substantial without adding more flowers.


Large sprays are expensive, but add a nice touch to the pulpit at a convention or other meeting.


"Long and Lows" are great for the head table at a wedding luncheon, especially if you make them 2-sided. That way,everyone has a beautiful view. Plus you can still see each other. :)


Another tall spray that would look great in a corner or on a banquet table. The orange and red hues are a favorite of mine. Feels like Autumn, doesn't it?