Do you love the color purple? I sure do. It is one of my favorite colors. Sometime ago, I did a wedding where the featured flower for both the centerpieces and the bridal flowers was Lisianthus.
Lisianthus have great looking buds that add a fabulous texture to any bouquet or arrangement. The purple lisianthus is one of the best purple flowers available, in my opinion and was perfect for this wedding pictured below as the bride’s chosen colors were purple and green.
In this picture, you can see that the bride’s bouquet contains white lisianthus with the purple edges as does the bridesmaid bouquet that you can see in the lower left corner of the picture. The buds give a fabulous texture to both bouquets. In the picture to the right you can see the bridesmaid bouquets up close.
These centerpieces also had the purple lisianthus in them. The color scheme was “colorful” using reds, oranges, yellows, purples and blues. And with rich jewel tone colors being one of the biggest trends this year, the deep rich purple Lisianthus is the perfect choice for your wedding arrangements.
(more...)
It is getting to be time again when outdoor weddings and receptions are popping up everywhere and I wanted to share with you some tips about making sure that your outside wedding or reception is as perfect as your special day should be.
When it comes to your flowers, make sure and pick flowers that will hold up in the heat. Depending upon your location this may be a BIG issue or a non issue. But here where I live, any temperature above 85 degrees is tricky for flowers! Your more popular flowers like hydrangea and peony are especially intolerant of heat! Your less expensive flowers such as mums, carnations and alstromeria hold up just fine in the heat. If I have used stephanotis in the bouquets or arrangments, I will often dip them in parafin wax to help them withstand the heat.
HINT: Tropical flowers such as orchids, antheriums, ginger and proteas also hold up well outside in hot temperatures. Make sure your flowers have a water source if they are going to be outside.
If you are planning an outdoor event, there are some items you need to think about, in general. For Example, if you are going to use candles, make sure they are enclosed in glass of some sort (hurricane shades, vases) and use candles that are half as tall as the glass they will be enclosed in. If you have any kind of breeze and the candles are taller, you may be fighting to keep them lit all night!
Keeping your food fresh is another very important aspect of an outdoor event. Warm food can go cold faster when outdoors and cold food can get hot faster when outdoors. When cold food gets hot, sometimes it will spoil. Be very careful with mayonnaise based foods like potato salad, because if the mayonnaise gets hot it will spoil the dish and maybe even make your guests ill. You definitely don’t want that to happen! If you are using a caterer, they will know what to do; but if you are doing the food yourself, be very careful!
Are you putting up a dance floor outdoors. Where? If you order a dance floor to be placed on a lawn or in a garden area, be aware of drainage issues from sprinklers.
HINT: Turn the sprinklers off a couple of days in advance! A wooden dance floor needs a level and firm surface, make sure and ask your supplier if a sub-floor is necessary.
Consider providing shade for your guests if they will be sitting in the sun. Tables with market umbrellas work well. A tent, even if it is just the canopy is great for shading, but changes the atmosphere. All things to think about!
(more...)
Your big day is finally here, you and your trusty group of helpers have created gorgeous arrangements and bouquets for your wedding and the last thing you want to discover is the dreaded droop!
Even if you have followed every step, chosen your flowers carefully, followed every precaution, there is always the potential for your flowers to droop. One of the biggest causes of this could be something known as a stem air lock. When this happens, flowers are prevented from getting enough moisture and that causes them to start to wilt. But there are ways to help restore your flowers and help ease wilting or drooping.
Make sure to take them to a cool room with as little direct sunlight or bright lights as possible, since heat and bright light will add to the situation. And some flowers are more susceptible than others, Tulips for example are very temperamental and can droop and loose arrangement shape.
Wrapping your bouquets in tightly wrapped newspaper, covering the stems and blooms, then placing them in a container full of cool water, deep enough just about cover them for 2 hours will help ease the wilting or drooping.
If the petals have started to open too soon, carefully placing a pipe cleaner around each bloom during this time period will help to hold it to the shape and size you need it to be.
For drooping stems, you might want to carefully prick them with a pin just below the flower head. This helps to release any air that might have been trapped inside, which created the 
airlock that prevented them from taking in enough moisture. And if your stems do not respond to this, you can always use floral wire up through the center of each stem to help straighten it out over it’s entire length.
(more...)
Peonies are one of my favorite flowers, I just love big pink beautiful flowers with their delicate scent. And I was so excited today when I stepped out into my garden and found my very first Peony of 2012 had bloomed.
Peony are grown around the world and are typically available from April through August, with peak season hitting around April, May and June, which is the most popular month for weddings. Most white varieties bloom early in the season. They are available in so many colors, including various shades of pink, purple, red, salmon, apricot, white, ivory/cream, yellow and bi-colors and are a densely packed bloom which makes them perfect for use in bouquets.
This is a pretty easy bouquet to make. In this picture I used approximately 10 stems of white double peony to form a round hand-tied bouquet, approximately 10 inches in diameter.
This next bouquet is a mixed bouquet containing pink peony, stephanotis, pink roses and Bells of Ireland.
(more...)
Some time ago, I introduced you to Stock and thought it was time to reaquaint you with one of the mainstays of florists. Members of the mustard family they are also known as gillyflowers. Stock is considered a ‘line’ flower because it’s tall and straight and provides height to the arrangements it’s added to. Stock is not a flower I use a lot of in bouquets. When I do, it is normally just the tips that I am using. I do use a lot of stock in centerpieces though. If you are planning to use them in your bouquet, use them as the accents to your main flower choice. The example I’ve shown here uses Roses as the main focal point of the bouquet with Stock as one of the accents.
Stock is available year round, but peak season spans from February through August. When you buy stock, make sure they have at least six, but no more than half open florets per stem. Avoid bunches with smashed, flattened, bruised, brown, molded, rotted or otherwise infected florets. Soft, limp flower spikes, leaves or stems should also be avoided. And, if the stems are slimey and/or the leaves have yellowed don’t buy them!
When you get them home, as with ALL flowers, give them a fresh cut (about one inch cut off bottom at a sharp angle) and strip any foliage that will fall below the water line fo the vase or bucket you will be storing the flowers in. Sometimes these flowers come with roots attached! If yours came that way, cut the entire root off or any white portion of the stem. It is always best to dip the flowers in a hydrating solution before putting them into the bucket of water. Store them in buckets/vases with flower food and lukewarm water. Then, after a couple of hours, put them into refrigeration until you are ready to use them.
(more...)
Read More Posts From Angie's Blog
Working...