Deciding on the types of flowers may be one of the most challenging aspects. Some things you may want to consider are between real flowers and silk ones. Real flowers are beautiful but also expensive. You also have to put them all up and take them down again. Knowing what flowers are in season at the time of your wedding and going with them could save you a lot of money.

You also have to decide on colors, if your colors are the same as some flower then you could save a lot of money not having to dye them. Silk flowers on the other hand are easy to dye and will be something to keep forever if you wanted. You could use them in arrangements around your house after the wedding.

Another point to keep in mind is where to get the flowers. You need to shop around well in advance since wedding flowers have to be ordered and possibly dyed. Some places to check for the best deal are grocery stores, farmers markets, always check flower shops last since they are the most expensive way to get flowers.

If you are planning an outdoor wedding you may not even need the flowers. If you plan to wed in a park for example, you probably won’t need flowers. Try just tying ribbons or making the most of the flowers already in the park. If the park will allow some arrangements you could consider donating them to the park after the wedding.

Most churches allow flowers with some restrictions. It is important to know far in advance what is expected. Some churches will allow flower arrangements along the aisles as long as they are removed promptly. As for flowers around or on the altar, it is imperative that the instructions for decorations are clear. Some churches will not allow any flowers or decorations on or near the altar. Another point to keep in mind is what the plans are for the flowers after the wedding. Some churches will appreciate a donation of some flower arrangements while others may not.

When planning a wedding the flowers are a very important part and very time consuming. From the decision making to the actual wedding, flowers may consume a lot of the planning time, however they are a special piece of the wedding and you will treasure the memories for years to come. Walking down the aisle to your new life together, don’t forget to stop and smell the flowers.

Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Florida. Find more about this as well as Flowers Delivered at http://www.flowersandgiftsdirect.com

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Obviously, silk comes with some advantages — it’s tough and shelf stable, and the petals won’t come off at the worst possible moment. On the other hand, silk flowers don’t always look real, and they aren’t always a bargain, either.

The fact is, the silk versus real dilemma is more confusing than ever, thanks in part due to the increasing sophistication — and accompanying cost — of silk and latex flowers. To navigate this new terrain, we interviewed Paul Ajao, a professional florist and cofounder of Pure Botanics (http://wedding-flowers-guide.com/), a UK-based floral designer who specializes in weddings.

You keep hearing that silk flowers have gotten “better and better.” Yet when you go to the local craft store, they look just about as artificial as ever. Where are these super-realistic flowers, and how can a bride get her hands on them?

It’s true that artificial flowers have improved. But the quality varies widely from brand to brand. In addition to craft stores, take a look at which brands your local florists are using. After all, their reputation depends on delivering a beautiful result. Also, they might be able to order in artificial flowers for you — ones that you can’t get in the craft
stores.

One brand with a great reputation that florists use regularly is Sia, which you can find in the UK, US and Australia.

Is it true that artificial flowers photograph poorly? And does that include the high-end latex type?

When you take close-ups of artificial flowers, yes, it can be pretty obvious that the flowers aren’t real. But this depends a lot on the quality of the artificial flowers you’ve used.

Remember that any shiny surfaces may cause the camera flash to “bounce,” which looks pretty unnatural for flowers. The common off-the-shelf flowers can be pretty shiny.

One argument for silk flowers is that fresh flowers are seasonal, but some florists are suggesting that season isn’t so important these days — that almost everything can be imported all year round. Are you finding this to be true?

Well, some of the most common cut flowers, such as roses, gerberas (gerber daisies) and orchids, are available all year round. So you don’t have to worry about seasonality with these flowers.

But others, like peonies, lily of the valley and ranunculus, have a definite season. Expect to pay more if you buy out of season. And the quality may not be as good.

Just to illustrate how important season can be: a florist we know planned her whole wedding around the very brief time in spring when lily of the valley was in season, so she could use fresh!

What’s your personal feelings on silk vs. artificial flowers? As a professional florist, would you mix them in arrangements — for example, use silk for the super-pricy flowers like calla lilies or orchids?

Personally, we love working with real flowers. But it’s true that silk definitely comes with some advantages. For starters:

- They won’t wilt.

- They’re a lasting memento of your big day.

- They’re easy to transport if you’re getting married abroad.

- You can prepare them long in advance.

The last point’s important if you’re preparing flowers yourself. By their nature, you have to arrange fresh flowers the day before the wedding at the earliest — and usually the morning of. This doesn’t leave you much time to switch gears if you aren’t happy with the results. On the other hand, you can experiment with and arrange silk flowers weeks in advance. That leaves you plenty of time to relax and pamper yourself in the run up to your wedding!

And yes, you can mix artificial and real flowers with great results. A friend of ours loves ranunculus and wanted them in a mixed bouquet with roses and gerberas. Unfortunately, ranunculus was out of season for her wedding date, and would have cost a lot. So she opted to tuck artificial ranunculus into a fresh bouquet. The results, and the photos, were beautiful.

Anything else you want to add?

Contrary to popular opinion, don’t think that silk flowers are always going to be cheaper than real. Many of the quality ones are as expensive as the real thing — if not more.

Blake Kritzberg is editor of FavorIdeas. Stop by for continually-updated celebrity wedding news, remarkable beach wedding favors, exclusive hairstyling articles and gorgeous and unique wedding favors.

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Don’t just assume that you should get fresh flowers!

There are many good reasons for why you might choose to get silk flowers instead…

Probably the biggest benefit of silk flowers, is the cost. Usually, a silk flower
bouquet will end up being considerably cheaper than a fresh flower bouquet. It’s
much cheaper to make a silk flower, than it is for a farmer to carefully grow a fresh
flower in their garden, and then for a florist to look after it!

Another benefit of using silk flowers in your wedding bouquet, is that after you are
married, you can keep the bouquet, as a reminder of the happy day. You can also
keep fresh flower bouquets, but to do this they will need to be preserved, which can
be quite expensive.

Finally, with silk bouquets, you can actually try making the bouquet yourself!
Although it’s quite easy to make bouquets, it can be hard with real flowers, and it’s
much easier for beginners if they are using silk flowers instead.

There are a few benefits to using real flowers though…

The main benefit is the smell. Even if you spray them with perfume, a silk bouquet
will never smell as nice as a fresh flower bouquet.

Another benefit of fresh flower wedding bouquets is that there are a lot more places
to buy the flowers, and it can be easier to get more variety. This depends on where
you shop though. If you can find somewhere local to you that sells silk flowers, or
you buy them online, then silk flowers can be just as easy to get as fresh.

But wait a second…

Aren’t I forgetting the most important thing? That fresh flowers LOOK a lot better
than silk?

Well, this may have been true once, but these days, it’s quite easy to get beautiful
silk flowers, that are indistinguishable from the real thing. I’ve personally made
quite
a few silk-flower bouquets that people have tried smelling, because they thought
the flowers were real!

Ultimately it’s up to you to decide what type of wedding bouquet you want. All I can
suggest is that you don’t jump into it, and give silk-flowers serious consideration,
as they have many benefits. After all, the smell from a fresh-flower wedding
bouquet will only last for a few days, anyway!

Peta Fletcher has been making wedding bouquets for over 14 years. Her website at http://www.visionsofsilk.com has lots of information on how to make bouquets, including details on How you can make a candy bouquet.

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At the same time, however, go over every detail of the proposal (including set up time and schedule – which will vary greatly depending on how much there is to set up for your wedding flowers and how many other weddings the florist has that same day) carefully before you sign the agreement to provide your wedding flowers. Get several proposals for your wedding flower needs before you decide. It’s your wedding so be sure that you are getting the best wedding flowers for your budget. Though it can be difficult to do, try not to get your heart too set on a particular type of wedding flowers (the possible exception to this might be your basic red rose). Flowers are beautiful but being living things they can be temperamental. Some flowers, such as gardenias and lilies are famous for triggering allergic reactions. If you have someone in your wedding party with bad allergies it might be wise to steer clear of flowers like these. Likewise, hollow stemmed flowers, such as the daffodils can drip sap on your wedding dress. Yes, this is a problem that can be overcome, but you need to be aware and prepared so your wedding flowers don’t ruin your wedding dress.

Other flowers, most notably the lilies will drop a yellow pollen stain on your gown if you don’t have the wedding flower professional remove the stamens before you carry them down the aisle. Two last notes about your wedding flowers. First, remember that not all flowers fare equally well in all types of weather. Some flowers wilt quickly in warm weather while other flowers actually turn black in colder temperatures. Either way you won’t be happy with the flower’s performance if you take it into a situation for which it is not suited. Finally, remember that despite the advances in horticulture around the world, flowers (even wedding flowers) are still seasonal. Sure, if your pockets are deep enough, you might be able to have the florist import them from the other side of the globe but that will be expensive and even at that, there are some flowers that just won’t be available to join your wedding flowers in celebrating your marriage unless it’s just the right season somewhere.

Jeanette Shinn is the co-owner of Your Exciting Wedding Favors http://www.ExcitingWeddingFavors.com a website dedicated to helping brides realize their wedding day dreams with tons of tips, ideas, and the latest wedding news stories from across the country, as well as offering wedding favors, and accessories to enhance the entire wedding experience. Jeanette is also the founder and edible design artist behind Layer By Layer, http://www.frostingonthecake.com, a special order bakery serving weddings and other special occasion needs of the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area.

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Wedding flower decoration can be of various kinds. You can choose a large arch of flowers or a centre-piece, or both- everything is suitable depending on your taste. Use your own creative imagination and choose the best flower decoration for the great event. It is important that you decide on flower arrangement that suits your wedding settings. Choose a color combination that appeals to you and is in harmony with the entire setting. The flower decoration can consist of seasonal and local flowers. You should as specifically as possible decide on the size, shape and color for the different flower arrangements. You may easily get some piece of advice from a magazine: there are large varieties of all kinds of flowers. Silk flowers and dried flowers can be an opportunity, too.

Remember: your wedding flower decoration is meant to express you and your personal style, but comply also with your loved one’s taste. Additional factors should influence your choice: the season, the time of day for the party, the location atmosphere and so on. These weather conditions make a difference and you should have them in mind before deciding strongly on something. A cunning way to make wedding flower decoration suitable is color blocking. Color blocking is called the procedure of choosing a specific color or combination of several colors and using it as the leading nuance when you create all your wedding settings. For example, you may choose the classical white, and put white orchids on the white tablecloths, and prepare your wedding bouquet with white being the predominant color.

There are several types of flower arrangements that are used during the ceremony.

BOUQUETS. They are flower decorations for the bride. A wedding bouquet must be carefully chosen depending on the personal characteristics of the woman. Its color must stress on her individuality, and its shape must emphasize on her body silhouette, giving her the best possible looks. There are many different wedding bouquets, and their design depends on the bride’s skin tone, body proportion, facial appearance and attire.

BOUTONNIERES. These flower decorations are worn by the groom and his attendance, also by the ushers, and the bride’s and groom’s fathers. They are made of small flower buds attached on the left lapel of the jacket.

CORSAGES. They can be worn in pin-on, wrists and hand-held styles. As a flower decoration they combine a small bloom or several blooms tied together.

WREATHS. This is a splendid flower decoration that has a round shape. The rings of flowers are used as centerpieces, headpieces or door hangers.

CANDELABRA. They are made of flowing greens in the shape of ribbons. They are put at the base, neck or top of multi-armed candelabra.

Article by Robbie Darmona – an article writer [http://www.robbiedarmona.com] who writes on a wide variety of subjects. For more information click Wedding Flower Decoration or Find a florist

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Let’s first take a quick look at the flower girl tradition. Starting with the middle ages, flower girls were assigned a special job; to walk down the wedding aisle ahead of the bride and groom and spread grain (not flowers) in order to pave the way for a new beginnings, fertility and happiness in the marriage. Today’s flowers girls usually carry rose petals, and while they aren’t believed to have special powers that will grant the new couple a harmonious relationship, they do tend to set the tone for a wedding. Think about the last wedding you attended. If the flower girls came out in formal dark colored dresses, you quickly understood that the wedding would have a formal tone. On the other hand, if they came out in wispy flower girl dresses with roses laced into their hair, you knew that you would experience a more whimsical wedding. In other words, the flower girls are generally the first part of the wedding party to walk down the isle, and because of that, they will make a strong first impression on your guests.

How will you dress your flower girls? Here are some flower girl dress ideas for the most popular wedding themes around: Cinderella Wedding Theme If you are planning a Cinderella wedding theme, then extravagance and beauty should be a part of everything. And since your flower girls will be the first to appear, they need to set the tone boldly. For this theme, you should have more than one flower girl-three or four would be ideal-and then dress them spectacularly. Choose frilly white dresses with huge skirts and satin bows. You can tie in some of your wedding colors by adding fresh pale pink, yellow or blue flowers to their hair. In addition, they should wear satin ballerina slippers. Have them carry baskets decorated to match their dresses and throw tons of soft rose petals along the isle.

Beach Wedding Theme Depending on the type of beach wedding that you want, you will have various choices with your flower girl dresses. If you want a romantic beach wedding, then put your flower girls in soft pastel tones or white, and use lots of fresh flowers-both in their hair and for them to throw. The flower girl wedding dresses can be shorter than in a formal wedding, and appropriate sandals would set the tone nicely. Instead of a basket, they could carry a pastel painted beach bucket filled to the rim with wildflowers to scatter along the isle. If you have a stronger, more colorful beach wedding planned, why not have some fun with the flower girl dresses? Putting them in typical beach dresses to match your wedding décor would immediately let the wedding guests know that your wedding will be fun and adventurous. Roaring 20’s Wedding Imagine a black and white wedding, wing tips shoes and ostrich feathers. That’s the idea behind a roaring 20 wedding theme, and as you can imagine, a precious frilly flower girl dress simply won’t fit the bill. With this type of gutsy wedding, you will have to get imaginative with them. Why not dress your flower girls in white satin flapper girl dresses, with bands around their hair and beads around the hemline? With this type of dress, you will certainly hear ooh and ahs from the crowd! Garden Party Wedding If you dream of an outdoor wedding surrounded by blooming flowers and ivy-laced arches, then your flower girl dresses should take on an entirely different style. White, off-white or pale pastel linen would be an ideal choice. In addition, a beautiful soft cotton dress with a muted flower pattern would be lovely, tied with a large solid satin bow in the back. Add lace up satin sandals and an armful of colorful tulips, and your guests won’t be likely to forget your flower girls for some time to come. As you can see, your flower girl dresses will set the mood of your entire event. Don’t just automatically dress your flower girls in the typical dress, but instead get creative.

What is the first thing you want your guest to see? Use http://www.flowergirldressesjoy.com to quickly find flower girl dresses online including some great online bargains.

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Here are some things to keep in mind when deciding what wedding flowers you need.

* Bride’s bouquet: The most talked about wedding flowers in the whole ceremony. This one has to match your dress and other accessories so decide accordingly. Also, if you intend to preserve your wedding bouquet, then ask the florist for a smaller or similar version of the original wedding bouquet. You can use this for the tossing.
* Floral hairpieces: If you intend to wear flowers in your hair instead of a wedding veil, place an order with the florist well in advance. You may even want to try out the hairstyle a week before the wedding.
* Attendants’ flowers: It is the bride’s duty to coordinate the wedding flowers for the attendants. The maid of honor and the bridesmaids generally carry bouquets that complement the wedding bouquet.
* Flower girl: As the name suggests, wedding flowers are very much required for the youngest member of the wedding party. You can have the flower girl carry a basket full of rose petals, a nosegay or a simple floral and ribbon wreath.
* Corsages: It is wedding tradition to present wedding flowers to the mothers and grandmothers of the bride and groom in the form of corsages. The corsages can match the wedding bouquet, the wedding decoration or the dresses worn by the women in the wedding party. Make sure you ask beforehand whether the women would like corsages to be pinned to their dresses or purses or to wear on their wrist.
* Boutonnieres: The groom’s boutonniere almost always matches the wedding bouquet. The best man, groomsmen and ushers also wear boutonnieres, but different from the groom. The fathers and grandfathers of the groom and bride receive boutonnieres as well.
* Ceremony wedding flowers: You will need to check with the coordinator at the ceremony site before you place any orders for wedding flowers for the ceremony. You generally have the option of decorating the beginning of the pews, the aisle and the arches with wedding flowers. You may also want wedding flowers at the guest book table. A beautiful tradition is to pass around rose petals to all the guests to toss at the bride and groom when they are finally introduced as man and wife.
* Reception wedding flowers: Wedding flowers to be used as part of the wedding decoration for your reception will be determined entirely by the theme of your wedding reception. In general, it is common to have some kind of wedding flowers at each table. The buffet table also needs to be decorated with wedding flowers. One way to cost cut on wedding flowers is to use the attendants’ bouquets to decorate the cake table.

As beautiful as flowers make the occasion, remember to order only as many wedding flowers as you can afford. Also, a great way to share your joy with others is to arrange to have the wedding flowers sent to an orphanage or old age home the day after your wedding. Not only will this bring a smile to the faces of those who receive them, it will bring a big smile to you knowing you passed on your joy to others.

Copyright Andrea Britt, 2005. All rights reserved.

Reprint Rights: Feel free to use this article on your website or online publication. Please remember that you must include the author’s copyright, resource box and live URL links, exactly as shown below, to the author’s website at the end of the article.

Andrea Britt is owner of http://www.CharmingWeddings.com where you can find elegant, unique wedding favors, bridal shower favors, and wedding planning tips for your wedding reception and bridal shower.

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• Buy local flowers for weddings in season

Flowers in season are sold in better price than those that are not. It may be unique if you can have rare flowers but be prepared to spend a fortune on them.

• Simplicity is beauty!

Sometimes, simple flowers make the best flower arrangements. If you can hire someone who can arrange few flowers with a lot of fillers, you can significantly reduce the arrangement cost. Having a lot of fillers such as baby’s breath and other greenery in your flower arrangements with colorful flowers will give a very attractive and expensive look.

• Buy flowers for weddings in bulk

Bulk purchases always have a significant difference in cost compared to those bought in few pieces. There are many flower shops, online and offline alike, that sell flowers in bulk. You can see different flower selections online and if the online flower shop has a store or branch in your area, you can ask them to send the flowers to the branch before paying for them. If the online flower shop has excellent testimonials, you can just pay for the flowers right away and have the flowers shipped to your place. Most of the online flower shops have overnight shipping; thus, you are assured that you can have the flowers fresh.

• Find a cheap flower arranger or florist
The flower arranger or florist’s fee can also be very expensive. It would be a practical decision to look for someone who can offer his or her service at a cheaper price. If you can arrange the flowers by yourself or if you know someone, perhaps a family member or a friend, who can do the arrangement for you, your savings will definitely be huge!

• Buy flowers for weddings from a wholesaler

A flower wholesaler is also a great place to consider when you want to save money on your wedding flowers. Although the flowers that you can buy from a wholesaler are not arranged, you can save a lot and may use some of the savings to hire a flower arranger.

You don’t really have to spend a fortune to make the flowers for your wedding look beautiful. By thinking creatively and with a little help from your family and friends, flowers for weddings may be yours for a fraction of a price that you normally would pay.

If you like my articles, you can find more at motorcycle camera and insurance premium

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Fresh Flowers: Good news first! One of the best things about having fresh flowers for your wedding is that they photograph beautifully, they have a richness that is captured by the camera and they are breath taking beautiful. Most fresh flowers smell wonderful. The scent of fresh flowers is a very welcoming scent for all of your guests to enjoy as they walk in to either your ceremony or reception. This is only good news to the brides who do not want to keep their bouquets. If you use fresh flowers they will not last so you will not be able to keep your bouquets, unless you preserve them which can be very costly.

If you are a bride who is budget conscious and would like to stay under your budget and do not mind a few extra steps then there is another option for you! Buy your flowers in bulk. This is a way to save you a lot of money, however remember when your flowers arrive; they are only good for about 48-56 hours, if refrigerated correctly. To refrigerate properly, fresh flowers cannot be in the same refrigerator as food especially fruit and they cannot touch the sides of the refrigerator walls, so you must cover them. You can use a trash bag to cover the petals. You want to cover them with something very light so they can still breathe, but that will also provide enough coverage so that the blooms do not have direct contact with the walls. And don’t forget them in water. They have to be kept in fresh water with flower food. Although this may sound painful to deal with, it’s really not as bad as it sounds. When you order in bulk they provide flower food. All you need is enough vases or good size buckets to hold all the flowers, not to mention a clean refrigerator or two. For those of you who want to save your bouquet of fresh flowers, there is a way. Fresh flower preservation is becoming quite a hit, however it can be expensive, but from the reviews I have read, extremely worth it. Read up on it by searching on the Internet, search on Flower Preservation.

Silk Flowers: Starting with our good news again, silk flowers are less to maintain. Less maintenance is an awesome benefit for the easy-going brides who do not really have to have real flowers. Also for those who just do not want the hassle, for those who are allergic to fresh flowers or for the ones who want to keep they’re bouquet without paying for the pricey preservation job. Another wonderful plus for our brides and bridesmaids who are allergic to fresh flowers, silk flowers do not have any scent at all which means no one has to deal with red eyes, hives, or any allergic reactions that could happen. Some florists do work with silk flowers, and silk are easier to work with, most of the time. Talk to your florist and get her advice on which she prefers, look at her sample pictures because those will provide wonderful examples of what she is capable of doing for you and it also helps you get a better idea of her style so we can avoid any surprises the day of the wedding.

On the down side, silk flowers do not photograph quite as nice as fresh, however they come close if you use higher end silk flowers. If you choose to go with silk flowers do yourself a favor and purchase higher end silk flowers and then put the bouquets together yourself. It is not hard at all and it will save you money in the end. This is also a fun way to get your bridesmaids and lady family members together for some “girl time”. Putting flowers together is so much more fun in good company. With a few friends to help you’ll be done with the arrangements in no time.

Darcy Wallace is a writer for WeddingsAreFun.com and has many years of experience as a wedding consultant. The Weddings Are Fun online store specializes in elegant bridal accessories. This article on Wedding Flower Tips For Brides is one of many services offered to bridal couples. Other services include wedding candles and bridal apparel, wedding favors, invitations and trusted personalized service which are available at Weddings Are Fun.

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