Here are four cool alternatives to fresh flowers, all of which can be found on Etsy. They’re all over the map when it comes to prices, from perhaps excessively expensive to entirely reasonable.
I’m curious to know where you think each bouquet belongs on the price continum. Is the crystal bouquet the most expensive? Do the paper blooms fall squarely in the middle? Give us your guesses in the comments!
If you want to check your answers, you can find the bead bouquet here, the crystal bouquet here, the hand-shaped claycraft bouquet here, and the paper bouquet here.
I cheated and checked the prices. I think the amount they cost and the extent to which I like them have an inverse relationship.
The paper one is beautiful!
I’m going to guess bead, clay, paper and then crystal. It’s hard to guess – I mean I’m assuming the person did all of the beading themselves..if not it’s got to be after the paper and clay. Clay and paper I’d assume take more man hours than the crystal – which looks to be the easiest of the lot to achieve. And crystals are friggin cheap to get.
WOW is all I can say to THAT most expensive bouquet! But it is freaking gorgeous.
I had a clay bouquet (from http://www.dkdesignshawaii.com) and I love it. I took apart my bouquet at Christmas and scattered half of it (stephanotis w/pearl centers) all over the tree. It’s a new Christmas tree tradition. =)
THAT much for beaded flowers? Really (I mean, they’re well done and all, but I think they’re made with the French beading method, which doesn’t take long if you have a bead spinner.) ? Lordy, I should set up a shop
P.S.- Should anyone be interested in making paper flowers for their wedding, check out the kits at Paper Source. I made a ton and saved a bundle and am in no way affiliated with the company.
The beaded flowers are absolutely gorgeous and such a long process to do BY HAND!!! Not everyone takes the cheap way out of making things to sell for a low price just to make a sale. The price is cheap considering the time and energy it takes to make one. I would love for someone to “set up shop” and see how easy really is.
The beaded bouquet is absolutely gorgeous.
I’d consider it an heirloom piece to be handed down throughout many generations.
I think the clay one in particular is lovely, but I’m just wary of anything that is going to turn into another “thing” to keep around the house. Sure, it seems like a good idea to have something that will last forever, but by the third time you have to move with it. . . I think I’d stick with good old perishable flowers.
What daisyj said. I mean, choose these because they’re lovely in their own right, not so your children have to feel guilty about throwing it one day. Granted, some of these are lovely enough to display in the home, but only do so if it’s something you’d gladly display even if it wasn’t your wedding bouquet.
I stumbled onto this website by accident and was pleasantly surprised to see my wedding bouquet on here.
It’s true what Emily said, it is made with the French beaded technique (a technique practiced in Europe since the 1500s) and has really flourished in Italy and was made popular by Virginia Nathanson in the United Sates in the 60’s. I’ve communicated with Carol “moo” Benner Doelp, one of Ms. Nathanson’s students, in a beading group and found out she loves to hear about new beaders to the art.
I do have a bead spinner. An electronic one at that (if I do find the belt, I won’t have to spin it by hand anymore) that my husband made for me. I can bead faster than the average chick. If I didn’t have this spectacular device, I would have to charge an arm an a leg to my customers.
Happy Beading.
i absolutely love the beaded piece….i would look at this piece as heirloom quality….the paper and clay pieces are pretty…but i don’t think would age gracefully with time….and on top of that, i wouldn’t want to go the “cheapest” way with my bouquet.
I really like the paper and the beaded, although I keep going back to the beaded–it’s so dynamic and rich and filled out (the paper doesn’t have stamens so it’s kind of like a face without features to me)! I think the beaded has the most value to me and it’s so unique and stunning!
I guessed the prices right! The beaded one is amazing. The claycraft one is absolutely gorgeous as well, even if the flowers aren’t my type… what a lot of skill that must take. The paper flowers are quite charming, but I don’t see the appeal in the crystal bouquet. It looks kind of like the optical fiber disco light my little sister has in her bedroom–pretty, but not very bouquet-like?