Manolo for the Brides

One piece of advice brides hear over and over again is that choosing flowers that are local and in season is a great way to save money on your florist’s bill. That’s very true. Having orchids flown in from halfway across the globe or insisting on the most delicate of summer blooms in the middle of a stormy winter is going to cost you extra.

But what to do if you don’t know what’s in season in your area? Well, a good place to start is right here. This interactive tool allows you to give a very general idea of time of year, region of the US (sorry, non-USian readers, but I’ll be on the lookout for something that covers other parts of the world, too, because it’s fun) where your wedding will be held, or even what color the bridesmaid’s dresses are. It then spits out a list of flowers that match your criteria, with links to pictures of said flowers. As I said, it’s not the be-all and end-all, but it’s a good place to start if you can’t tell a hyacinth from a hydrangea or aren’t certain if iris grows in your area near your wedding date.

Another fabulous way of saving cash on flowers is to do very simple arrangements yourself with a bit of help from handy friends and family members. Real Simple has a great feature showing you how to make beautiful bouquets from grocery store flowers. The one piece of advice I would add to their ideas is that if there’s an open-to-the-public florist’s supply within a reasonable distance, you can get a greater variety of higher-quality flowers without having to pay the middle men. If you need a lot of a particular flower, it also means you’re far more likely to be able to get precisely what you want in the amounts you need.

Still, the tying instructions are clear and simple to follow. Besides, who would ever have thought baby’s breath could look this spectacular?

Along with the usual crystal bouquets, paper bouquets, and wood bouquets, there are bead bouquets. Great for the bride or groom who can’t come within ten feet of a live flower without sneezing up a storm, bead bouquets (and boutonnières) look best when paired with elegant, streamlined wedding wear. To put it simply: The beads in your bouquet shouldn’t have to compete with beads that adorn your bodice.

If you’re intrigued by the notion of carrying something other than fresh or faux florals during your nuptials, know that I regret to this day not exploring all of the unique alternatives out there.

I’ve been meaning to write a bit about floral preservation for ages upon ages, but it seems like every time I go looking for interesting floral preservation methods I stumble upon something even more interesting and my commitment to the topic of preservation goes straight out the window. In a moment, I’m going to tell you about what is by far the most fascinating preservation method I’ve found. First, however, I’m going to share a little bit of offensiveness I found on Keepsake Floral’s web site:

For every bride considering the possibility of preserving her wedding bouquet for years of future enjoyment, there may be someone who tries to discourage her from doing so. Whether it is the bride-to-be’s fiancé (who wants to save some money to buy a beer stein or autographed baseball), a friend or even the bride’s own florist (who may be unaware of the developments in previous years regarding preservation), there can be numerous road blocks for a bride trying to find out more information.

Um…what?! This sort of thing is on par with vendors who tell brides-to-be not to tell their fiancés how much things cost because, “men just don’t understand these things.”

And what’s the deal with the beer stein or the autographed baseball? Maybe Mr. So-and-so wants to save money to buy a new stove or a washing machine…why assume he wants to spend the bouquet preservation money on something so dumbly stereotypical? Shame on you, Keepsake Floral. Does this tick anyone else off or is it just me?

Anyhow, what you see above is not a pile of burnt sugar cubes, charcoal, or rabbit droppings. They’re beads–specifically beads made out of a number of different sorts of florals. The owner of From Blossom to Bead will take your bouquet and turn it into jewelry, a rosary, or a picture frame.

In a process similar to papermaking, the petals are mashed into pulp with several “secret” organic ingredients, formed, allowed to dry, and then strung with other beads to for a one of a kind, handmade heirloom quality piece.

Luxe jewelry it’s not, but if you’re into baubles with a natural, organic look, flower beads may appeal to you. It is an interesting idea. Personally, I don’t think these beads are any more or less extravagant than a fancy glass preserved floral display, but they are significantly uglier…and I’m not just saying that because I want to save some money for a beer stein and an autographed baseball!

My favorite part of the book-writing process is the research. Buckling down and actually doing the writing kind of sucks because it can be tedious if you’re not in the right frame of mind. But dang if I don’t love me some serious hardcore research. When you plug something like, oh, “unusual wedding flowers” into Google or Images.google.com you get some super cool results. For example, Lisa Shea makes colorful origami flowers that can be used as a floral alternative in bouquets and centerpieces.

There are a ton of paper options, so you’re almost guaranteed to find something that matches your wedding color scheme. I think a mix of textured and monocolor flowers would look awesome. Of course, if you’ve got all the time in the world, you could try making your own origami flowers with sheets of origami paper and long green pipe cleaners. Directions for various sorts of origami flowers can be found here, here, here, here, and here. If you want to go all out, spring for Origami Flowers: Popular Blossoms and Creative Bouquets. Be aware, however, that the book isn’t really for beginners. Bone up on your origami skillz before attempting a full bouquet.

Going green isn’t always a walk in the park when weddings are involved. God forbid anyone think a bride and groom are trying to push a certain ideology — guests appreciate unobtrusive touches like organic wines, but they don’t usually want to know about the finer details of composting outdoor toilets. Greening up your floral selection? That’s a lot easier…you can use local flora, fill your bouquet with verdant shades, or both!

When I was thinking about my own bouquet, I knew I wanted to include at least a touch of green in the florals themselves. Of course, my friend Carla and I just winged the designs using the massive piles of silk flowers I’d bought, but I realize that’s not for everyone. If you’re looking for the perfect green bouquet and don’t like what you’ve seen so far, why not try making your own using the easy to follow instructions in Wedding Bouquets: Over 300 Designs for Every Bride or Creative Wedding Florals You Can Make?

Being that I went with chocolate and gold for my summer wedding colors, I did my best to avoid all permutations of orange lest anyone think I was embracing a fall theme. But orange truly can be awesome on its own without channeling autumn at all!

Pair orange with pink as people have done here, or try mixing orange with light, yellowy greens or deep, rich purples for a little zing.

Or, as I have been so fond of calling them, DIY buckets.

I sat down with a friend this past weekend and constructed my bouquets. While I did print out instructions, we never actually read them. Instead, we just laid out all of the materials at our disposal (which included some $150+ worth of silk flowers, florist�s wire, and florist�s tape) and experimented wildly with differing combinations of color, size, and greenery. I am actually amazed at how wonderfully our efforts turned out, as neither of us had ever created a bouquet. Observe:

Sorry about the pisspoor image quality — my camera is about a thousand years old and photography has never been my strong suit. The first one is the bridal bouquet and is actually quite a bit bigger (and heavier!) than the bottom one, of which there are two. At the last second, I put together a matching tosser in case I unexpectedly find myself facing a herd of rabid female relatives asking me when I’ll be throwing the bouquet. The Beard and I discussed tossing the actual bridal bouquet and then realized that we don’t need to start our lives together facing endless rounds of personal injury litigation.

I will say that the whole bouquet-making process is rather intuitive, as you end up having to use wire to keep your early efforts from falling apart while you look for more blooms and there is no better way to wrap up a mess of unruly stems than with tape that only sticks to itself. The ribbon-wrapping, which I did myself, was somewhat harder as I was using pins to secure the ribbon.

If you plan to follow in my footsteps, I suggest looking at lots of pictures of wedding flowers online and in books like To Have & To Hold: Magical Wedding Bouquets or Creative Wedding Florals You Can Make.

Now, if I can just keep the cats from gnawing on the aforementioned bouquets, everything will be peachy.

I hate those white plastic bouquet bases. You know, the ones that have a wad of soft green foam in the middle. I much prefer pretty hand-tied bouquets. For a variety of reasons, however, many brides don’t want to go the hand-tied route.

Enter the cone. I stumbled across this DIY guide on the Flower Arrangement Advisor earlier today while doing a search for unusual bouquets and immediately fell in love. There is simply something so earthy and sophisticated about the cone bouquet…even if the blossoms themselves do look like they are resting on a birds nest. Who knows? Maybe that’s part of the appeal of the cone.

Get your glue guns handy, people. Because from where I’m sitting (which is in front of my desk, incidentally), the cone looks like an easy-to-put-together alternative to other DIY floral arrangements.

How about something new for a new year? It’s new to me, anyway, as I’ve never heard of anything like it, and I know for a fact I haven’t written about it before. What is it, you ask?

Wooden flowers. Yes, that’s right. I’m talking about flowers made out of wood. A few weeks ago, if someone had asked me what I’d imagine a wooden bouquet to look like, I would have answered with a description of a “grandma tchotchke.” You know, like a bowl of clunky wooden tulips in an off-color garage sale vase. But I’d be wrong, because the wooden flowers I have in mind are delicate and pretty and look fabulous in photos.

The problem with these lovely bouquets, as I see it, is getting the bouquet made. For about $20, you can procure a hundred or so of these lovely faux flowers. So a wooden bouquet represents a fab DIY project. I’ve only come across a few shops selling wood bridal bouquets and wedding florals. These include Flowers of Wood, which has a small selection of bouquets, corsages, and boutonnieres, and Bergo Designs, which seems to operate on a custom basis where wedding florals are concerned. Definitely worth a look, IMHO.

Photo by Joseph Harlan