Beach Wedding Flower Arrangements
Posted by in Wedding Flowers on September 26, 2011
Beach Wedding Flower Arrangements
Can any wedding be complete without beautiful and fragrant flowers decked out as centerpieces and bouquets? Flowers are an integral part of a wedding and whatever the wedding theme, you just cannot do without wedding flowers. From centerpieces to bouquets and boutonnieres to wedding ceremony decorations, wedding flowers play a crucial part in exuding the wedding theme and atmosphere. If you are planning on a beach wedding, then you need wedding flower arrangements that reflect the beach theme. Since you will be having the wedding ceremony and reception out in the beach, it is a good idea to opt for flowers that are hardy, which will stand up to the heat. Freshly cut tropical flowers like cymbidium orchids, bird-of-paradise, dendrobium orchids, phalaenopsis orchids, anthurium and heliconias work well for a beach wedding. These colorful flowers not only dresses up the wedding venue, but they are also hardy enough not to wither in the heat. Here we will give you some ideas for beach wedding flower arrangements.
Flower Arrangements for Beach Weddings
Beach Wedding Bouquets
For the wedding bouquets for the bride, you can choose something elaborate with a mix of three to four flowers. For the bridesmaid a less elaborate floral arrangement will be more suitable. If you want a show stopping bouquet for your wedding, then why not opt for a cascading bridal bouquet fashioned out of cymbidium orchids, chartreuse flowers, gloriosa lilies, leucodendron, and hosta leaves. For a touch of the whimsy, add a few satin ribbons in lime green or violet to give the cascading bouquet a more lush and romantic look.
Since the bride is carrying something so spectacular as a bridal bouquet, you need something less dramatic for the bridesmaid. To tone down the exuberance of the cascading bridal bouquet, bridesmaid bouquets fashioned out of just one kind of flower would look perfect. Each bridesmaid can carry a compact bouquet made out of mini calla lilies in yellow or pink tied with a ribbon. Alternatively you can also choose pink or orange nerine lilies or even yellow crocus, and oncidium orchids. Keeping the bridesmaids bouquet more compact and streamlined will help in highlighting the beauty of the more dramatic cascading bridal bouquet.
Beach Wedding Centerpieces
For beach wedding centerpieces the best thing to do would be to mix the flowers with some traditional beachy items like paper boats, sea shells, starfish or pebbles. One great beach wedding centerpiece ideas is to use big wide mouthed spiral shell as a vase. Glue the base of the shell to a small rectangular ceramic plate with a bit of glue and fill the shell with water. Arrange a few flowers like purple scabiosa and baby’s breath inside the shell vase. To complete the beach theme scatter a few round and oval pebbles on the ceramic plate. This floral centerpiece is very easy to create and the nautical accents of the shell vase and the pebbles gives the centerpiece a nice beachy vibe.
Another good beach wedding flower arrangement is to use a rattan planter as a centerpiece and fill it up with white orchids and long stemmed white calla lilies. Choose a long rattan planter and paint it in pristine white paint color. Line the inside of the planter with a plastic plate and then fill it with a piece of florist foam. Trim the stems of all the flowers to the same height and place them inside the planter. Use green leaves like palm leaves or hosta leaves to add a touch of color to the centerpiece. Since this floral arrangement is a large one, you should place just one centerpiece in each table.
These were some ideas for beach wedding flower arrangements. If you decide on having a wedding arch for solemnizing your wedding then you can decorate it with phalaenopsis orchids and anthurium along with hosta leaves to give it a bright and vibrant look. Beach weddings can be made into one of the most perfect wedding venues if you choose the right flowers and floral arrangements.
Wedding Bouquet Preservation
Posted by in Wedding Flowers on September 26, 2011
Wedding Bouquet Preservation
A wedding day is marked special by all. When it comes to party or celebration, every little detail is taken care of and all needs are catered to. There is an upsurge of anxiety if arrangements are not arranged! When we utter arrangements, flowers are first to strike a note of affirmation. After all, they are an integral part of the wedding ceremony and their absence or presence can make the mood or break the wedding tempo. As much as the wedding day holds importance, the wedding bouquet commands all the attention. Wedding flowers fail to lose their charm even when they grow stale and droop to face your carpeted flooring. You may want to preserve them forever and not subject them to the bin. Well, this is possible. Wedding bouquet preservation can be an option to carry those flowers along through times.
Tips for Preserving Bridal and Wedding Bouquets
Wedding bouquet preservation requires more efforts than bringing out an eloquent vase from your closet and setting them in with water to help them sail through the years. What you may do is to consult a florist well in advance and have him take care of the wedding flower bouquet. He may provide you with a wedding bouquet preservation kit along with the offer he quotes to provide you with flowers and bouquets on your wedding day. You may chose to take this opportunity and hand him the responsibility of handling your priced possession for a brief period. With some help from your florist you may also preserve the bouquet all by yourself. Here are some of the techniques that you could apply to accomplish your wedding bouquet preservation idea.
Air Drying
Air drying is the easiest and the simplest of all the methods that can be employed to preserve flowers or bouquets. However, with air drying, you may not be able to preserve the original appearance of the flowers as the flowers would lose their sheen, their color and suffer a discoloration. Molds and mildew may be another condition eying your bouquets beauty. Spraying hair serums have not contributed to the flowers staying fresh nor would placing them in a vase and changing their breeding water’s every day may be of any help. If you are keen to air dry flowers and not consider any other suggestion of wedding bouquet preservation, you may go ahead and have them framed to the least, so that they are not invaded by molds or mildew.
Keep Them Hydrated
Until you make up your mind as to with which method you would want to preserve your flowers, you may preserve them in a vase filled with water. However, this will sustain only for a couple of days. Trim the stems at an angle every two days and place them back in the vase.
Silica Gel
Find a few containers that have lids to secure them. Make sure that the containers that you have are air tight and are large enough to have the flowers set within them. Now, you may purchase some silica gel from the florist and place it at the bottom of the containers. An inch of the silica gel will be ideal. You need to unwind your wedding bouquet and place the flowers into the silica gel. Place flowers that are of the same specie together in one container. Place them in such a manner that the flowers are well spaced. Pour some more silica gel around the flowers after they have been arranged in the containers. Keep them aside in a cool place, by securing them with their air tight lids. Check on them after 3 to 4 days. Give your flowers a weeks time to dry. You can remove them carefully from the containers and place them back the same way as the bouquet was arranged. Spray some hair serum on the flowers and you have succeeded in preserving your flowers.
Flower Pressing
I am sure you may have observed dried flowers pressed between the pages of a romantic novel, that reminds you of the love that one shared, once upon a time. Times have changed but the crux of the concept has remained virgin. The flower pressing method is one where the flowers are methodically pressed and rearranged. They are then put back into a complete bouquet and framed. If you are someone who does not like the three dimensional look of the bouquet that is achieved through air drying or silica gel application, you are free to go with the flattened look of the flowers that this wedding bouquet preservation method has to offer. This is a professionally conducted method and one has to lay trust in the florist’s expertise to do his best and deliver what you desire. It takes about 10 weeks for the flowers to be pressed ready.
Freeze Drying
This is the most innovative and novel technology that has been incorporated in wedding bouquet preservation. With freeze drying, the bouquets are able to maintain their originality in terms of their appearance which includes their shape, size and even their color. They look fresh and alive for years together. This is indeed the expertise of a professional to freeze-dry your bouquet flowers. This is, however an expensive method to get your wedding bouquet preserved. Nevertheless, if you are keen on preserving your bouquet at any cost, (pun intended!), then this method is specially fabricated for you!
Wedding bouquet preservation is possible with these methods. You are free to make your choice and have your bouquet remind you of the times that will be cherished forever. If only time could freeze… you may think!