The choice in a wedding florist is an important one.  The wedding flowers can be very expensive and can take up much more than the traditional seven percent of the wedding budget if the bride and groom are not careful.  There are some rose wedding bouquets that can be used for the bride only and can take up that much of the budget, depending on the type of arrangement and the time of the year that the wedding will take place.  There are other rose wedding bouquets that are not as expensive because they are made from silk flowers.  Even though they are silk, if the florist is good, the silk rose wedding bouquet will be hard to distinguish from a live arrangement.

Styles Of Rose Wedding Bouquet

Rose wedding bouquets can be found in a variety of different colors.  Since roses come in an assortment of colors, the rose wedding bouquet can be made in any color available.  Often the roses are the primary flower in the bouquet and other flowers will accent it along with the greenery.  Sometimes the roses will be placed in a pattern so that one color of rose is in the center surrounded by another color of rose in a circle around it.Around that circle rose is the first color here or again a completely different color.This arrangement can be very costly since it is composed mainly of the flowers rather than being filled with the greenery to help offset some of the expense.

There are rose wedding bouquets that are arm bouquets.These bouquets are also called presentation bouquets since it appears that bride is presenting the bouquet to the audience.  These bouquets lay across the bride’s arm as she carries them and are made with the stems of the roses cut long so that the bouquet drapes properly.  There is usually a ribbon that keeps the flowers all together as the bride cradles it in her arms as she goes to meet her groom.  It is usually recommended that the dress that the bride wears to go with this type of rose wedding bouquet is form fitting rather than having a full skirt.

A bride that will have a full skirt on her wedding gown should usually carry a crescent rose wedding bouquet.  This bouquet is wide and is in the shape of a crescent moon as its name implies.  The flowers in the bouquet and the greenery that is used will arch from side to side, often with one side slightly longer than the other.  This type of bouquet should be carried just below the waist line, about at the hips so that it properly accents the dress and highlights the colors in the bouquet.

Do it yourself wedding flowers don’t magically fall into place and look wonderful.  There are so many things to remember and balance is one of them.  The elements of your wedding bouquet or arrangement (your container, flowers, foliage, and accessories) need to “fit” or work well together.

We as people have a natural pull toward balance and order.  Imbalance is naturally avoided – it’s in our subconscious.  We naturally avoid things that are dangerously imbalanced such as a tottering ladder or a crooked shelf.  Even though an imbalanced floral bouquet or arrangement isn’t a threat to us, we have a natural tendency to balance and order.  A bouquet or arrangement needs both physical and visual balance.

Physical Balance
Physical balance can also be called mechanical balance.  To have this type of balance, the arrangement simply needs to be able to stand up on its own without falling over.  The container you use needs to be the right size, weight and shape for the flowers you put in them.  You also need to have your flowers and foliage arranged so they are evenly distributed.  If you have them placed so your design is either top heavy or so that the flowers are mostly on one side, your arrangment will fall over.

Visual Balance
This is when a floral design looks balanced.  If it is mechanically balanced yet looks like it’s about to topple over, your instinct is to reach out your hand to catch it from falling over.  You want it to look stable.  You can have 4 different types of visual balance: symmetrical, asymmetrical, radial, and open balance.

• Symmetrical  -  This is created when you have exactly the same flowers and foliage on both sides of an imaginary line.  Bouquets with symmetrical balance are formal and are often seen at graduations, funerals, and weddings.  You need to be careful that this type of design doesn’t look stiff or forced.  You can avoid this by using near-symmetry where you use very similar (but not exactly the same) flowers and foliage on both sides of your imaginary line.
• Asymmetrical  -  You achieve this by placing more weight on one side of your imaginary line than the other.  You don’t place too much weight on one side so it looks imbalanced.  You need to have something on each side of your “line” to balance out the other side.  This is harder to create than symmetrical balance, but it’s more pleasing to look at and remains interesting much longer than perfect symmetry.  You can have some large, light colored flowers on one side and off-set them with either darker or bright small flowers on the other side.  Darker flowers look “heavy” so they have enough weight to balance a greater number of larger, light colored flowers.
• Radial  -  You create radial symmetry by having your flowers and foliage radiating out from a central point just like the spokes of a wheel, the rays of the sun, the petals of a daisy, the lines of a hand-held fan or the pattern of a shell.  The central point can be in different positions.  The spokes of a wheel and the petals of a daisy radiate out from the center whereas the lines of a hand-held fan radiate from the center of the bottom and the pattern of a shell radiates from one side.  Radial balance is most often in bridal bouquets.
• Open  -  Open balance isn’t symmetrical or asymmetrical.  It is open, relaxed and unstructured.  You will find this in contemporary design where there are no formal rules, yet the overall design looks balanced.

If you are a beginner, symmetrical, asymmetrical and radial balance are easier to achieve because you have some “rules” to follow.  Open balance comes with practice and experience.  Your do it yourself wedding flowers need to be balanced.  Choose which type of balance is most appealing to you and work with it.

Nadine Visscher has arranged flowers for more than 15 years and has written The Beginner’s Guide to Wedding Flowers found at www.WeddingFlowerDirections.com

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/weddings-articles/how-is-balance-important-for-your-wedding-flowers-1118895.html

When designing your wedding flower arrangements, you want to create a sense of unity.  This is accomplished when all the harmonious components of your arrangement are combined artistically to create a united whole.  You don’t want your design to look like it is not unified.  Three ways you can achieve unity are using proximity, repetition, and transition.

Proximity
When you have flowers and foliage designed close to each other, you have proximity.  Having them together avoids chunks or separations.  If you have different textures, colors, sizes and shapes, you can still have unity if you utilize proximity.

Repetition
Another way of achieving unity is by repeating some element of your design.  You can repeat a color throughout your design to unify it.  This is probably the easiest element to repeat.  You can also use repetition with other elements like texture, angles, lines, flower type, flower shape, and flower size.

Transition
A more difficult method to create unity is by using transition.  With careful planning, you can create a gradual change from one element to another.  A good use of transition produces a pattern that results in continuous eye movement.  You do this by using intermediate colors, texture, shapes, and sizes.  For example, you can use orange flowers to create a transition from yellow to red.

When you design your own wedding flower arrangements, create them with a sense of unity.  You want the arrangement to look good as a whole.  You want to avoid having it look like you just randomly put together a bunch of chunks or pieces.

Nadine Visscher has arranged flowers for over 15 years and has written The Beginner’s Guide to Wedding Flowers found at www.WeddingFlowerDirections.com

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/weddings-articles/how-to-create-unity-in-your-wedding-flower-arrangements-1103934.html

 How many flowers do you buy if you are going to make your own wedding flowers?  Draw a map of both the ceremony and reception locations.  On that map, draw where you would like the flowers to go.  Then make a list of all the arrangements, bouquets, corsages, and boutonnieres you will need.

If you are going to have simple arrangements on the tables at the reception, count how many of them you will need.  Sit down and think of what will go in one of them.  For instance, you may need 5 focal flowers, 15 transitional flowers and 1 ½ bunches of foliage. Multiply the number of flowers needed for each arrangement by the number of how many you need in total.

For your bouquets, sit down and draw them out.  Looking at bouquet pictures will really help with this.  Count out the flowers in your picture and write down the numbers.  For example, your bouquet could have 7 roses, 9 carnations, 9 freesia, 15 miniature roses, ivy, fern, bear grass, and leather leaf.

Do the same thing for your bridesmaids bouquets.  Draw them by looking at a picture, count all the flowers and write them down.  For instance your bridesmaid bouquets could have 3 roses, 5 miniature roses, 5 carnations, 5 freesia, ivy, bear grass, and leather leaf.  Take these numbers and multiply them by as many bridesmaids that you have.

Make a list of all the people who will need a boutonniere.  Each of these will need 1 main focal flower and a sprig of foliage.  Some people also like to add a small accent such as berries or tiny filler flowers.  Calculate how many you will need.

Write down everyone that will need a corsage.  Mother of the bride and mother of the groom corsages are usually a bit more special than the others and will therefore need a few more flowers and/or a bit more ribbon.  Each corsage generally has a least 3 flowers, each a different size than the other.  For example if you are using roses, you would need a tight rose bud, a partially open bud, and a fully open rose.  You’ll also need some sprigs of greenery and some ribbon.  If you want different corsages for different people, draw them to help you write down the number and color of flowers you will need.  Add up all the flowers you’ll need for all your corsages.

Now add up all the flowers from all the bouquets, corsages, boutonnieres and arrangements to get your total.  Be sure to hang on to the papers where you drew the pictures of the arrangements, bouquets, and corsages.  You’ll want these as your guide when it comes time to put them all together.  You don’t want to cram some arrangements full of flowers and then nearly run out and have others looking very sparse.  

Always order extra flowers and foliage.  It’s better to have too many than to come up short.  You can always use and extras to float in bowls, to make a decoration on the cake knife or to make little corsages to decorate the microphone or any solitary candles.  You can always find places to fill in with little extras.

Nadine Visscher has arranged flowers for over 15 years and has written The Beginner’s Guide to Wedding Flowers found at www.WeddingFlowerDirections.com

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/weddings-articles/how-many-flowers-do-you-buy-1089804.html

Choosing the flowers for your wedding is a very important decision. Flowers help to set the tone of your wedding. The beautiful flowers will be something the guests will always remember. The choice of flowers and colors you pick will set the theme of your wedding.

Get : Wedding Flowers Advice

First, I recommend you set a floral budget, flowers can get very expensive very fast. First choose your bouquet then your attendant’s bouquets,now you can move on to table arrangements.Flowers do not have to be very expensive if money is an issue you can do your own floral arrangements. You can go to the flower market in your town or a farmers market for bargains.

Free : Great Wedding Advice

Secondly, if you have decided to use a florist, get recommendations from friends and relatives.It is best to get two to three quotes. When you have chosen a florist make sure you get everything in writing so there is no surprises. Ask to see samples of their work. This is good for ideas as well as to see how good they are.

Lastly, You now have a florist and set your budget, it is time to tell the florist your color scheme and the look you want. Flowers really set the theme of the room you can be casual, formal or somewhere in between. Most important you want the flowers to adorn the room, but not to be too obtrusive. Make sure that you look at all the flowers that are available before making your final decision.

Bryan Burbank is an expert in the field of Weddings. For more information go to: http://www.planthewedding.net/flowers.html

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/weddings-articles/learn-how-to-pick-flowers-for-your-wedding-1068861.html

If you have decided to make your own wedding flowers, you need a clear sense of direction and plan of action.  Have a schedule so you’ll know exactly what you need to do when.

Four Days Before Your Wedding

• Pick and condition your foliage and any flowers that you want that would come from a garden.
• These flowers and foliage were picked 2 weeks before your wedding day and you tested them to see if they were hardy.
• Contact your flower arranging helpers to discuss a meeting time for the day before your wedding.  An early start is recommended.

Three Days Before Your Wedding

• Prepare the floral foam.  Fit it to the containers, cut it to size, and tape it into place.
• Fill the containers with water so the floral foam will absorb the water.
• Once the floral foam has absorbed the water, fill up the containers with water again.  It is very important that floral foam stays wet.  After it starts to dry it is no good any more and must be tossed out.

Two Days Before Your Wedding

• Pick up your flowers and some empty flower boxes from your florist.  You’ll want the boxes to store your bouquets, corsages, and boutonnieres.
• Condition the cut flowers and put them in clean bucket full of clean water with flower preservative.
• Keep the flowers in a cool, dry place away from drafts and direct sunlight.
• When putting your flowers into the buckets of water, you can organize them by putting in the correct number of flowers for a specific arrangement.  Label the buckets so you’ll know which bucket is for which arrangement.

The Day Before Your Wedding

• Meet your helpers very early at the church to show them how you want it decorated.
• Arrange all your wedding flowers and put them into the flower boxes.  The pieces that simply must be put in the boxes are the bouquets, flower girl basket, headpieces, corsages, and boutonnieres.
• Mist the flowers with your spray bottle, spraying both the back and the front.
• Cover the box with plastic to seal out any air and to keep the moisture inside the box.  If you do not cover the boxes with plastic, the water will evaporate and the flowers will wilt.
• Have corsage pins in a container beside the flower boxes.  You don’t want the pins in overnight – they could start to rust.
• Put any of your other arrangements that are meant for either the reception or the ceremony in their positions.  Top up the containers with water and mist them gently.

The Day of Your Wedding

• Ask your helper to go to both the ceremony and reception locations to check on the flowers.  They should top up the water and mist them gently.
• Get the best man to pick up the boutonnieres and corsages and give them to the correct people.
• Take the plastic off the flower boxes with the bouquets to see if the flowers are still fresh and perky.  If they look a bit dry, mist them gently and cover loosely with plastic.
• Just before leaving for church, gently shake the head pieces and bouquets to get rid of any extra moisture.
• Attach the headpieces, pick up the bouquets and you’re ready!

Follow this schedule for how to organize everything for when you make your own wedding flowers.  A clear plan of action will help you see through it all and will spare you from missing any important details that could lead to panic.  You want your wedding day to be as stress-free and enjoyable as possible.

Nadine Visscher has arranged flowers for over 15 years and has written The Beginner’s Guide to Wedding Flowers found at www.WeddingFlowerDirections.com

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/weddings-articles/your-todo-list-for-your-flowers-for-the-week-of-your-wedding-1067574.html

Once you’ve made the decision that you would like to make your own wedding flowers, you’ll need to find people who will be willing to help you.  These helpers can’t be just anybody.  They need to be people who will be available for the entire day before your wedding.  Hopefully people will offer to help so you won’t feel like you are imposing when they help you.

• Depending on the size of your wedding, you should have at least 3 helpers.  Obviously the more flowers that need to be prepared, the more help you’ll need.  If you have a larger wedding, have 4 or 5 helpers.
• If you only have access to the ceremony or reception location for a very limited time, you will have to work hard and fast.  More people will have to help you in a shorter amount of time.  Hopefully you’ll have at least 3 hours in each location.  If this is not possible, you have to make your own wedding flowers in a central location and then transport them to the ceremony or reception location within the allowed time frame.  Ideally though, you should have several hours access to both locations the day before your wedding.
• If your flowers are extremely delicate, you’ll want to make them up as late as possible (the afternoon of the day before your wedding).  If your flowers are more hardy and are arranged in floral foam, you can get your helpers to help you even 2 days before your wedding.  You’ll need to store these arrangements in a cool place.  You should make the boutonnieres, corsages and bouquets the day before your wedding, so your helper might have to help you 2 different days, but it will make it less busy and hectic.
• You need to sit down with your helpers and show them exactly what you would like them to do and teach them how to do it.  Take out all the guess work.  You want the flowers to be handled as little as possible to prevent bruising and wilting.

When you arrange your own wedding flowers you are definitely going to need some people to help you.  Follow the 4 pointers listed above to make the experience as smooth and productive as possible.

Nadine Visscher has arranged flowers for over 15 years and has written The Beginner’s Guide to Wedding Flowers found at www.WeddingFlowerDirections.com

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/weddings-articles/four-things-to-remember-when-recruiting-people-to-help-you-create-your-own-wedding-flowers-1067605.html

Do you want to arrange the flowers for on the tables of your wedding reception?  You can do this very effectively and very economically.  You can make your own wedding flowers look very stunning with the right containers in the right location.  Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

• The neck and size of the container is the most important.  If the neck of your vase is too wide, the flowers will just flop out without holding a nice shape.  If the neck is too narrow, the flowers will be squashed and cramped.
• Glass containers are great for loose, informal arrangements.  Glass containers come in all shapes and sizes – vases, bowls, water jugs, cubes, fish tanks and tiny sample whiskey bottles.  They are unique in that they don’t compete with the color of the flowers and they allow you to see the stems, adding to the design.  The drawbacks with glass containers are that if the water becomes cloudy, it’s very noticeable, and you need to use something transparent to support the flowers (if needed).  You can’t use a pinholder or chicken wire because that would be very noticeable – and unsightly.
• Ceramic containers can either emphasize or contrast the color of the flowers.  You can also create very unique designs because you can use material such as floral foam or chicken wire to hold the stems in place.
• Metal containers can effect the mood of an arrangement.  Cool metals such as pewter and silver can give the arrangement a cool feel whereas warmer metals such as brass or copper gave a warm glow to the flowers.  Be careful with these though.  Test them ahead of time.  Sometimes the metal of the container will change the chemical composition of the water which will shorten the vase life of your flowers.
• Baskets give a real rustic look and they do well with informal arrangements of wild and garden flowers.  A waterproof container needs to be set inside the basket before you can arrange flower in it.  Your flowers need a water source if they are going to last.

Your containers don’t need to be formal and they don’t all need to match.  You can use unusual containers such as chunky kitchen storage jars or canisters, casserole dishes, teapots, wooden boxes, or even hollowed out fruit or gourds.  The sky is the limit.  When you make your own wedding flowers, you can put your personal touch on your arrangements using unique containers to create the look you want.

Nadine Visscher has arranged flowers for over 15 years and has written The Beginner’s Guide to Wedding Flowers found at www.WeddingFlowerDirections.com

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/weddings-articles/what-container-would-suit-your-wedding-flowers-best-1063916.html

 If you have decided on do it yourself wedding flowers, there is a schedule that you should follow to stay on top of things to keep everything running smoothly.  There are different things that you can easily do well ahead of your wedding day.

Three to Six Months Before Your Wedding

• Visit a florist of your choice and discuss colors, flowers, bouquet styles and  flower availability.
• Set up a meeting with the church flower committee.
• Make a list of all the floral arrangements you want and calculate how many flowers you will need.
• Arrange to have some people help you make your own wedding flowers.
• Book your hairdresser for both you and your bridesmaids.  Discuss what hairstyles would be the best suited for having flowers in your hair (if you’re planning to).

Two Months Before Your Wedding

• Revisit your florist to have her help you with the calculations to make sure you order enough flowers.  Place your flower order.
• Gather all the nonperishable supplies you will need such as containers, floral foam, bouquet holders, wire, tape, spare buckets and scissors.
• Make a stop at the location of your reception to help you create a mental picture of what flowers will go where.
• Make up all the bows you’ll need and store them in a plastic bag.
• If you are using any artificial flowers for anything (such as the cake topper or a flower headpiece) you can make them up now.

Two Weeks Before Your Wedding

• Go back to your florist and go through all the details.  Check with her to make certain that she has the correct date and time for your flower order.
• Confirm with the people who offered to help you to see if they are still willing and available to help you.
• Touch base with your hairdresser to confirm the date, time, and hairstyle for both you and your bridesmaids.
• Visit the location of your ceremony again to discuss final plans.
• Pick and condition foliage and garden flowers that you would like to include in your wedding flowers.  You want to test these out at least 2 weeks before your wedding to see what foliage and flowers will stand up and which ones will go limp no matter what you do.  It’s better to find out now than the day before your wedding.

As you can see, there is much that can done in the months and weeks before you get married.  If you plan to make your own wedding flowers, you will want it to go as smoothly as possible.

Nadine Visscher has arranged flowers for over 15 years and has written The Beginner’s Guide to Wedding Flowers found at www.WeddingFlowerDirections.com

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/weddings-articles/fifteen-things-you-need-to-do-long-before-your-wedding-to-design-your-own-flowers-1063959.html

If you have made the courageous decision to make your own wedding flowers, there are a few things you should know about how to look after the foliage and flowers once they have been cut.  You need to take proper care of them whether they come from a florist or from your garden.

From the Garden

• Any flowers or foliage from he garden should be harvested at least 3 or 4 days before your wedding.
• Pick your foliage and flowers early in the morning.  The sap is just starting to rise in the stems and the sun isn’t shining on them with its full strength.
• Cut all the stems at an angle.  Do not hammer the stems.  This will encourage bacteria to grow which in turn shortens the life of your flowers.
• Put the cut stems into buckets of cool, clean water that has flower preservative in ti.
• Do not try to cram them all into one bucket.  They need space to breathe.
• If you have some flowers that have tight buds that you want to open up, put them in warm water.  This will speed up the process of the flower opening up.

From the Florist

• These flowers should all have their stems recut (at an angle).  You want this fresh cut so the flower can draw water up to drink easily.
• Place the flowers in cool water with flower preservative in it.

When flowers and plants are in their natural state in the wild, they drink through their roots, stems, leaves and petals.  They absorb rain water as well as any other moisture such as fog or humidity in the air.  You can recreate this environment for your flowers by gently misting them with a spray bottle.  You don’t want to drench them with a lot of water, just a fine misting is what’s needed.  If you soak the flowers, water will settle in the center of them and rot could set in and begin to break them down.

As you prepare to make your own wedding flowers, keep these hints and tips in mind to avoid any disappointments from wilted flowers or foliage on your big day.  You simply don’t need any more extra details to take care of.
 

Nadine Visscher has arranged flowers for over 15 years and has written The Beginner’s Guide to Wedding Flowers found at www.WeddingFlowerDirections.com

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/weddings-articles/you-have-the-cut-flowers-now-what-1063964.html