How to Harvest and Store Seeds

How far in advance should I book my wedding florist? Book your florist AT LEAST 3-6 months ahead of your date. Consider the popularity of your florist and if you are getting married during peak wedding season, October, November, April, and May. Wedding florists typically have a cap on how many weddings they will take a day. So, if you have choosen a popular date to get married on, it is best to book your wedding florist a year or more in advance. Also, booking this far in advance allows room for changes to be made.   Can I expect delivery to be an additional cost? You can expect delivery to be anywhere from 10-15% of your floral item total (pretax). The last thing you want to add on top of wedding stress is a charge or fee you didn’t know about. Your florist may offer packages that include the transition and tear down of flowers after the delivery and set up. Discuss with your florist these options and be prepared to pay a little more than 10-15% of your floral item for the time the florist is having to keep their team around. Delivery and set up- Florist delivers and arranges the flowers but leaves after. Transition- Florist delivers and arranges the flowers and stays after the ceremony to transfer pieces from the ceremony into the reception. Teardown and clean up- Florist stays the whole wedding day to accomplish delivering and setting up, transitioning, and tearing down and cleaning up after the wedding is over.       Where should I focus my floral budget? The ceremony space, table centerpieces, and bridal bouquet. This all depends on what you prioritize. Focusing your floral budget on the ceremony space is best if you are wanting to get more out of your photos. If you prioritize your reception space, it may be best to spend more on the table centerpieces because that is what guests will be looking at the most and possibly be taking home. Your bridal bouquet is the most personal floral piece of the entire wedding and should be focused on if you prioritize up close photos like your bridal portraits.   Can I repurpose my ceremony flowers into my reception space? Absolutely! There are a variety of ways to repurpose your flowers! For how much you’re paying for flowers, you want to make sure you are getting as much out of them as possible. Instead of asking your florist to make an arrangement for the sweetheart table, see if you can use your bridal bouquet as the centerpiece. We have had some couples ask we move their floral nest from their ceremony to somewhere in their reception space such as the head table or mantle. It is even possible to take apart the floral nest and repourpose it throughout different parts of the reception space, as seen below.     How do silk flowers compare to fresh ones? Silk flowers are great because they don’t need water to last. However, these flowers often lack a realistic look. The best place to use silk flowers is somewhere where they won’t be viewed up close, such as a hanging floral arrangement. Fresh flowers are preferable for up-close, personal arrangements, such as bouquets and centerpieces. However, consider that out of water they may not look as well as when they were arranged. It should be noted that silk and fresh flowers are difficult to color match, so we try to avoid using them together.   Can I add décor items to my arrangements? Yes, either they will be priced in, rented, or you will have to bring them to the florist. Communicate with your florist if you can rent pieces, such as vases, or if they will have to be purchased. Wedding guests sometimes assume they can take home table arrangements, so communicating with your florist before hand can help avoid this confusion and any unwanted charges. Providing a list of decorative elements early on will help the florist plan if they need to order the pieces or if you need to provide them.     Will I be able to preserve my flowers after the wedding? Yes, but have a plan. If you want to preserve your flowers it is important that you keep them as fresh as possible. Keep them in a cool space in water. You will likely have to overnight mail your flowers, so make arrangements for you or a trusted person to do this between the wedding and honeymoon. Often times florists do not perserve flowers, so finding a company that can is as important as choosing a florist before your wedding.   Can I change my mind after our consultation? The further out from the wedding the more flexible your florist can be. A good rule of thumb is if you want to make changes to design, try to make those changes 2 months out from the wedding date at most. If you have to change the number of florals needed, make sure this is communicated with your florist no less than 1 month out.   Can I have flowers that aren’t in season? If the flowers you want are not in season, talk to your florist about similar flowers that can be used as an alternative. Typically, florists can still find flowers that aren’t in season, but keep in mind the flowers may be more expensive or harder to source.

          Creating any floral arrangement for an event starts with processing your flowers so they can look as if they were picked day of.   Sourcing your flowers           The first step is figuring out where you want to get your flowers from. Your can get your flowers from a local farm (like ours), floral shop, grocery store, or online. You can even grow your own! You want to make sure you source your flowers 3-4 days before the event. This way you have time to make your floral arrangments and they will still be fresh by the time of the event.           Typical floral arrangments consist of four different types of flowers: focal, secondary, filler flowers, and greens. Focal flowers are generally going to be face flowers, such as peonies and dahlias. You want to make sure whatever flowers you pick to be your focal flowers stand out and make a statement.                       Your secondary flowers are going to be a little smaller than your focal flowers and you want to make sure that these flowers compliment your focal flowers. Some examples are zinnias, tulips, and snapdragons.               Filler flowers are generally small clusters of flowers that can be added into the empty space of any bouquet or arangment to make it appear fuller. Green mist/dara cacucas are some great options. Some of my other favorites are wax flower and statice.                 Lastly, you want to pick some greenery. The purpose of adding greenery to your arrangement is to add volume and make it look natural. FUN TIP: Incorporate herbs! This will make the arrangement smell great. In the picture below we have lemon basil.     Storage             The first thing you’ll want to do is make a fresh cut at the base of all of your stems. Remove any unwanted foliage and thorns (if applicable) from the bottom 2/3 of them stem. For garden look more foliage if in good shape. QUICK TIP: An easy way to remove thorns is by pressing on the side of them until they pop off or using scissors or a knife to shave the thorns off.                       You want to store your flowers in cool water. Two gallon Home Depot buckets work great because of their height. Fill your bucket with about 2 inches of water. If the flowers in your bucket have a stockier stem, fill the bucket about 3 inches. Make sure no foliage is your water, you want to keep your water as clean as possible. Repeat this process every two days to ensure your flowers always have fresh clean water. If you don’t have a cooler, store your flowers in a cool dark place away from from fresh fruit. As fruit goes bad, the gases released can cause the flowers to brown prematurely. Also keep your flowers away from air vents so they do not have direct air blowing on them. Doing this ensures that your flowers will last until they are ready to be used.           Here’s what your flowers should look like before and after they are processed.       Here’s some bonus tips for creating your arrangement!           Your flowers are fresh, but you want them to also look in full bloom for your arrangement. If you are working with roses, hold the stem with the flower facing down, as if you were clapping, and roll it back and forth between your hands. Doing this will open the face of them flower and give it more volume.           You can make your carnation flower look like a poppy by using these steps: 1.     Pull down on the outer green petals 2.     Spread the carnation head 3.     Pinch out the center petals until the green center is exposed             After we processed our flowers, here’s how our bride’s bouquet looked the day of the wedding!                   Good news! We’re going to be putting out blog posts weekly! Be sure to follow our social media and sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date with our blog.

          We love it when our brides come to us with new ideas. Last week we created the most beautiful piece of floral work for one of our brides, a floating flower photo backdrop.            This is easy to make at home and is the perfect photo opportunity at weddings, showers, and birthday or graduation parties. You and your guests are going to love the magic this backdrop brings to photos!   Time: 2-4 hrs Supplies: Needle, Fishing Line, Metal Frame/PVC   How We Did It             The first step to creating any floral piece is to pick out your flowers. One of the best things about this backdrop is that there is so much room for creativity. You can pick out almost any flowers you want, big or small. Go with a color scheme or something abstract, it’s all up to you!             When picking out your flowers make sure you pick ones that can stand being out of water for a while and still look nice. A good rule of thumb is that if the flower’s petals are thin and delicate they probably will not do well out of water. Some good options are roses, carnations, mums, zinnias, spray roses and poms. Try to stay away from anemones, hydrangeas, ranunculus and scabiosa.              Start by cutting all the stems off your flowers. Cut a piece of fishing line about 4 inches more than the height of your backdrop. Thread your fishing line through the needle and secure it with a double knot. It’s important to use a fishing line not only because it is super strong, but it’s nearly invisible. This is what is going to give the flowers that floating illusion.             After you have threaded your needle, stick it through the base of your flower. Pull the needle and fishing line all the way through until your flower is at the end of the line. Make sure to leave a little extra line for when you tie it to your frame.             Secure your flower in place on the line with a double knot. Repeat the process with another flower about a foot from the last one. Keep in mind when stringing your flowers that you want to work from the end with no needle to the end with the needle.           When your string of flowers is finished it should look like this:           Use the extra line left on the end to tie the string to your frame. Metal frames can be purchased on Amazon. Here’s a link to one on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D6GBY3RC?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share            However, if you are looking for a cheaper alternative PVC pipe can work just as well. Get a PVC pipe the desired length of your backdrop and string some of that fishing line through leaving a generous amount left on each side. Using that extra line coming out of each side of the pipe, tie your PVC pipe where you want to hang your backdrop. If there is nowhere to hang it from, you can use command hooks.              There are so many ways you can add your own personal touch to this floating floral backdrop. Having an event in the evening? Add string lights to brighten up the space! Another idea is to tie some ribbon into bows in between the flowers. This can add so much personality and texture to your backdrop, and the bows will look like they are floating too!   Tips! You don’t have to be consistent with the placement of your flowers and the length of your line. When the flowers are staggered it looks a lot more natural, as if they were falling from the sky. Try to avoid putting the same flowers next to one another. Having a cluster of flowers in the backdrop can be distracting and look unnatural.  Stick your needle through the thickest part of the flower. This is going to help your flowers face forward rather than face down once they are hung. Work together! This project can be time consuming. We were able to get ours done in about 2 and a half hours between 3 people.               If you decide to make a floating flower backdrop, we would love to see your work! Send your pictures to our Instagram @b.blumenflowerfarm, or tag us in your photos. Make sure to check out our social media to see more of our floating floral backdrop from last week’s wedding and other ideas for your future event.