The Perfect Guide To Your Boho Wedding

One thing you’ll want to take advantage of this fall are the free seeds sitting in your garden. If you want to learn how to harvest and store your seeds keep reading! As cooler weather arrives, you will notice some of the flowers in your garden start to dry out. These are the flowers you will want to harvest seeds from, but make sure they are COMPLETELY dry. Make sure you harvest your seeds on a dry day. If it’s raining outside and the seed head is wet, there is a higher chance of it getting moldy. Let’s look at some of the seed heads in the garden and see if they’re ready to be harvested.    Trait 1     As you can see in the picture above, the seed head to the left is still bright and fluffy. Therefore, it is still developing. The seed head to the right, however, looks brown and hard to the touch meaning it’s dry and ready to harvest. (Gomphrena is shown above)   Trait 2     The seed head to the right is still too green to harvest seeds from. However, the seed head to the left broke apart very easily indicating it is mature. (Scabiosa is shown above)   Trait 3     A pro tip to help decipher whether a flower’s seeds are ready to be harvested or not, especially zinnias, is by looking at the stem. If the stem has began to turn hard and brown, like the stem on the right of this photo, then your seeds are ready to harvest.   Pro Tip     Some flowers need a little extra work to harvest seeds, like celosia. The first thing you want to do is remove the seed heads from the bottom of the stem. Rub them together between your hands to remove the scruff and the black pieces left are your seeds.   Storage It is best to keep your seeds stored in an envelope so there is no chance of condensation getting inside, but a paper bag can work just as well. Keeping your seeds dry is important so they do not germinate or mold before you are ready to plant them. Let your seeds dry for a week before storing them in a cool, dry place. If you are worried about your seeds expiring, storing your seeds in the refrigerator well help them last for years.   We hope you are loving our blog! Don’t forget to add harvesting seeds to your Fall to-do list so you can plant more flowers in the seasons to come.

How far in advance should I book my wedding florist? Book your florist AT LEAST 3-6 months ahead of your wedding 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 chosen 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 the team at the venue. Delivery and setup- Florist delivers and arranges the flowers but leaves after setup. Transition- Florist delivers and arranges the flowers and stays to transfer floral pieces from the ceremony space to the reception space. 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! Considering how much you are 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 us to move their floral nest from their ceremony space to somewhere in their reception space such as the head table or mantle. It is even possible to take apart the floral nest and repurpose 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 an area 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 preserve 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 before the wedding date. 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. You 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 arrangements and they will still be fresh by the time of the event.           Typical floral arrangements 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 arrangement to make it appear fuller. Green mist/dara caucus 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 bottom of all of your stems. Remove any unwanted foliage and thorns (if applicable) from the bottom 2/3 of the stem. If going for a garden style look leave more foliage on the stem as long as the foliage is 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 in the 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 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 the 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.