Before you give us a call, you’ll want to gather some information, and then the corsage or boutonniere designs itself!

Wrist or Pin-on Corsage?

Most people prefer wrist corsages, but you’ll sometimes find your grandmother prefers a pin-on corsage because that is what she is used to. Wrist corsages are nice because they go with any kind of dress or material. If the dress is strapless or has spaghetti straps, a wrist corsage is perfect because you don’t have to worry about where to pin the corsage. If the dress is made out of a fabric that isn’t sturdy enough to support the weight of a pin-on corsage, then a wrist corsage is perfect.

We have several different wristlet options to accommodate different sized wrists. Just let us know if your wrist is particular petite. You can even come in to try on the wristlets.

Color Palate

Are you trying to match a dress or a suit? Is this for a wedding so you want to coordinate with the wedding flowers? Are there school colors you want to include? For the most part, each element of the corsage or boutonniere can be the color of your choosing from the flowers, to the smaller supporting flowers, to the greenery, and finally the ribbon.

What kind of flower?

Roses are the most popular. For a corsage, we use several spray roses instead of the larger full-size rose in order to accommodate a woman’s smaller wrist size. Roses come in a variety of colors including the standard white, red, and light pink. But they also come in yellow, peach, lavender, burgundy, and orange. If you’re interested in one of the specialty colors, just call us about a week in advance so we are able to order the flowers for you.

If you want something a little more unusual, there are many other flowers that make beautiful corsages and boutonnieres. Orchids lend an exotic look and come in unusual colors such as the larger cymbidium orchid…

…or the smaller dendrobium orchid. Ranunculus offers a delicate look with gradations of color that are unpredictable and whimsical.

Calla lilies bring a classic sophisticated look and come in white, yellow, mango, pink/light purple, and a dark eggplant purple.

Additions

A traditional corsage and boutonniere is comprised of roses, baby’s breath, bakers fern, and a ribbon. We love requests for original designs. Some fun small flower additions are wax flower, solidago, astilbe, and statice.

Greenery comes in lots of different tones and textures including eucalyptus, myrtle, ruscus, variegated pittosporum, or even hypericum berries.

Ribbon

Most people include ribbon, but you don’t have to. Ribbon has so many characteristics including width, sheer or solid, matte or sparkly, or you can even choose two different ribbons.

You can certainly place your order over the phone. But if you’d like something more unique, you might consider visiting the shop. We have a huge selection of ribbon if you want to match fabric or just see the different colors and textures that are available. You’d be surprised at how many shades of blue there are! We can also pull various elements together like flowers, greenery, and ribbon so you get a feel for what the finished product will look like.

Whatever your needs are for corsages and boutonnieres, we’re here to help!

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Budget

The first question we’ll ask is what your budget is. Once we know your budget, we can guide you to the appropriate flowers that will create the look and feel you would like. Additionally, you might choose to prioritize the elements that are most important to you. Are having peonies in your bouquet more important than having flowers decorating the church pews? While nothing is set in stone until we’re within a month of your big day, knowing what budget you’d like to target will help us offer appropriate suggestions and guidance.

Inspiration

Oftentimes, people will ask us to send them photos of bride’s bouquets. The reality is that we can create any kind of bouquet that you would like. We have endless examples! It really helps us narrow down examples if you send us photos or a Pinterest board that shows the style(s) you like. In addition, these photos will help us determine the price of the bouquet!

Shape

When it comes to bride’s bouquets, there are three major shapes that we work with. The first is round and compact, often looking like a dome. Its opposite is a teardrop or cascading bouquet, a looser shape with trailing flowers and/or greenery. Finally, in the middle of those two is an open and natural bouquet with a more amorphous shape. Below are examples of each shape.

A round bouquet, a cascading bouquet, and an open bouquet.

Color Palette

Something else that’s important to consider is the colors of your bouquet. Whether you’re looking for a monochromatic bouquet or one that includes all the colors of the rainbow, we want to match the colors you’re looking for as closely as possible. Flowers come in all different colors and shades, so the more specific you can be, the better. And if you have a photo of the specific shade you want us to match, that helps us even more!

Flowers

The fun part of the bouquet is the flowers! Do you want just one kind of flower, a mixture of textures and layers, or a combination of flowers that all have the same look and feel? Many flowers such as roses and sunflowers are available year-round at fairly consistent prices. Other flowers such as peonies and dahlias are seasonal. While we might be able to procure them out-of-season, they are often prohibitively expensive. In this case, we are happy to suggest budget-friendly alternatives that offers a similar look without the strain on your wallet!

Greenery and Natural Elements

The last consideration is greenery and natural elements. While neither are a necessity for a bouquet, it can add a natural look as well as contrast to the flowers. Seeded eucalyptus is a popular greenery right now. Other kinds of greenery include (but not limited to!) ruscus, myrtle, green pennycress, bupleurum, and bear grass. Some brides love to add other natural elements for fun texture and variety. Thistle, berries, lotus seed pods, pine cones, safari sunset, are just some of the natural elements we have incorporated into beautiful bride’s bouquets.

Once you’ve considered all these points, you’re ready to order! Just give us a call or visit us in-store, and we’ll create the perfect bride’s bouquet just for you.

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Hitting Home

A long-time childhood friend of my sons is supposed to get married in September. I received a message from his bride letting us know that they are trying to figure out whether, how, or when to move forward with their wedding. I could hear the crushing disappointment as well as the angst of trying to make the perfect decision in her voice.

While I have watched customers wrestle with these hard decisions, hearing this young lady’s voice put a lump in my throat. Not only are we providing the flowers for her wedding, we’re also attending the wedding, and my sons are in the wedding party. This one really hits home because the decisions she’s facing are ones she’s trying to make on behalf of families that she loves, including my own.

So this letter is to her and to all the 2020 Brides out there.

Dear 2020 Bride,

Breathe… you are loved and cherished and appreciated.

Whatever you decide will be just perfect! This is your day, and the start of your new life together as a married couple. It’s the beginning of your family. What is right for some families might not be right for your family, and vice versa, and that’s OK!

While this pandemic affects everyone, the way it affects everyone is different. Some need to be totally isolated, others are comfortable venturing out with masks and social distancing. You won’t be able to accommodate everyone’s needs, but everyone will understand. Take that pressure off and just focus on what brings both of you the most peace and joy. Whatever brings you peace and joy will also bless everyone else that you love.

Love is what brought you to this moment. Love is what will get you through this moment–love for each other, love for family and friends, love from family and friends. As you look back on this day from some vantage point in the future, memories of being a 2020 Bride will be truly special ones.

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Pinterest and Instagram are wonderful sources of inspiration for flowers and arrangements, especially for newly engaged couples. We love it when couples share their Pinterest Boards or their Knot’s Wedding Vision. They help us understand the look and feel the couple are striving for, and they help us get to know the couple better. The downside is that sometimes couples fall in love with flowers that won’t be in season for their wedding.

Recently we had a bride show us her Pinterest Board. It was full of peonies, but her wedding was in November. You can imagine her dismay when we told her that we might not even be able to get her peonies, and if we were able, they would be at least $20 per stem. Talk about going over budget!

First Steps

Before you start looking for inspiration, first figure out when your wedding will be, and then find out what flowers will be in season so you can focus on seasonal designs. It also helps if you have a budget for your wedding, including how much you would like to spend on flowers; again, this will ensure that you don’t fall in love with a design that isn’t within your budget.

White roses and baby’s breath courtesy of Fantasy Floral

Gerbera daisies

Dark purple calla lilies courtesy of Fantasy Floral

Year-Round Flowers

There are many flowers that are available year-round, not just for seasonal designs. These are flowers that your florist will be able to get for you without too much trouble or extra cost–even if they are out of the normal growing season.

Year-round flowers include roses, gerbera daisies, and lilies, including calla lilies. You can also get filler flowers such as baby’s breath, purple statice, and alstroemeria, year-round, as well as greens such as eucaplytus or ruscus.

Tulips courtesy of Fantasy Floral

Lilac courtesy of Gardenerdy.com

Pink peonies and white calla lilies courtesy of Fantasy Floral

Irises courtesy of Fantasy Floral

Spring Flowers

In addition to the year-round flowers mentioned above, spring seasonal designs can also include tulips, lilac, daffodil, peonies, pussy willow, forsythia, irises, dahlias, and sweet peas. Some flowers, like irises and dahlias, have longer growing seasons and are also available in the summer.

Gladiola centerpieces courtesy of Fantasy Floral

White hydrangeas

Summer Flowers

Summer seasonal designs, in addition to the flowers already mentioned, can also include delphinium, gladiolas, snapdragons, and hydrangeas.

Liatrus

Red anthurium

Queen Anne’s Lace

Fall Flowers

Fall seasonal designs start to take on fun textures with the flowers that are available. This includes marigolds, liatrus, anthurium, Queen Anne’s lace, solidago, and thistle.

Ranunculus courtesy of fiftyflowers.com

Lisianthus

Lotus seed pods

Winter Flowers

Even though it seems that nothing would grow in winter, there are lots of options for colder weather weddings. Ranunculus, lisianthus, and kangaroo paw are beautiful floral additions. Winter seasonal designs also lend themselves to evergreens such as pine needles or holly leaves, berries such as holly or hypericum, and dried elements such as pine cones or lotus seed pods.

Once you’ve decided on a wedding date, set up a time to talk to your florist. We encourage engaged couples to email us photos and/or links to their vision boards before their appointment so we are prepared with pricing, but it also allows us to come up with creative ideas to share that fit a couple’s vision. Go into your florist appointment with an open mind. We often have ideas that are just perfect for your special day that you haven’t thought of yet…after all, this is what we are passionate about, and we love making your special day as magical as possible!

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Most of my friends and I were getting married in the late 80’s and early 90’s. We were still pretty focused on traditional weddings, not a unique wedding. Dad gave away the bride, most of us had adorable kids as flower girls and ring bearers, and we all made sure our bridesmaids wore hideous dresses. In fact, Trevor was the ring bearer in one of my best friend’s wedding, along with the daughter of another good friend. All these years later, it seems almost prophetic that he owns a flower shop that specializes in helping to create special and unique weddings for happy couples!

As I was watching the Royal Wedding last month, the image of Meghan Markle walking down the aisle–poised, smiling, graceful, at ease with herself…and solo–was surprising and incredibly inspiring. In that moment, she defined herself, her marriage, and her future role. She showed so many little girls that you can have the fairy tale wedding, be the princess, without giving up any of your own strength and identity. Wow! Who knew weddings could say so much? I realized that is exactly why weddings are so very special now.

Dogs in Weddings

I wondered what unique wedding ideas couples are coming up with to express themselves and their life.  One of my friends got married recently at the beach, which is not so unique anymore. They included their rescue dog, Addy, which sounded like a very unique wedding idea to me! After a quick Google search, I realized that more and more couples include their dogs. Dogs serve as ring bearers and flower girls, or just sit quietly next to the bride and groom during the ceremony. Even if the dog isn’t part of the ceremony, a lot of couples include their dog in their wedding day photos–another valued family member! Do you need a flower collar or leash for your dog? We can certainly help you!

Cats in Weddings

For every dog lover out there, there is also a cat lover. Yes, cats are part of weddings and wedding photos as well! I once had a cat trained to a harness and leash. She walked on a leash like my dogs. I guess it’s not such a far-fetched idea!

Walking the Bride Down the Aisle

I remember seeing a story a couple of years ago about the father of the bride stopping mid-walk to grab the bride’s stepfather so that both men could walk their daughter down the aisle. Just as families evolve so are the rules for who walks the bride down the aisle. Like Meghan Markle, some brides walk down the aisle by themselves. According to Loverly, for those brides whose fathers have passed away or who just don’t like the idea of being “given away,” there are lots of unique wedding alternatives! Mothers, brothers, and best friends are all walking brides down the aisle. Ceremonies are clearly becoming a representation of the people that are important in a couple’s life.

Mixed-Gender Wedding Parties

Years ago, one of my best friends from college got married married, and he wanted me in his wedding. At the time, a woman serving as a groomsman wasn’t a thing so his Bride asked me to be one of her bridesmaids. That was such a special gesture on her part! Today, the traditional gender roles are being thrown out so women are on the groom’s side and men are on the bride’s side. The concept of sitting on the bride’s side or the groom’s side is also being thrown out. Guests sit wherever they would like–supporting the couple.

Alternative Ceremonies

We just recently met with a couple who are having a handfasting at a beautiful wooden pergola in Algonkian Park. A handfasting “is an old Pagan custom, dating back to the time of the ancient Celts. Today, Wiccans and Pagans have embraced handfasting as a part of their wedding ceremony. The hands of the couple are clasped and fastened together with a cord or cords. The wrapping of the cord forms an infinity symbol. The handfasting knot that is tied is a symbolic representation of oneness between the couple. In a show of unity, they become bound to each other.” The beautiful rustic pergola is a perfect backdrop for this ceremony.

Realizing the Vision

We’re doing a wedding this fall for a couple who are taking rustic to a whole new level. The groom likes to hunt so the whole wedding revolves around a hunting theme. They are including pine cone boutonnieres, bouquets made with all sorts of fun textures and muted natural colors, centerpieces that sit on split logs, and the mother of the bride is even hanging fake pelts in the restrooms! We are excited to help them make their vision a reality!

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