Silk Bouquets

Outside of holiday work permanent botanicals have not been something I spend enough time showing here on florissimo. Time to change that.
Silk and dried flowers of course have their place in interior decorating but are generally only thought of in bridal work only in relation to being more cost effective. Unless you are buying low end silk blooms prices are very comparable. In my opinion permanent elements must be chosen even more carefully than their fresh counterparts, in wedding photography there will be close up shots of the flowers and inferior quality blooms just don't show well.
  Top - A cascade bouquet of; roses, ranunculus, mini hydrangea, maidenhair fern, hops and pearl strands. In the modern cascade movement is key.
Middle - A clutch of peach roses, spray roses, ranunculus and seashells (photo by Rachel Bader.)
Bottom - A lily-of-the-valley bouquet.
  There's nothing wrong with wanting to have and hold your bouquet forever, I just suggest going to your design professional first.

stealing from friends

A few weeks ago (not sure how long exactly, been a busy summer) I ordered flowers for a bridal show while I was working on a 4 wedding weekend. Of course the brides come first, so when the flowers came in for the show I looked at what I ordered and thought to myself "my God, what have I done." After I calmed down I realized I saw several of my brilliant florist friends in the selection of flowers. The designs are not copies of their work, but their influence is hard to deny. 1st is a clutch bouquet inspired by Arthur Williams, owner of Babylon Floral (a genius with texture, visit his site, he's an experience.) The bouquet is of; grevellia, orange magic roses, lantana and succulents. A petal ready flower girl basket made of wire, and a Jr. bouquet of lantana. Next a clutch of pink garden  roses and dusty pink spray roses with a few support pieces (a beautifully scented crowd pleaser.) Next a cascade bouquet inspired by Frankie Peltiere and Beth O'Riley (God bless bless 'em.) A lush, floor dragging bouquet of; Mambo lilies, Sweetness roses, calycina and cymbidium orchids attached to wire (totally knocked ' em out, thanks guys!") The last 2 images are inspired by Hitomi Gilliam, a river cane structure  built on a stand given to me by Frankie, here used as an altar piece (or truth be told a stop here piece.) 7 ft. of river cane, lantana, free spirit roses, with birds of paradise lashed to the structure. Thank you my friends, this presentation killed.

Nataleigh Reuter

Natalie Reuter, my last June bride this year and a fine way to end the month. Looking absolutely flawless in 100+ heat carrying a bouquet of the beloved David Austin garden roses, lavender Ocean Song and peach Osiana. A romantic bouquet of roses with a scent that can only be described by with words like ooooh and mmm. It seems to be a natural reaction to close one's eyes while experiencing this.

hot pink

1st - a bridal bouquet of: hot lady roses, spray roses and garden roses collared with cymbidium orchids. 2nd - maid of honor bouquet of spray roses and cymbidiums. 3rd - monobotanical bridesmaids bouquets of roses and spray roses. 4th - a simple pew marker of carnations and calycina. Photos 2, 3 and 4 by Rachel Bader.

narcissus

A pretty take on the all white bouquet: polar star roses, ranunculus, and wonderfully fragrant paper whites. Carrying white will always be in.

smells like free spirit

The amazing free spirit rose paired with buplerum. With an extremely high petal count this rose opens beautifully, has a lovely light rose scent and colors that move from peach to orange to hot pink. The light green buplerum accents not only the color, but the ruffles of the spirits as well, just a great rose.

Jennifer Huynh 2

Some great professional pics of Jennifer Huynh from Brewer Photography. Black magic roses and stephanotis in the bouquet. Thanks for sharing! Find them at http://www.brewerphoto.com/

roses and alstroemeria

Ivory vandella roses and alstroemeria with pearl accents.

roses and lantana

I noticed the lantana blooming outside of the shop and thought it would make a pretty accent flower in bridal bouquets. Top: hot pink roses, pink stock and lavender lantana. Bottom: lavender roses and lantana.

Myla Manalo

One of the hardest parts of writing for this blog (aside from my poor grammar) is coming up with adjectives for how beautiful these girls are on their day. I won't even try this time. Myla Manalo carrying a bouquet of roses in yellow, salmon, coral and hot pink. On the handle is her grandmother's rosary. This was my first experience with a Philippino wedding and the feeling of family unity was amazing.

black baccarat

Velvety Black Baccarat roses.

black magic

Lush black magic roses with bouvardia.

roses and callas

A simple, beautiful, clutch bouquet of white roses and eggplant calla lilies.I seem to have an affinity for using just a few elements so you really get to see the beauty of both flowers.