The wonderful thing about your wedding flowers is that they can either be in your theme colors or compliment those colors. The important thing is that you like your wedding flowers and you won't wind up sneezing during your wedding ceremony.
Your wedding flowers can include centerpieces to match the bridal bouquet to some degree; the choice is completely up to you. However, as a general rule, follow or compliment your theme colors to set the wedding flowers off against the wedding decorations. All red roses on a red tablecloth will not photograph as well as a mix of wedding flowers containing white and light greys and blues.
To help you determine various hues and color shades for wedding flowers and foliage, there is on online color wheel that you can play using this color wheel wizard.
1. Roses
2. Tulips
3. Peonies
4. Freesia
5. Gerbera
In addition, consider the season your wedding will be held when choosing your wedding flowers. Local flowers are acclimated to the weather and are the best choices, not only because of their sturdiness, but also because they can be readily adapted to your theme.
1. For the bridal bouquet, you will want a minimum of 30 fresh flowers.
2. Lay them out on newspaper and strip them of any thorns and leaves on the stems.
3. Cut the stems at an angle to the length you want. Some brides prefer to have stems showing with a ribbon wound around to hold the wedding flowers together, while others prefer more of a nosegay, handle-held wedding flower arrangement with no stems.
4. Put your wedding flowers in a bucket of water for about an hour to let them absorb as much water as they can.
5. Pick out four flowers to create your center. Holding them in one hand, begin adding the other wedding flowers around the center set to create a dome. Some brides stand in front of a mirror while doing this so that they can see the effect of how the wedding flowers are coming together in a way that doesn't obscure important aspects of their wedding dress.
6. Take one large and wide rubber band to secure the wedding flowers where you have been holding them. Wind the rubber band down toward the bottom of their stems.
7. Now the fun part! Using floral tape or ribbon, go back to the starting point of the rubber band and wind down again. Wired fabric ribbon works very well and comes in a variety of styles and colors.
8. Once you have the coverage you want of the stems, take a few hat pins to secure the ribbon in place. The ends of the ribbon can be cut and tucked, or tied to leave "tails."
9. To keep your wedding flowers fresher longer and prior to the wedding ceremony, keep their stems in warm water as long as possible. About an hour before the ceremony, take your wedding flowers and bridal bouquet out of the water, dry their stems, wrap in tissue paper and put them in the refrigerator.
