The Best Flowers For a Fall Wedding

By Sophia Rodriguez

If you wish to know which flowers are the best flowers for a fall wedding, you are not alone.

While summer weddings are still the most popular, fall is right behind it as the best time to get married. Bride to be`s love the colors of fall, the ideal temperate weather that fall brings and the possibilities that a fall theme offers.

Fall wedding flowers are vibrant, stylish and equally masculine and feminine. The blend of reds, oranges, yellows, copper, rust, burgundy and brown are irresistible.

Here is a list of the most popular fall wedding flowers: roses, daisies calla lilies gerberas sunflowers

The reason that roses are the best flowers for a fall wedding is that roses come in a magnificent range of fall colors ranging from pure golden yellow, bright orange, dark burgundy to two toned chocolate brown roses and confetti roses with their lemon hue tinged with orange tips.

The variety of fall roses is stunning and roses are the number one flower that represents romance, therefore, it is ideal for a fall wedding. Modern bouquet styles such as the handheld rose bouquet with stems showing and the smaller all rose posy are surefire hits at a fall wedding.

Daisies come in many colors, many of them suited for fall. Burgundy, rust, yellow and orange daisies can be used in combination with other flowers in bridal bouquets. They can be used for corsages and boutonnieres, in centerpieces and in church arrangements.

Calla lilies are a popular choice of blooms for weddings. They are classy, elegant and easy to work with when making handheld bouquets. For bouquets, avoid the white ones and go for dramatic burgundy, yellow, orange and brown callas. Callas come in regular large sizes and in miniature sizes.

Depending on the size and preference of the bride, it may be more suitable to purchase small callas in larger numbers such as 12 to 15. For the large type of callas more than 8 or 9 is ridiculously huge for a bridal bouquet. Don`t choose smaller callas for the price though as they are the same price as the larger ones in most parts of the country.

Gerberas are also a preferred choice of blooms for fall weddings (and any other season of weddings actually). These versatile beauties come in yellows, oranges, peach, reds and burgundy and in many other colors in between.

You can use the large gerberas in wedding bouquets, arrangements and centerpieces while the smaller gerberas are perfect for corsages, boutonnieres and cake flowers.

Sunflowers are also a great choice of flowers for a fall wedding. They now come in a variety of hues and shapes such as yellows, oranges and bronze with single or double blooms, however the classic yellow sunflower is still the most popular and long lasting type of sunflower. Sunflowers also work great in handheld bouquets with the stems showing.

To add texture and variety to your fall bouquets, consider adding berries such as hypericum berries, pepper berries, rose hips or viburnum berries.

Fall foliage such as oak leaves and beech leaves also enhance the look of harvest bouquets. From pittosporum greens to preserved maple leaves, yellow variegated ivy and seeded eucalyptus, fall greens add class to elegant fall wedding bouquets.

Last but not least, consider using autumn accessories for your bouquets or centerpieces. Possible accents to enhance your fall blooms include wheat, rye,cattails, fruit such as apples, pumpkins and pomegranates, raffia or gourds. Hollowed out pumpkins make wonderful centerpieces when filled with fall bouquets.

Unleash Your Inner Florist: How to Make Wedding & Special Event Flowers covers all flowers for your wedding. Http://www.howtoweddingflowers.com

The more you make yourself, the more you will save and most importantly, you won`t have to skimp on flowers at your wedding. Be surrounded by flowers on your wedding day...the guests don`t have to know how much you saved!

Follow along every step of the way and learn how to make wedding bouquets, centerpieces corsages and more the easy, cheap and right way. You can get the paper copy of Unleash Your Inner Florist on Amazon or order it as an ebook for $19.99 and be reading it in just a few minutes. http://www.howtoweddingflowers.com

FAQ'S About Centerpieces

Article by Sophia Rodriguez
Image from https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5pVIZKAnbEZJUqacRV619RsB6KamDV4VtUGo-ivbvkeOn9uA2p6Jb_3nzgJchJykqYBPv3zkDvk0dKj5SNNg63N_Wo5en6eqp7hZsR2hEWZc-GuR51_7-y5mC6j7NU_ovvaUrZkNlNVU/

If you have questions about centerpieces for your wedding and want to know what is appropriate, you are not alone.

As a wedding florist in a busy flower shop for 15 years, I noticed that many brides were unsure about what types of flowers and combinations of flowers and candles or other accent were better for centerpieces and wanted to know what was appropriate.

Here are some of the most popular questions that kept coming up:

We wanted to use candles and vases to keep centerpiece cost down. Can you give me ideas on inexpensive and pretty centerpieces?

Many options are available to you. You could put some decorative stones or river rocks in your colors in a low bowl type vase, add water and then put floating candles in the bowls. You could float a few daisy heads in low, wide bowls, and then use some inexpensive votive holders for candles around the flower bowl. The main vase will be the most expensive part of this; however, you should be able to rent them from almost any rental service. Mirrors under the centerpiece bowls can also be rented and used to reflect candle light from floating candles.

Balloons also make great budget friendly centerpieces. Use 3 to 5 eleven inch balloons tied at different levels and attached to either a water base covered with material in your colors or attach the balloons to a theme or wedding related object. Just make sure the object is heavy enough to hold down the balloons. Balloons need to be done on the morning of the wedding therefore, you will need to assign a responsible person to this task.

Our colors are navy and white. I have no idea what to do for centerpieces. I want something cheap but nice and unique. Do you have any ideas?

You could use shallow round bowls. Use food coloring to turn the water blue and use white floating candles. You could also use cobalt blue vases or bowls with white stones and floating white flowers with a touch of greenery to add contrast and make the centerpieces look more natural. Daisies would be the most inexpensive flower to use, followed by carnations.

Are candles allowed in reception halls?

Check with your venue as to whether they allow candles, many do not allow candles due to insurance costs and liability in case of fire. In our city, they ask us to go to the fi re hall with an example of the centerpiece we will be using to get it approved. Every municipality and hall will have different rules. If you are not allowed candles but still would like to have the romantic ambiance created by the use of candles, you can use LED candles or other type of battery operated candles to cast a soft glow on your centerpiece. Glow sticks can also be used to create a dreamy glow, just make sure to conceal the source of the light to preserve the mystery.

I really like arrangements with fruit in them like slices of lime or lemon. Is it a good idea to combine fruit with flowers?

Adding fruit to your floral arrangements is a simple way to add color and visual interest to your centerpieces. The only problem with this is that fruit secretes toxic ethylene gases. The best way around this is to prepare your flowers separately and to add the fruit at the last minute. If you are using uncut fruit such as a full lime or lemon, the amount of gas expelled will be minimal. However, as soon as you cut the fruit, lots of gases will be expelled. So if your arrangement includes cut fruit, make sure to put the fruit together with the flowers only on the morning of the event to avoid flower damage from the ethylene gas.

If you want more ideas and want to learn how to make centerpieces the easy, cheap and right way, get my book called: Unleash Your Inner Florist: How to Make Wedding & Special Event Flowers. This easy to follow guidebook will save you hundreds of dollars on your wedding flowers. You can get the paper copy for only $24.99 on Amazon or Barnes & Noble or order it as an ebook for $19.99 and be reading it in just a few minutes. Click here for more info: http://www.howtoweddingflowers.com

Fresh Or Fake Homemade Wedding Flowers? How To Select And Care For Wedding Flowers At Home

By Sophia Rodriguez

If you want homemade flowers for your wedding but are not too sure how to make or select them, this article will set you off on the right track. Learn how to select and care for wedding flowers at home, then find out how to get the exact instructions that will guide you every step of the way into making your own perfectly fresh bouquets for your wedding.

Maybe you want to make wedding flowers, corsages, bouquets or centerpieces for your sister's wedding or your best friend's wedding. Let me show you how you can present flowers that will look perfect throughout the wedding day, even if you make the bouquets days in advance.

How can I make sure that my flowers will still look perfect by the time my event starts?

On the day of your special event, your first goal, when it comes to your wedding or special event flowers, should be to have your flowers be in prime condition, fully opened and fresh for the whole duration of the event. This requires special care and handling of the flowers every step of the way: from buying or picking them to arranging them, to packaging and transporting them to the event site. If you have selected artificial flowers for your special event, much less care is necessary however the result are not as stunning.

Is there any special care that I need to keep in mind when selecting and caring for artificial flowers?

When buying artificial flowers, the most important thing you can do is to choose the most realistic looking flowers you can find. In storage, make sure not to squash the flowers; stand them up in buckets or vases or lay them flat. Once you have arranged them into bouquets, corsages or arrangements, you need to package them in a way so as not to squash or harm the flowers in any way. Also, you will want to store them away from bright sunshine to avoid losing the bright colors of your silk flowers. When taking them out of their storage area a few days before your special event, you will need to fluff out your bows and reshape any bent or squashed flowers.

What are the steps that I need to take to make sure that my fresh flowers will be just perfectly opened for my special event?

Here is how and when to select flowers in the right stage to have them be at their prime on your special day:

1) Plan to get your flowers about 2-3 days in advance of your planned flower design day. For example if you are gathering with your bridesmaids on the Thursday night to prepare the flowers for your Saturday wedding, you will want to obtain your flowers on Tuesday. This will give you plenty of time to process your flowers and to make sure that you have everything required for the creation of your special event or wedding flowers.

2) Keep in mind that depending on the flowers chosen, some flowers, like lilies and roses, may need up to one week to open fully. For your special day, the flowers such as hydrangeas and daisies will look the same as when you bought them. I would not trust a sidewalk flower vendor to guarantee you freshness on your special day. Buy from a reliable source of fresh flowers.

3) For best results and the freshest flowers on your special day, process your flowers as soon as you get them.

4) Be careful not to put too many flowers in the same container when you are storing them for curing. Overcrowded vases cause damage to flowers once they open fully. Lilies are especially sensitive to bruising and breakage.

Do you want a complete plan of what flowers to buy when, how to process them and how to transform them into beautiful wedding bouquets, centerpieces and corsages? It's all in this one book that you can either buy from Amazon or you can just download it here. The book's name is: Unleash Your Inner Florist: How to Make Wedding And Special Event Flowers. Click here to get more information and to download. http://www.howtoweddingflowers.com

Don't be disappointed with droopy flowers and bouquets that fall apart as you are walking down the aisle. Prevent any floral disaster, get the book and follow the step by step instructions! http://www.howtoweddingflowers.com

Best Fundraising With Flowers: Ideas and Inspiration

by Sophia Rodriguez http://www.howtoweddingflowers.com

Are you wondering which way is the best to do fundraising with flowers?

This article will give you ideas and attempt to inspire you to hold a fundraiser with flowers instead of with the obvious chocolate. People are on diets a lot now and they would much prefer buying flowers than something that could add inches to their waistline... anyways, that's how I feel. How about you?

Whether you are hosting or in the committee for a graduation, a sports event, a dancing recital or a community play, flowers are a great way to raise money for your cause.

But what should you sell and what is possible when most members of a committee are not florists.

Here are some ideas to get you thinking...

1) Long stem roses or carnations:

The simplest idea is to sell individually wrapped long stem roses or carnations in different colors. Use cello to wrap the flowers or buy single flower sleeves from your local florist.

Wrap each rose or carnation with one leaf of leather fern and perhaps, one tikki foliage as well. Add curling ribbon for the final touch. You can color coordinate the ribbon with the color of your team or the theme color of the night.

You will be able to charge double your cost or more no problem for a great profit margin when selling wrapped roses and carnations that are ideal to give to any participant of the sport, play or graduation you are celebrating.

2) Corsages or Simple boutonnieres:

This floral option for fundraising is perfect if you are hosting a graduation or a Christmas dance at a high school. Boutonnieres are perfect to sell for girls to buy for their dates and wrist corsages are ideal for young men to buy for their sweethearts to wear.

The most popular floral item for the young women to wear is the wrist corsage. Since most of the girls will be wearing strapless, spaghetti-strapped or sheer material dresses, a pin on corsage would not work.

Therefore, you can focus your fundraiser on wristlets for ladies and boutonnieres for young men. Since the new trend is to match the boys and the girls flowers, feature choices in pairs to encourage the sale of both flowers for the girls and for the boys.

Create an advertisement that will feature say 3-6 choices for young men and women. Start taking orders 2 weeks in advance with a cutoff date of say 3 days before the prom to give you a chance to get well organized.

Popular flowers are mini (or sweetheart) roses, regular roses, dendrobium orchids, alstromeria lilies and other small flowers such as daisies, carnations and chrysanthemums.

Learn how to make boutonnieres and corsages to make loads of profit for your charity or school. Making these floral items in an assembly line at a flower pitch in get together is highly feasible, can be lots of fun and best of all it will make a lot of money for your cause.

Consider that a boutonniere will cost $1.50-$2.50 each to make and can sell for $6 easy. A wrist corsage will cost between $4-5 but can sell for $12-$15 no problem.

Learn step by step how to make flowers for fundraising, for weddings and all special events. Click here for more info: http://www.howtoweddingflowers.com

Making Flowers For Your Wedding: 10 Steps To Hosting Productive Assembling Party

By Sophia Rodriguez

If you are wanting to make your own flowers for your wedding, you can be so much more productive if you enlist the help of your most important allies such as your bridal party, mothers, cousins, aunts or other special friends. Even though you will be together on the special day, that day is usually fast paced and filled with excitement.

Quality time spent with family and friends before the event or the wedding while assembling the flowers will be remembered as some of your most precious memories.

Enlisting their help will make them feel special and they will glow with pride along with you when the compliments start flowing at the event.

Items that are perfect candidates for Pitch-in Parties

1) Favors 2) Invitations 2) Centerpieces 3) Bouquets 4) Body Flowers such as boutonnieres and corsages 5) Wrapped Flowers 6) Hand-Tied Bouquets 7) Vase Bouquets How to Organize your Gang

Step 1 Select a date early enough before people get booked up. For example, if you want to make your flowers on June 14, pre-book the pitch-in party as early as March. Remind your group every month by email, perhaps with a newsletter about the progress of the event planning, then two weeks before and one week before. If you are planning on making all the flowers in one day, set up your get together as an all-day event so you can get as much accomplished as possible.

Step 2 Send out official invitations by mail a month in advance. Depending on the crowd, you might want to ask guests to bring a dish to share. If it is a wedding pitch-in party, you might want to ask people to bring a picture of themselves with their wedding bouquet so that the get together gives everyone a chance to reminisce about their wedding and inspire your wedding creations.

Step 3 Decide which items you want to make. If making centerpieces, make one sample in advance in order to give your helpers a clear idea of your vision. If making bridal bouquets and corsages, cake flowers or other floral items, have cut out pictures ready and accessible to show to your helpers. Having a concrete example of what you want will be most helpful in ensuring you get what you want.

Step 4 Start purchasing materials and supplies months in advance to take advantage of good deals and also, to make sure that you are not missing anything on the day of your Pitch-in Party. Keep your supplies list with you and check off items as you find them.

Step 5 Free a set of shelves in the garage or in a spare bedroom to stash your supplies. Tape a copy of your master list to the shelf and check off items as you purchase and store them.

Step 6 If you are hosting a pitch-in party to create fresh floral bouquets, buy your fresh flowers and process as per instructions in Chapter 1, about 4-5 days before your pitch in party.

Step 7 Set up stations for each project. In order to give everyone plenty of room to work in, put stations in various rooms on the main floor or spread out in an open basement or garage. Stock each work area with ample materials and supplies (scissors, glue guns).

Step 8 Organize and distribute tasks on paper before the big day. For example, Aunt Giz, and cousins Camie and Lise will make the centerpieces while Lynne, Sophie and Veronika will make the wedding flowers. Have instructions written out to give your helpers a clear idea of their task at hand. The more precautions you take in planning for your pitch-in party, the better results you will have.

Step 9 Before everyone gets there, set up each station with necessary flowers, containers and supplies. Once your helpers arrive, set them up at their station and make sure they understand their task and are comfortable with it. Also, do double check that they have everything at hand.

Step 10 Take breaks for lunch and snacks and to regroup so that everyone knows how things are doing. Play uplifting, fun music in the background. Thank everyone with a little gift to show your appreciation for their help.

For complete instructions and ingredient lists to make centerpieces, bouquets, corsages and more, click here: How To Make Wedding Flowers
http://www.howtoweddingflowers.com

How to Pick Your Own Flowers For Your Wedding

By Sophia Rodriguez

Do you want to pick your own flowers for your wedding? If so, you either want to pick your flowers to save money or to display your talents as a green thumb gardener.

The good news is that you can grow your own flowers or pick them from the garden of a relative or friend who grows beautiful flowers and use these blooms to embellish your wedding day.

Many precautions should be taken if you choose this option and this article will guide you through this adventure. I will not go into the whole growing aspect of the blooms for your wedding.

Depending on where you live and how long your growing season will determine which flowers you will be able to grow. Many books and online sites go into the growing care and maintenance of flowers suitable for weddings such as roses.

As for the picking when the time comes, you will want to plan to pick your flowers the day before the wedding or at most 2 days before the special event. The time of day is a major factor as to when you will want to pick the flowers.

The morning hours, between 9-10 am is ideal, just after the dew has dried but before the sun is too strong. You don't want to pick them after a rain since they will be too wet and won't be at their best. You don't want to pick them close to noon or in the hot afternoon sun. They will be dehydrated and not last their longest.

Make sure the blooms and foliage that you pick are at their best; that they are free of insect holes and look healthy, vibrant and beautiful. Researching your type of flower for lasting quality and specific care would be recommended.

It's a great idea to carry a container of lukewarm water to the garden so that you can place the stems in the water immediately as you cut them.

It would be wise to test the type of flower you plan to use well in advance of the special day to avoid any surprises such as the stems or buds dropping within a few hours of cutting. If you are planning on cutting many flowers, bring more buckets or vases of water to place them in so that your fine picks will not get damaged by overcrowding.

Flowers should be picked in the advanced bud or almost mature stage. If you pick them when they are at their peak, they will be past their prime by the time you showcase them at your event.

To benefit future growth of the plant from which you are cutting from, cut your stem just above the nodes (where the leaf joins the main stem). This will allow the plant to keep producing well. Handle blooms quickly and try to only hold them by their stem so as not to damage them.

If you want to do more than pick fresh flowers...If you want to learn how to make flowers for all kinds of special occasions, check out this book: " Unleash Your Inner Florist" teaches how to make wedding flowers, special event flowers and everyday flowers. Learn from a florist and your bouquets will look super professional. Click Here: Unleash Your Inner Florist http://www.howtoweddingflowers.com

How to Make Artificial Flower Arrangements

by Sophia Rodriguez

How to make artificial flower arrangements is not much different than how to make fresh floral arrangements although the tools you will need to use are slightly different.

Of course,the fake material you will be working with is in one sense harder to work since it is harder and more difficult to make look good in an arrangement but in another sense it is much more forgiving and long lasting.

For example, you can easily bend stems to make the flower point in a specific direction with artificial flowers and an artificial arrangement will last many years with only a dusting now and then to help it maintain its beauty.

The tools you will require to make artificial arrangements can all be collected and kept in a simple basket or storage container.

First, you will need wire cutters. This is the most important tool you will use over and over again while making silk flower bouquets. They will help you cut down your flower stems to the proper size. If your flower stems are really thick and the wire is hard to cut, you will need side cutters. Dig around in the garage and odds are you will find these 2 essential tools to making floral arrangements.

Other tools you will need to make floral arrangements with artificial flowers are floral tape and wooden picks. You see, if your flowers are small and the stem is too flimsy, you can reinforce it by taping it to a wooden pick. Also, if you cut your stem too short, you can easily fix the problem by taping it to a long floral pick.

Dry or sahara foam is also essential in making artificial arrangements. This is the medium that you will be picking the stems and the wooden picks in. Floral foam allows for exact placement of flowers and helps easily create a balanced arrangement.

For wedding bouquets, there are many types of bouquet holders that you can use to create your bouquets. Make sure to select a holder that is designed for artificial flowers. My favorite is the styrofoam bouquet holder. This white foam inside a bouquet holder is ideal to make artificial wedding bouquets since it does not fall apart like the dry foam might. If you pull in and out your flowers in order to make corrections as to flower placement, styrofoam is much more forgiving than dry foam.

Glue is the final and essential component of working with artificial flowers. A glue gun with glue sticks will do the trick. For every stem you insert into the foam, you can secure the stem with a drop of glue at the connecting point on the foam. This is especially important when making wedding bouquets in which certain flowers will hang upside down.

If you want to learn how to make all types of bouquets with fresh and artificial flowers, read my book: Unleash Your Inner Florist. Follow along every step of the way and learn how to make mixed bouquets,wedding bouquets, centerpieces corsages and more the easy, cheap and right way. You can get the paper copy for only $24.99 or order it as an e-book for $19.99 and be reading it in just a few minutes.
http://www.howtoweddingflowers.com