Thursday, April 25, 2013

Texas Wildflowers...Not


Did we mention it is booking season? Lots and lots of inquiries have been headed in our direction and we absolutely love it! Wedding flowers are our thing, but the best part of designing wedding flowers is that we get to tell a story - and that story begins with meeting the bride and groom and getting to know them. This is the creative part of the process and, honestly, a good part of the fun for us. We really enjoy getting to meet so many fun, awesome couples. This is what really gets us excited about making their wedding flowers something truly special!

Unfortunately, however, not everything about this process is picture perfect. We love when brides/grooms have a vision, but hate it when we have to squash their dream. This is especially true when we're talking about expectation to budget ratio. At least in this case, we can work with couples to help them create the wedding of their dreams but in a way that works within their budget. Some things, however, we just can't do anything about and that includes making particular flowers materialize.

We are in Texas and people here love their Texas wildflowers. We totally get it. We love them too. But guess what? Real Texas wildflowers don't exist for commercial use; they are simply not commercially grown. You should see the faces of the brides and grooms who have their hearts set on Texas wildflowers and are forced to hear this sad news.

So here's the deal...Texas wildflowers don't survive for long when they are cut; they are completely dependent upon the weather and they are not meant to be wedding flowers. So when brides and grooms ask us about bluebonnets, we have to say no. But what we can suggest is giving bluebonnet seed packets as favors or incorporating the essence of bluebonnets into the wedding in other ways, such as using a beautiful bluebonnet broach/pin for the handle of the bride's bouquet. One of our bride's mother even handmade gorgeous napkins out of wildlflower printed fabric. We can also mimic the look of wildflowers, by making loosely gathered, casual bouquets with pops of color.

Beyond Texas wildflowers, here are some other flowers that fall into the "no" category...

Magnolia. Most photos of magnolia bouquets are actually silk/artificial. I was lucky enough that my grandmother, like many others in the south, had a gorgeous magnolia tree in her front yard. The blooms were beautiful on the tree, but as many times as I tried I was never able to get a bloom to last for more than a few minutes once it was cut.

Wisteria. Sorry Twilight fans! I know that the use of wisteria in the wedding of Edward and Bella caused quite a stir and we have since been asked many, many times about using wisteria. And we have to say no. Wisteria, like wildflowers and magnolia, is meant to be enjoyed in its natural state and environment. Once it is cut from this natural state, it just doesn't make it.

Luckily, even though these few flowers are not available, we have tons of gorgeous varieties that are available and we're happy to help you make the best selections for you!
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