Here’s the deal with the seasonality of flowers and what it affects. Whether I can get them or not. With the exception of roses around Valentine’s Day, I either can get a specific type of flower or I can’t. No matter the time of year, the same flower generally costs the same.

This is great for me in the sense that I always know what my general costs are going to be. I also know what to charge. We can set realistic expectations for couples who may want peony bouquets in the middle of September. I can’t just pay more and get them. They are either available or they are not.

If I try to get a flower that is at the very end or beginning of its season, I promise you don’t want this quality. They are going to either not be fully bloomed or be on the verge of death. In this regard, you absolutely want in-season flowers. You want that end of May/early June peony or that late September dahlia. And you want that Christmas-time amaryllis, but you want these for their quality and size. Not because of a measurable price difference.

So, when you meet with your floral designer, (hopefully us! Inquire here) the best course of action is to work to design the bouquets and/or centerpieces of your dreams. From there, if we need to get within budget, then we will either start by downsizing the bouquet or by replacing more expensive flowers with less expensive flowers. Less expensive flowers are ALWAYS less expensive flowers regardless of the time of year. Just the same as expensive flowers are ALWAYS expensive flowers.

Cheers,

Header + featured image photo: Niki Marie Photography

The post Selecting In-Season Flowers | Michigan Florist | Wedding Tips appeared first on All Grand Events + Florals.

White peony

It’s no surprise this beautiful bloom made this list.  A favorite of many clients + florists (including me) for its fluffiness and high petal count, the white peony is my top recommended white flower.  Unfortunately, it’s only available to floral designers from December – January and May – June (sometimes early July if we are lucky).  The Duchesse variety is your best bet for those Style Me Pretty-worthy blooms.  The best substitutes you’ll find for a white peony in its off-season are going to be a white garden rose for the petal count, or a white football mum for fluffiness, but honestly, neither really compare.

White snowflake spray roses

This is actually a pretty generic spray rose.  There are usually 3-4 blooms per stem, and they are nice and hardy.  They are about as close to a pure white flower as you’re going to get outside of a white sweet pea or white stock.  I prefer this variety over the more popular majolica because it’s actually white, and isn’t quite as floppy.  The majolicas have a beige undertone to them and would be much more suited for a wedding heavy in ivory, champagne, and taupe.  They also tend to blow open much faster than the snowflake spray roses, making them less than ideal for bouts.  Spray roses are ideal for stabilizing other flowers that may be less sturdy in a bouquet because of the multiple blooms per stem.

White ranunculus 

These are like little mini peonies.  They have a really high petal count, and the Cloony varieties are absolutely stunning.  The standard white ranunculus is available pretty much year-round. Not all ranunculus are created equal.  In order to make sure you get the absolute best blooms, we have to order extra. They also have relatively fragile stems making them hard to work within the foam and need stabilizing greens or other flowers around them in bouquets.  Despite some properties in common with peonies, they are not an actual substitute for a peony because they are much, much smaller. I generally recommend against using these in bouts because one hug and they are smashed, little goners.

White french tulips

Maureen white french tulips are gorgeous.  It can be a little scary when they arrive because they look yellow until they open, but once they open, they are amazing. They have nice big heads and rounded tops. I am a hater of pointy-top tulips. The only concern is that tulips are phototrophic, meaning they continue to grow after being cut. It is the craziest thing. We did a design with these white tulips last year. A tulip bouquet was ready to go and wrapped and had to un-wrap and pull the tulips back through in all of the bouquets. We then had to re-wrap the morning of the wedding because they had grown so noticeably!  As long as you know this, and plan for it, they are one to ask about!

White astilbe

If you follow us on Instagram, you already know the love I have for astilbe.  While not truly white (more ivory), it’s the texture is something I honestly believe can enhance almost any floral design.  It’s soft and looks good as an accent or by itself in a cluster.  If you are someone with the idea of using babies breath, please consider using white astilbe.  It’s not quite as cost-friendly as babies breath, but what it adds isn’t even comparable!

White snowberry

This is one of my absolute favorites, and it’s only available Sept-Oct. That seems pretty ideal, right September and October are really busy months for us, so we should be thankful that they are available during that time.  However, I’ve only had the opportunity to work with these once. They would honestly be perfect in a winter design, or spring/summer, but unfortunately, we can’t get them then. They are longer stems with clustered white berries on them. These types add so much interest and texture to a floral design without feeling heavy or taking any attention away from the focal blooms. If you are a Sept-Oct couple, you want this one because most people can’t use it!

White sweet pea

It’s actually white. The Japanese varieties are awesome. They add fluff and an interesting shape. The blooms are delicate with comparably sturdy stems so they are a florists’ dream.  The only downside is they aren’t super impactful flowers, but I love them too much to not include them on this list.

White + black anemone

Ok, it’s not just white, but it’s here because it’s awesome.  They are similar in fragility to ranunculus and pose the same challenges as far as needing to order extra to make sure you get your pick of the litter.  Many flowers open in the heat, then you put them in the cooler when they bloom to the point you want them to stall further opening.  Anemones are a bit different in that they close and open with cold and heat respectively over and over so you must make sure there is enough time in heat (I’m talking room temperature, not hot) to allow these blooms to open before use. They are pretty boring when closed, but are remarkable when they open.

I’d love to hear about your favorite white flower in the comments below. Would you consider using some of our favorites above To see these flowers in use, please visit the galleries on our newly redesigned website, or follow along on Instagram for the most up-to-date photos!

The post Favorite White Flowers | Michigan Florist | Tips appeared first on All Grand Events + Florals.

Have you ever wondered how a florist comes up with a bouquet shape The short answer may surprise you.

Shape.  It’s all about the shape of flowers.

If a bride can send me a photo of the general shape they are looking for then I can come up with the florals to achieve it.  A lot of brides get stuck on finding bouquets that look almost exactly like they want color-wise.  But I can create a bouquet in any combination of colors as long as I know the shape you are going for.

I am such a lucky Michigan floral designer in that all of my AGE brides let me do my thing.  It’s been years since I’ve had someone request I match a photo exactly (“Why fit in when you were born to stand out#8221; -Dr. Seuss).

There are a few design details I need to know, then my floral designer brain takes off.  In order of importance, I ask for these 5 details:

1) What shape are you going for?

2) What is your color scheme?

3) What is the percentage of colors that are relative to one another?

4) Are there any flowers you hate?

5) Bouquet wrap: tails or no tails?

And that’s it.

One thing you’ll notice is I don’t ever ask for a list of flowers.  For one thing, I’ve seen way too many incorrect “bouquet breakdowns” on various forms of social media.  I’ve had brides come in with a list of flowers and their list didn’t come remotely close to the flowers needed to design their dream bouquet. Secondly, if you want someone to just recreate a bouquet for you, just about any florist can do that.  Coming to us as an East Lansing florist and floral designer means you love our work, which in turn, means you’ve loved the creative freedom we’ve been allowed all these years to design these remarkable bridal bouquets.

Cheers,

Header photo credit: Allie Siarto & Co. Photography

The post The Shape of Bouquets | Wedding Florist Detroit appeared first on All Grand Events + Florals.