Snowy Delivery to Forest Park Golf Club

We have had our share of unexpected weather here in St. Louis. Here are some winter-y shots of a wedding we delivered on March 26th. Strangely, the temperature a few days before this delivery was in the 70s and 80s. Take a look!



Here is our delivery van full of bright orange tulips. This reception was at Forest Park Golf Club and every table had vases of bright orange tulips. Thank goodness for the tulips! They served as a reminder that spring SHOULD be on the way!







Here are the walkways at the golf club. The freshly fallen snow really was pretty, even if it was unexpected.

Winter outside-spring inside!

:)

Such a Pretty Bouquet

Romantic, delicate and soft are all descriptions that we hear often from our brides when discussing their bouquets. Here is a bridal bouquet we designed that encompasses all three!

The ivory roses and white hydrangea tucks give this arrangement it's lush background. The white cymbidium orchids have a blush pink throat that perfectly accents the pink waxflower filler. We may be biased, but we think this bouquet takes the cake!

:)

Lily of the Valley- Silk vs Fresh

About a week ago, we did a bridal bouquet that included fresh and silk lily of the valley. We thought it would be a good follow-up for our last "Do the Math" segment on lily of the valley (affectionately abbreviated as LOV).


This bride agreed on including silk LOV instead of fresh to save on cost. Here are some snapshots of the all white and ivory bouquet with the silk included.

As an added bonus, the bride's mother, who came from out of town, was able to bring some blooming LOV from her garden. Here is what the delicate blooms look like up close.

We were able to add the fresh LOV to the silk and here is the result.

As you can see, it's hard to distinguish which blooms are fresh and which are silk. Even though we saw the bouquet in person, it's still difficult for us to pick out which is which. There were approximately 10 silk stems and 10-15 fresh stems of LOV in this bouquet. If the bride had purchased all fresh LOV for this bouquet, it would have added about $200-300--just for the lily of the valley. As an all silk accent the cost would have been drastically less expensive-- approximately $30-40 for the LOV. Normally, we would only recommend silks as a last resort for flowers that are out of season, but silk lily of the valley is a viable option for brides who really love it.

:)

Two of our new favorites- Stock and Dahlias

Two great textural flowers for bouquets are stock and dahlias. We LOVE to use them whenever we can. They both come in a variety of colors, making them easy to use with any most color schemes. Dahlias and stock really give an added interest to any bouquet because they are not typically thought of as traditional bouquet flowers.


First up: Stock

It has a strange name, but is a really versatile flower. We use it to bulk out a bouquet and give it some base. It is available all year round and has a sweet fragrance. It comes in purple, lavender, white, butter yellow, hot pink, and antique peach. Here are a couple of photos we pulled from the web of purple and white stock.

They are very full flowers that mimic the same texture as hydrangea. The following picture is of bridesmaids' bouquets that include hot pink stock. We did these arrangements in late spring/early summer and the colors really popped! The hot pink stock peeks out between the orange roses and dark pink filler.

Next up: Dahlias

These lush blooms are very interesting to work with. There are so many color varieties ranging from reds to oranges, shades of pinks and purples, yellows, and even whites and ivories. They are available most readily in late summer and fall, but have been known to pop up in early summer and as late as December. Again, dahlias are a great flower to give a bouquet some fullness and a unique texture quality. These dahlia photos show a wide variety of color and shape.

Dahlias are similar in size to gerber daisies, but are more round and full looking. Here is an example of how we used dahlias in a bridal bouquet. The burgundy blooms contrast in texture next to the roses, berries, sedum, and hydrangea, but the deep color blends well with it's surrounding flowers.

Just two suggestions when choosing wedding flowers. If you are looking for something a little more unusual to give your flowers a unique look, consider dahlias and/or stock. Both are cost effective and easy to incorporate!

:)

"Let's Do the Math"- Lily of the Valley

There are very few icons as timeless as Grace Kelly. Her sophisticated style has been used in everything from fashion to flowers for decades. Her wedding photo from 1956 pretty much says it all. Today, brides try to emulate this same elegance and sophistication, right down to the bouquet Grace carried. This simple, white clutch was all lily of the valley. It's a small, dainty flower that blooms from about May to June, but can be ordered from world-wide growers all throughout the year. The sweet smelling, bell-shaped flowers are staggered on each stem. The stems measure about 4-6 inches in height. You may have seen it growing in your neighbor's yard or in the park.

You may have also seen it in the celebrity weddings of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and Elizabeth Hurley. Though their bouquets are very elegant and understated, we assure you, the price was not. Because these flowers are so delicate, they are difficult to ship and, as a result, are extremely expensive. To use them as an accent in a bouquet is expensive enough, but having a bouquet made entirely of lily of the valley is pricey. Here's how to "Do the Math."

This handful of lily of the valley is approximately 50 stems and maybe 6-8 inches in diameter. This small bunch would retail for about $775- 850 in our market. It would take roughly 50% more stems to make Grace Kelly's bridal clutch and 3-4 times as many stems to replicate the size of Elizabeth Hurley or Carolyn Bessette Kennedy's bouquets. Knowing these stats, take a look at the following examples of lily of the valley clutches. Try to invision how many $700 handfuls it would take to construct these bouquets.

After this exercise of "Let's Do the Math" you can see that a substantial amount of stems are needed to craft even a medium-sized clutch of lily of the valley. Therefore, in most respects, a substantial price tag goes with it. We do have brides that use this bloom as simply an accent in their bouquets if they love it and want it or if it is sentimental to them. This can cut the cost considerably. Another popular option is to use silk lily of the valley as an accent with other fresh cut flowers. The silk is very realistic and most people who see the bouquet would assume the silk is fresh because the other flowers in the bouquet are fresh. It's an option to consider.

We strive to keep our readers and clients informed. In this case, simple and dainty doesn't always come with the price tag to match. At least when it comes to lily of the valley, you now know how to "Do the Math."

:)

Spring is in the Air!

Take a look at this yummy bridal bouquet. Coral roses, bright pink tulips, green hydrangea, berries and purple filler all remind us that spring is here! We had fun with this vibrant combo!

Orange, Blue and White at Cathedral Basilica and Mahler Ballroom

This mid-March wedding brought some bright color to the late winter weather. Orange and white flowers were seen at the Cathedral and the blue was pulled in at the reception. The bridesmaids' bouquets were white mini callas, orange ranunculus, and Lily grass accents. The bridal bouquet was orange roses, white mini callas with lily grass and crystal accents. The couple was very traditional and wanted a bright, full bouquet to place at the Mary statue in the Cathedral. At Mahler Ballroom, tall and short centerpieces were used to bring interest to the room. Both arrangements featured the oranges and whites from the ceremony and incorporated white birch branches and crystals with a touch of blue.

(Pin spotting and lighting by Exclusive Events)

Special thanks to Sara Grus Weddings for coordinating such an awesome day!

:)

All Tulip Bridal Bouquet

This very spring-y bridal bouquet was such a needed boost here at Sisters! We are all SO ready for spring and spring flowers! We used vibrant pink and white tulips accented with jade berries. So fresh and fun!

:)