The Citizen, 2005-02-10, Page 38fBcmfi p&ax cHaice f£<Ma£ deAi^nei eady,
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Selecting flowers can be a daunting task for brides. Experts
recommend starting with pictures.
By Bonnie Gropp
Citizen editor
For something so beautiful,
selecting the flowers and
arrangements for your wedding can
be a surprisingly daunting
task.
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“Many people seem a little
intimidated when choosing their
flowers.” said florist Luann Taylor.
“1 often recommend that they come
in around Mother’s Day when
there’s plenty of stock in so they can
see the many possible colour
combinations.”
Taylor said she has found that only
half of the people who have
consulted her for their weddings
came in with a clear idea of what
they want. "The other 50 per cent
don't have anything specific in
mind, not colour, not the type of
flower or bouquet.
Perhaps making the process no
less challenging is the variety. "The
thing with flowers is that pretty
much everything is available," said
Tracy Meurs, who has operated a
flower shop for 11 years.
"There is so much that we can get
all year round, a huge range
of Howers from roses to gerbera
daisies. The industry has done
a great job of seeing the
trends."
The popular choices come from
the many bridal books available and
from pictures of celebrity weddings,
said Taylor.
"The gerbera daisies arc very
popular right now. And the trend is
currently for the hand-held bouquet,
rather than the cascading or
presentation."
She also adds that fresh flowers
are used for 99.5 per cent of her
clients. They are about 20 per cent
less cost than artificial.
With so many things to consider,
the first thing to take care of is
booking your florist. Meurs suggests
making the initial contact as soon as
possible.
"I suggest touching base and
booking, but not making any
decisions until four or five months
before the wedding. Styles and
minds change."
If they also require the designer to
decorate, however, Taylor
recommends six months to give
them the opportunity to locate
items.
When the actual consultation
begins both Meurs and Taylor
recommend bringing in books and
magazines with examples of things
you like. “If they have done their
homework it can save time,” said
Taylor.
“It gives the designer a head start
on style and colours. It gets my
imagination going.” says Meurs.
Know’ing the theme is important
and. of course, material swatches of
the bridal party’s attire arc
essential.
Also, there is budget to consider.
“What can make this difficult is
when they come in with a magazine
and show me a picture of a bouquet
with 500 stems of lily of the valley.
Sure they can have it, if they want to
pay $2,000 for their bouquet.
Some of these are unrealistic
for most brides,” says
Meurs.
When this happens, “we have to
pull things out of different examples
and work with the bride to try and
stay within her budget."
"Basically once we know the
theme, the colours and the budget
we can tell what they're wanting,”
says Taylor.
Also required is a list of all the
flowers that will be needed
including the corsages and
boutonnieres. In the case of the
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knowing the dress colour is not a big
concern. “Even if we have the
colour the week before that's fine."
says Meurs. “Also we can do a lot of
neutrals that will suit anything.”
As with most aspects of the
wedding the Howers should be a
reflection of the bridal couple. Their
beauty dominates throughout the
day.
“The thing is that the flowers you
choose are very much a part of the
day. They are prominent in the
photographs so you want to spend
the time to make sure they’re
perfect.” says Meurs.
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The Citizen. Weddings 2005. Page 13.