One of the many things I LOVE about weddings today is the opportunity that I have to combine flowers and colours in ways that would have not be even considered just a few short years ago.

Recently, I had the wonderful pleasure of creating Stephanie and Rocco’s wedding flowers.  Their desire was to have reflected in the visuals a tribute their Asian and Italian backgrounds while expressing their modern sensibilities.

Liberty Grand was the elegant backdrop for this deep ruby red colour scheme brought to life with burgundy carnations and tulips combined with roses and gerberas in deep reds clustered together and accenting with ruby crystals for a modern yet striking effect.

As a fellow carnation lover (a confession I made a little while back), it was a thrilling opportunity to show carnations designed in high style and to make obvious that carnations are no longer the flower of old fashioned arrangements.

Crystal Accented Branched Ceremony Arrangements at Liberty Grand

Modern Wedding Centerpiece of Burgundy Carnations, Roses and Gerberas

What has always been popular and will only become more so with all that is going on “out there” is considering and attempting to DIY the whole wedding or at least parts where the cost in the savings seems to outweigh the time and the effort of doing it yourself.

Out of the all the floral items that a bride-to-be might consider doing herself is the Centerpiece.

Its significance revolves around the fact that its multiples, whether it’s an intimate wedding of 5 tables or a large event of 50 tables affects the budget the most significantly.

Depending on a couple’s expectations for the wedding in general, DIY is not always a practical consideration. For instance, large tree-like centerpieces with branching and candles is probably best left to a professional.

However, I think for those who “budget” is the operative word before the word wedding, at least attempting DIY would make sense.

The simple equation is that the savings needs to be greater than the time in effort, thought and legwork. And the reality is that it’ll probably take more time that you think.

Here are a few thoughts to keep in mind when considering any type of DIY:

• Choose a simple idea. Making flower arrangements without experience or taking Martha’s word for it that you can make that rose tiered wedding cake is a stress you won’t want the week of the wedding.
• Buy a sample of everything before purchasing your set quantity. You may find that your first idea may not work out the way you originally thought.
• Practice before you make the real ones. A couple of trial runs so that making them is not one more stress on a long list of items before the wedding day
• Plan for adequate transportation. The logistics are always the last thing to be considered when perhaps they should be the first.

When a client tells me that they will attempt to DIY the centerpieces, I understand the reasons why. I also know they there have also be equally as many instances, when I end up making it for them,  because depending on the situation, it doesn’t end up being the great savings that it appeared to be.

As a wedding florist I have always considered myself to be the one whose primary role it is to bring together the visual part of the wedding so anything that falls into this framework (such as linens and décor) I have always considered within my domain.

While there is no better or classic way to bring the “life” and “fresh” element to a wedding, the look of a wedding is more than just the petals and the stems.

While some ideas are trends that pass within a single season, there are those that come and permanently change the way the visual element of the wedding is presented.

These elements in the linens and décor.

Once reserved for only the most exclusive of weddings that we might see featured in a celebrity magazine that details hundreds yards of cashmir that were flown in to cover a tent and tables covered with finest of silk taffetas in the most divine of colours, today this look and feel is available to any couple planning a wedding.

For most in the past, “upgrading” meant perhaps changing up the linens from the standard polyester in white or ivory to a brocade or damask in a similar neutral tone and switching out the existing chairs for chivaris.

Now regardless of budget, linens to the floor and at least a basic chair cover to finish the look seems to be the norm. What is becoming increasingly more common is the decision to use linens and décor as a way to completely change the look and feel of a wedding.

They can used to enhance a set colour scheme and bring to the table the colours that perhaps nature does not provide many if any flowers for such as chocolate brown or robin’s egg blue.  

From full tablecloths and napkins, to satin chair wraps and tone on tone embroidered organza overlays, these additional elements that are available in a myriad of colours and textures are simple but wonderful ways to add that added dimension to a wedding day.

The “WOW” factor of a wedding is that sometimes element that seems illusive.

It appears possible only for the weddings with the unlimited budgets that allow for flower arrangements that attempt to reach the tops of the ceilings in a banquet hall and are so full that they seem unattainable by most planning a wedding.

Yet if you look at all of flowers in these weddings they all contain a crucial ingredient that without it would take away that wonderful element of intimacy and warmth.

It is the simple candle and it comes in many forms.

• Votives
• Floating
• Pillared
• Novetly

They are made in an endless array of colours, sizes and shapes.

When combined thoughtfully into clusters or scattered naturally throughout an open space.  Candlelight makes the simplest spaces come to life with shimmering glow.