Silk wedding flowers?

Allie444

Active Member
Apr 21, 2007
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Fullerton, California, United States
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Ca
I had to make a broach bouquet for a bride last month and it got me thinking about new business ideas. I am thinking about setting up a website to sell the Broach bouquets and thought it might be good to include a few other items. So I was wondering what percentage of brides are using silk bouquets these days?
Since I am in So Cal where flowers are so inexpensive and plentiful everyone uses real but I am thinking this may not be the case in other areas....

Here is the bouquet I made.I had more fun with it than anything I have made in years and it was very rewarding to make art that doesn't disappear(die :( ) in a few days.flower allie boach bouquet.jpg oops don't know how the other picture got there or how to remove it>>>
 

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I haven't had a silk wedding in 3 or so years. I did have a bride in yesterday that requested a quote in fresh and silk, she just cant stand the thought of spending that kind of money for something that will die. We'll see which one she chooses after I get the quote worked up. I just think fresh flowers add something to every event that silk just can't touch.
 
Allie, I must say that's one of the first broach bouquets I've seen that I really like. Even something like that shows the difference between DIY and an artist.

When I did weddings, I would have to guess that the percentage of silk ones must have been 1% or less. Every couple of years. I DID however have several moms or aunts or cousins approach me to fix things that they were not happy with on the flowers they did for their daughter/niece/cousin in silk.

The beauty in your concept just may be that you can ship anywhere, it could open a whole new world of possibilities. I actually love doing silk weddings and will gladly do them because I can do them when I have extra time.
 
We have had 2 here in the last 3 years. I have done some silk/fresh hybrids for brides. I looked into doing them and putting them online at like eBay or the likes but I can't touch those prices with the silk we use. I have no idea how they do it, they must either buy the entire truck or not charge any mark up what so ever.

But if it was an extension of your site you may have better luck, no competition :)
 
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Up to last year I averaged 35 to 40 silk weddings a year, this last year I have done about 8. Mainly thistles and heathers or black and white. Use decent flowers and put them on your website, you could be pleasantly surprised

Whoa! I don't think I've done that many silk weddings in my lifetime! I wonder if it has anything to do with your country although it seems to me you do a lot in silk at your shop anyway.
 
Yes I do an awful lot with artificial flowers, both for weddings and also displays for the home,
Besides the full wedding orders I also sell an awful lot of just wedding bouquets with a couple of buttonholes, many of these bouquets have gone to the USA, Canada, Australia and into Europe.
I have approx 25% of the shop just for silks, these consist of home displays priced from £15 to £145 and also various cemetry displays from small posy dishes at £8 up to cemetry pots at £25 - £35.
I also sell lots of silk corsages for bags/jackets & wrist bracelets.
I started to make and sell fascinators last year, and these have been very popular, so seeing these brooch bouquets are giving me more ideas, thank you

edited to add: Just realised my avatar shows part of the silks area in my shop
 
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We have very few requests for silk. I find that the the vast majority of brides interested in silk weddings are DIY brides and we do sometimes sell them the silks and have special ordered a couple of times. IMO, the brides that don't want to spend money on real flowers because they "die" don't really value flowers much at all and don't appreciate how much flowers enhance the wedding. What in the world do you do with wedding flowers after the wedding anyway? Also, quality silks can actually cost more than fresh flowers do.....

There may be some special circumstances where silks are more practical: an outdoor wedding in the winter, a remote location where it may be difficult to transport fresh flowers, etc.

By the way....BEAUTIFUL bouquet!!!