The making of silk wedding bouquets...

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Rosey

I Suck Cuz I'm Banned
Feb 20, 2003
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Hi ya Members;
A lady came in and asked for her bouquets to be made from silk/everlating, articfical flowers.....and wanted them to look real!!! wow, how the heck can I do this???? no silk flower i have ever seen looks real. really we do not get alot of requests for silk wedding bouquets for the bride, maids, etc.....

What would you more experienced florists tell me, what type of bouquet holders would you use and materials, I alreadyhave mine picked up and out, but I can change that pretty fast if need be.
Thanks for your time.....any suggestions will be fine!

Rosey
 
We've never been big on silk either, but when we used to be into it more we had one wholesaler that had quite reallike silks. They were top dollar too, I'll tell ya. I think they can be found, but you'll have to do a lot of shopping at your wholesalers. Don't know your area, but around here there are wholesalers galore. Thought about suggesting the Internet, but it would be very difficult to tell how real loking they will really end up being just by a picture. Hopefully some florists on here will have an actual wholesaler to send you to. I would even try retail places. A couple retail places around here have excellent prices and very nice silks. It's hit and miss though. Good luck!:cool:
 
Thanks Lady Biker.
BY the way my husband has been driving Harley's for over 30 years!!!! He normally likes the older bikes, but....any bike will do when it comes down to having one!
Nice to see you as well on these boards, sometimes in this little province of mine, people are soooo **** opinionated! about what others do on thier off time.......I gather no one says alot to you, for being a bike rider and a florist????? thats the way they are here in Atlantic Canada, all about how you look, how much money you make and who you know.......IT has nothing to do with who you are inside as a person unfortunatly!!!!
anyhow...love to chat to you about our past time.......
About the silk bouquets, did you use the bouquet holders for your silks? I know some florists do not, they wrap the stems, but no I. Anyhow just looking for some suggestions that is all. Maybe soem tricks of the trade from the better more qualified florists out there. as I do not have alot of experience, I am going on my 4th year this summer.
Hope to hear back from you.
Rosey
 
Depending on style I wil use the artificial bouquet holder for silk. IT is rare that we have people asking for silk flowers for wedding, maybe one in a blue moon.
Anyway I look at it this way, Why have your wedding bouquet to keep later to collect dust and eventually to throw out. That is why pictures are for.
I am quite romantic guy but there is things I just don't understand,
Like Lady said, there is nice silk flowers that are real looking and are nicely price and if that is what they want charge accordingly. THe best thing is that you can do it ahead of time in your spare time and get it over with.
Luc
 
I have purchased from Sullivan's and they have spectacular silks. Ivy, foliages, grasses, all permanent in perfect harmony with nature. Check them out at www.sullivangift.com
Pricey but well worth the money for the looks.
 
I believe this person wants silk, because she thinks silk is less expensive!!! and they last longer!!!! she wants to keep them.

All I can do is my best, I do find it difficult to get silk flowers to look real, maybe I'll spray some rose water on them!!!

Whatever works I guess.

Rosey
 
Flowers & motorcycles. What a combination!

Rosey,
I always used bouquet holders when doing silk. Yes, people ask if silk is cheaper trying to save a buck. We do not have anything silk in our store, mostly because we don't like them and just do not make time to do some silk arrangements.

We have some silks on hand, and use them occasionally. We really need to make time to get them out. Nothing bothers me more than inventory sitting around not out front where it can be seen and purchased by customers. (I'm always digging in the basement and nooks and cranny's for things I can make up and put out to sell)

About bike's and stuff: No one around here cares in the least what we do. We're in a blue collar city and everyone works hard for their money. Not much judging going on here. Actually lots of bikers and old hippies come into our shop. My husband works here too and he gets into lots of converstions with them along with me. We are in a Christian Motorcycle Club/Ministry and pass our cards out a lot. We have a clubhouse nearby that offers a place to hang out that is alcohol and drug free and lots of friendly (and very cool I might add :D ) people to socialize and/or ride with. We have a pool table and a pinball machine. We are in the process of getting a big screen TV for Friday night movie night. We love to ride. This Saturday is out monthly chapter ride upto Frankenmuth. Oh, that's a place about an hour and a half north of us. home of the world famous Bronner's. (World's largest Christmas store)

Anyway, glad to see more biker florist's on here. I am learning to ride for myself as soon as the weather says warm for more than a day at a time without raining. The rest of this week looks like a good time for it. My husband just got his first Harley last November. He just got it back from a stage 1 upgrade and adding and changing things as he calls "personalizing" it. I'm like, "Whatever"! I will be learning on his Honda that is only two summers old. His Harley is a 2003 Black Road King with hard saddlebags and the Honda is a 1998 (new out of the box in July 2001) avocado 1100 Shadow Aero. It's big for me and I am very nervous about learning on something so big and heavy and cumbersome. But it is what I have available, so I'm gonna try.

Thanks for being so friendly and inquiring.

Patty:cool:
 
Hi Patty
You are more than welcome..and a big thanks to you as well for your reply....I started on a dirt bike, wiped out, "raining & gravel" 2 enemies of the road!! anyhow I needed quite a few stiches but was no where near health authorities, so we wrapped her up, i still have the scar from the exhaust pipe burning to far into my leg, could have been worse i guess...
Is there anyway you can start on something smaller and that weighs less, etc.....? as Patty it is real important to learn how to drive properally. ..I guess you know what you are doing, I am the worry wort type.....sorry, caught myself....

ok time to run, good luck with the lessons, send me a photo pdf.style if and when you get a chance.

Rosey posey :D
 
Rosey,
Not sure what you mean by pdf.style photo. I know very little about files and photos relating to the computer. Anyway I have a website I did for fun youcan check out if you want. It's
http://deadhippie.tripod.com/pattyswebsite/

I think on the links page you can go to my husband's website and see the bikes somewhere.

I don't know how I would learn on anything smaller. Iam nervous about the size, but my husband thinks I will do fine. hope so!

Patty:cool:
 
Hi Rosey,
I'll just add two comments about silk weddings.

Re design, If I have to do an artificial bouquet, I always try to get some movement into the bouquet, either with grasses, Ivy, soft floiage or anything to make some natural movement as the bride carries the bouquet. To my eye that makes it look far more natural.
Re cost: Several times I have done comparison pricing for a wedding order, just for my own information. One silk, the other fresh. It is amazing to me that on the bottom line they are very close. The time factor is about the same and the mechanicals (bouquet holders, ribbon, etc.) are the same for either kind of bouquet. When it comes to the actual flowers, I was surprised to find that they priced out very similar per bloom whether fresh or artificial.
Once I had done that several times, I felt very comfortable explaining it to my prospective brides and so now I rarely have to do an artifical wedding. :>
After all, it isn't an artificial marriage, ...is it?;)
Hope my thoughts are of some use to you.
Jane
 
Country Jane
What a great reply!
Welcome to the board, I am assuming you are new here, have not noticed your name until recently.
You are right, about the cost per bloom. I thought myself, that the artifical were less expensive, but from this past experiencem they are not, and you have to use more of them, as the blooms are normally smaller, the smaller ones are actually more rela life looking then the larger blooms, common sense to the eye i suppose.
In regards to time, I personally find that all the hot glueing etc..is a pain in the but, the sproule bouquet holders were terrible to use, hard to put togeather, the foam was not good at all, as the flowers ( if not glued in) would definitley fall out, and the whole situation, was not at all, welll....i would much rather design with the au natural', to say the least.
I am going to use your line about price comparison, to let them see things in another light.
This is why we take photo's of things, cause the real flowers do not last long but, they are so much nicer for sure...............

Thanks very much for your reply, Looking forward to chatting with you more on the boards.

Cheers,
Rosey:)
 
interesting about the pricing.There is a silk wholesale place out here that has the most realistic silks that I have ever seen. They have an actual floral dept in there store where they have designers making up flower arrangments just like we florists do. But I have to tell you the prices are not even close to what fresh costs. It's more like 3 to 4 times more expensive than fresh. I never have a problem when a customer comes in asking about the pricing. I just get out the book and show them the prices.

Jim
 
Jim
Is this "place" American? I would love to see the books/catalogues they have!! Do u have an name for this wholesale store?
Waiting to hear back from you...
Rosey
 
I have done a lot of silks over the years, and at least a couple silk wedding bouquets a year. I actually found I liked doing a bride's bouquet in silk because you could do it weeks ahead, they are easier to deliver and you can get another sale out of it if you offer to create a coffee table arrangement or wall hanging out of the wedding flowers after the wedding. You can even sell a container to go along with it.

Don't apologize for the pricing... either they want it or they don't. Just say, this is what it costs. You may be able to get discounted materials, but there is a little more labor in the way of taping and gluing.

To make them as realistic as possible, add some natural materials like glycerin treated leaves (galyx or magnolia make a great background for silks in a bouquet, or use myrtle for foliage filler), colorful dried flowers etc. I like what someone else said about giving them movement, that is a great idea. You can even spice it up with some trailing bead sprays and very nice ribbons. Use green sheet moss, rather than spanish moss, to cover your foam. I think whether you use a bouquet holder or not depends on the customer's preference... if she wants a hand-tied look, that is easy enough, just wrap some stems individually so they look natural.

If you would really prefer NOT to do silk wedding bouquets, just tell the customer you don't do it, that you only create wedding flowers in fresh. You are better off being honest with her than doing it and disappointing a customer because your heart wasn't in it.
Good luck!
 
Actually I have created grapevine wreathes from bridal bouquets here. They bring them in after the fact, I dry them and make a wreath...it's a very nice sale also. They realize they will turn to dust eventually, but then so do silk (in a way). One bride of ours had her Dad make a shadow box to fit the dimensions of the wreath...it was a lovely looking keepsake as well.

I can't remember the last time I did an artificial bouquet...once they realize the price isn't that much different they decide to go fresh...it's all in the selling as well.

I will offer to do silk if there are severe allergies in the bridal party.
 
Rosey,

The place is called Silk Gardens. They are in Santa Rosa CA.
Phone is 707-578-0215
The place is huge. They have nearly every kind of silk flower imaginable and they make their own trees etc. It was pretty interesting watching them do a tree.
Give them a call, I'm sure they will send you a catalogue (sp?)

Jim
 
Thanks very much, I am very interested in checking into this... I will post an reply again, once I get a cat., thanks again for your replies.
Rosey
 
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