Twigs & Berries Wedding

[Lady Biker Florist]

I'm doing a wedding Sept 20th for a girl who came to us because she goes to our church and just wants to use us. She is at college across the state and very relaxed and aloof about the whole thing. I just talked with her on the phone the most I've talked with her at all. This wedding could be described as a twigs and berries type of wedding. Her main flowers are dahlias and hypericum. Adding curly willow tips, striped lily grass for ears and wrapping, seeded euc, and bear grass.

We don't do this kind of thing much but I am confident and experienced so that usually gets the job accomplished. Thus my questions:

1) Any helpful hints while using dahlias? I am using cream for bride's bo-k, reddish orange for the girls bo-k's and wedding party bout's and orange for the moms and dads bouts and cors.

2) Anything I should know when adding hypericum to a bout? Or to the bo-k's? I know, you'd think in my 28 years of doing this I'd know this already!

3) Any suggestions on other interesting greenery I could use? The girls dresses are a burnt orange/rust type of color.

4) Any links to good pics with twigs and berries in a wedding bouquet?

5) Any advice on added details or accessories?

6) Lastly, what other kind of twigs are there you can use in a wedding bo-k other than curly willow tips?

Thanks for being here - weddings these days are sure not what they used to be. You people inspire me to break out of my rut you know - I'm so routine it's truly pathetic! LOL

T-H-A-N-K-S

 

[IggyFlowers]

1) Any helpful hints while using dahlias? I am using cream for bride's bo-k, reddish orange for the girls bo-k's and wedding party bout's and orange for the moms and dads bouts and cors.

I don't do anything special for dahlias, just handtied usually. Check to make sure the ivory are going to be the same size as the colors... earlier this spring my whites came in tiny and tight.

2) Anything I should know when adding hypericum to a bout? Or to the bo-k's? I know, you'd think in my 28 years of doing this I'd know this already!

I usually glue in the hypericum, easy and quick. For hantied boq's just add as you would the other flowers. You could take off the low lats to use for the bouts and that would leave longer stems for the boqs.

3) Any suggestions on other interesting greenery I could use? The girls dresses are a burnt orange/rust type of color.

Maybe preserved leaves? (I know not greeen)


4) Any links to good pics with twigs and berries in a wedding bouquet?

Will look

5) Any advice on added details or accessories?

Small cones glued in or acorns
6) Lastly, what other kind of twigs are there you can use in a wedding bo-k other than curly willow tips?

Iggy......

 

[twiggy]

I'm doing a wedding Sept 20th for a girl who came to us because she goes to our church and just wants to use us. She is at college across the state and very relaxed and aloof about the whole thing. I just talked with her on the phone the most I've talked with her at all. This wedding could be described as a twigs and berries type of wedding. Her main flowers are dahlias and hypericum. Adding curly willow tips, striped lily grass for ears and wrapping, seeded euc, and bear grass.

We don't do this kind of thing much but I am confident and experienced so that usually gets the job accomplished. Thus my questions:

1) Any helpful hints while using dahlias? I am using cream for bride's bo-k, reddish orange for the girls bo-k's and wedding party bout's and orange for the moms and dads bouts and cors. I'm using them this weekend! just hydrate them and spray them with a finishing spray too.

2) Anything I should know when adding hypericum to a bout? Or to the bo-k's? I know, you'd think in my 28 years of doing this I'd know this already! I would use Iggy's tip

3) Any suggestions on other interesting greenery I could use? The girls dresses are a burnt orange/rust type of color. seeded eucalyptus, millet..grasses

4) Any links to good pics with twigs and berries in a wedding bouquet?If you can have a peek at any of Paula Pryke's books, she usually has one or two bouquets with those kind of things..

5) Any advice on added details or accessories?

6) Lastly, what other kind of twigs are there you can use in a wedding bo-k other than curly willow tips?what about vines? you could use honeysuckle and strip some of the leaves which would leave you with a wonderfully flexable element to work with.

Thanks for being here - weddings these days are sure not what they used to be. You people inspire me to break out of my rut you know - I'm so routine it's truly pathetic! LOL

T-H-A-N-K-S

I'm sure you'll be inspired when you get started!

 

[shannonlovesflowers]

So we do lots of nuts and twigs and berries wedding in Durango.

The first picture is actually a bouquet I did in fresh and then Bliss preserved it for me.
It contains atriplex, and crocosmia, which I think you might like very much in your wedding.

The next 2 are both the same arrangement, just different angles. I used sweet huck. I LOVE this bouquet. I put sheet moss for the handle treatment and then bark wrapped wire over the moss to keep it in place.

Both bouquets are 100% handtied, but the second one I made an armature first, then I made my bouquet.

 

[shannonlovesflowers]

OK Patty:

The following is a list of stuff I love to use in these types of weddings...

Grevelia

Cotinus aka smoke bush

Lophomyrtus aka crimson myrtle (love this stuff)

Eximia foliage

Millet

Photinia

Pin oak

Burgundy Ti leaves

Vine maple

See the branches in the bottom of this bubble bowl.. Well that's vine maple. I stripped all the leaves off to make the kubari. It's such a pretty color too.

If I misspelled anything..sorry
I hope this helps. If I can help any more, just ask..

 

[njgraham]

You could use Leucodendron as a "green". Also, can you get any red dogwood twig right now in Michigan? I'd even consider cutting some blueberry twigs and stripping the leaves. They have a good concentration of tiny branches. Maybe you could take a walk in the woods and do some wild harvesting. Adding silver sage as a green may give you some nice contrast. (Someone else mentioned preserved leaves, but I'm always concerned about using them in a bouquet as they can bleed the color off onto the dress.) Oh, blue thistle might be a nice sort of twiggy-themed addition and the unusual blue would play nicely off of the orange.

I just returned from a quick visit to Michigan, my home state. It is so beautiful right now!

 

[Patty]

Hi other Patty!
I love to use croton foliage with this color scheme. Also red or green amaranthus and artemesia. You'll have fun with this--we call them granola girls. I enjoy all the texture.
Patty

 

[Tuberose]

I LOVE Nandina for these types of bouquets, esp later on when the foliage turns, I also love coneflower and you use just the center of the flower, this rusty orange spikey thing, lots of texture. I'm big on the Leucodendron, use it year around, if you can get the fresh lotus pods those are cool too. You could use birch twigs for that twiggy look but they aren't as pliable as the Curly willow when it's just been picked. There's also brown cosmos, fern curls and different shades of the hypericum berry. If you get the hypericum and it's fresh the foliage is fine, but if it's not great my advice is to stip all the foliage, it goes bad pretty quick, but the berries stay good for awhile longer. I love these kinds of bouquets, just my colors!

Trish

 

[Kristine]

I could ship you bittersweet or kiwi vine. [I Have more bittersweet than kiwi.] Some of it is all twisty. the whole bush is out of control and in need of a good trimming.

I can check on the red os. dog wood. Not sure how much I could trim.

Is the Eastern market still going or any local farmers markets selling some local grown products?

How about sedum, birch leaves, plume celosia

 

[fatcatflowers]

hey shannon loves flowers - really pretty bouquets!

 

[Beth]

Shannon,

I particularly love the 2nd one... what awesome rich colors!

 

[una luna]

With your being in Mich., you should have a healthy supply of Oak and Maple leaves, those shapes and colors would be great!!

 

[Lady Biker Florist]

Please know I'm reading all your replies and working as fast as I can to figure out what I am doing. With this bride being so lackadaisical about everything it's really getting to me.

Thanks so very much for all your input!!!!

Kristine, with the time element involved shipping will not work, but thanks so much for your thoughtfulness.

 

[shannonlovesflowers]

Please know I'm reading all your replies and working as fast as I can to figure out what I am doing. With this bride being so lackadaisical about everything it's really getting to me.

Thanks so very much for all your input!!!!

Kristine, with the time element involved shipping will not work, but thanks so much for your thoughtfulness.

I thought your wedding wasn't until sept 20th...

 

[greatflowerlady]

Here is a summer bride I used twigs and berries~

 

[urbanfloral]

Shanon I LOVE that second bouquet. Warpping it in the sheet moss really brings it all together! Way to go!
And good luck Lady Biker, I dont have any advice that hasnt already been said.

 

[Beth]

I feel so badly. Every time I read the title of this thread, I have to giggle. Twig and berries has another meaning... you guys all know that, right? I know, I'm bad. LOL

 

[Lucy's Garden]

I love these weddings. Being in Boulder, Colorado, half of the brides we meet say, "I just want a bunch of wildflowers, and it should look like I went out into the mountains and picked them myself!" The added textural elements turn it into something a little more interesting for me as the designer. Lots of good ideas here with the materials, and I suggest, like someone else, stripping all of the foliage off the hypericum. We've also been using a lot of viburnum berry (the blue variety- the red smells like rotten feet to me lately. Don't know what that's all about) and birch works really well as an armature if you're so inclined.
As far as the dahlias go- we've been using them as boutonnires and corsages (against our better judgment, I'd say- it's been a brutally hot summer) with good success by paring them down a bit. We pluck off petals 'till they're a good manageable size, and then literally dip them in Crowning Glory. We've even done some with tiny little birch 'armatures' for such weddings, too, which has the added benefit giving some more support to any petals that may want to droop. Have to give these a good base of foliage, though, otherwise they get kind of uncomfortable.
I think some Dusty Miller or other such colored foliage would be a striking addition against the dresses, as someone else said I think.
Shannon- gorgeous bouquets! Love the moss wrap. Very cool.
Have fun!

 

[njgraham]

I keep thinking about this bouquet because I love this kind of request. I sure wouldn't stress over it. Isn't it great that she is so laid back about it? You can do whatever you want and be creative ... or are you worried she won't like it? Anyway, another idea, if its become available yet, is Pepperberry. Great for dangling. Chinaberry too. Have fun!

PS: What about using cooper wire to make swirly tendrils....

 

[Palms]

i have put a couple of rustic type bouquets i did. little tip, i bought a bag of pot pouri and then wired the tiny little cones and included them. it was a very subtle touch but really did work well. Hope these are the right pics i chose.