Succulent and Blush Wedding

I consider these wedding flowers to be LUSCIOUS, which means richly appealing. very physically attractive. I’m always glad when my brides have such good taste and choose such gorgeous flowers. Here’s a little of my process and photos of the luscious flowers.

First, I consulted with the bride and showed her several combinations of blush and succulents we could use. These are the flowers she chose, although we left out the baby’s breath. There is a beautiful sage succulent with pink tips, smaller sage succulents, a lovely blush ranunculus  and white peonies and hydrangeas. I found a fantastic rustic fern and boxwood which the bride loved as much as I did. I’m glad she let me use it.

I spend a lot of time preparing. I wire and wrap each silk flower. I always have some of my favorite vases and containers at hand and I put the wired flowers in vases. (There’s an NPR mug from my son’s Make a Wish.) I love having the flowers all lined up and it gives me inspiration as I contemplate the designs.

 

This photo shows the flowers as they are on the bushes when I buy them and then after I take them apart and individually wire them. The succulents are the hardest faux flower to use in bouquets. The stems are thick and hard to bend. I cut off most of the stem and create a new stem with floral wire. I use 26 gauge wire and anchor it through the leaves of the succulent.

I keep adding wire until it will support the plant and keep its shape.

This photo shows how much I have to bend the stems. It’s very tricky using succulents with such a floppy flower as a hydrangea. Especially when you are trying to get the perfect curve on a the top of a nosegay.

 

Here is the finished bride’s bouquet.  Luscious white and green with a touch of pink. This was difficult bouquet to make, but I was quite pleased with it.

 

 

And here are the rest of the wedding flowers.

When I finish all the flowers, I like to group them together for a family photo. It makes me happy to see them all together. Plus, it gives me a record of what I’ve done for future order.