Purple Dahlia and Pink Rose Wedding

It's been a few weeks since we did this wedding - I forgot how pretty it was!

The bride's bouquet featured purple and violet dahlias and roses of all types - standard, garden, and spray varieties.

There was also some gorgeous light pink bouvardia in the market that week, and a few hints of raspberry dianthus underneath it all.

In a mixed bouquet there are usually one or two stars and the rest are backup singers. But never underestimate the power of a great backup singer or secondary flower!

I know people are apt to refer to them as filler, but they are more than that. They are supporting players - sometimes structurally, quite literally supporting another beautiful but perhaps week stemmed bloom, but more often than not, they are there to support the diva blossom visually by providing a solid note of color or texture beneath it.

Can you see in this shot how the star in the maids' bouquets is the bright pink nerine? That's the more spikey flower. The rest of the flowers are very similar to the bride's but the nerine is the standout here, while the roses and dahlias play a supporting role.

Diva status in a bloom isn't limited to the uber fancy or the mega-expensive. Often the flower that commands the bouquet is defined by it's context within the bouquet.

Kind of fun thinking about flowers as divas and backup singers!

Last, but by no means least, we have a small clutch nosegay for one of the moms. A little more understated, after all, mom is in the supporting role on a bride's wedding day!

Garden Roses

Pretty!

That is all.

Two Brides, Two Bouquets

We recently had a wedding with two brides. Only one had her outfit at our meeting and the wedding was only a few short weeks away, so I was trying to get a feel for whether they were going for a matching look or two different looks, and was told unequivocally that they were definitely NOT going to match. Wish I could repeat exactly what was said, because it was hysterical, but some might take offense!

So, non-matching bouquets it was! One bride had a more tailored gown and really loved callas. So we kept her bouquet simple with mini callas and white dendrobium orchids.

Glassy dark green ti leaf collar and variegated lily grass loops to finish it off.

Our other bride had a strong preference for all things girly and feminine, so hydrangeas, garden roses, dahlias, and freesia fit the bill.

And just so there would be one small element tying the two looks together, we gave her lily grass as well, but tied it in little love knots!

Recycled - AIFD Symposium

This wasn't a huge trend, but a smaller one that I spotted at last month's Institute of American Floral Designers annual symposium. Recycled.

This network of white loops is made from the plastic strapping that comes around cases of flowers - how cool is that?! I never would have thought to repurpose that stuff. I'm always trying to scoop it off the floor before someone trips on it!


Next up - a sphere made from those same cases of flowers - in some of my other pictures of this piece, you can see the writing on the boxes. Most flower shops get a lot of cardboard. This is a super creative way to deal with it.


And what about this pair of floral arrangements? You're probably thinking it's the pedestals that are made out of recycled materials. Well, you'd be wrong! Look very closely at the top half, the flower portion - see that tan stuff that looks like it might be bark or some kind of honeycomb...?


Well, here it is up close - more packing materials! This honeycomb paper is used to pack some kinds of fragile items for shipping. LOVE this! It's great to recycle, but it has to work as a design element too, and this certainly does. I can't think of any floral item that would do what this brown paper did in the arrangement.

Recycle - Rethink!

Floral Accessories

We've been giving a lot of thought lately to the corsage, especially as it pertains to mother of the bride corsage. More and more moms have been opting out of them and choosing instead to hold a small nosegay or to even forgo flowers altogether.

We think that's a shame, especially as there are some other delightful options!

This sweet little brooch might be short on flowers but is long on style! What's not to love about a dainty dragonfly with the most delicate of flower accents?

A duo of orchids with accents of variegated lily grass and grevillea foliage, is made all the more charming with a sparkly oval of rhinestones. More like a great piece of jewelry and less like your standard corsage, this would be a great accent to any outfit.

This is my favorite! I definitely don't think of myself as a pearl person, but I took this one home and wore it out several times over the course of the week. (keeping it sealed in a plastic bag in the fridge)

This piece can be worn in the hair...which I did repeatedly...

...but it's equally at home on the shoulder. This is a look that is both modern and vintage at the same time. It's really less about being a corsage than it is about being an adornment to complement an entire look.

A flirty, feathery hairpiece...

...although there's no reason this couldn't be done without a comb so it could be worn on a dress.

So it's definitely time to rethink the corsage! What do you think? Would you wear these looks, would your mom?!

Spreading the Worcester Love!

Someone loves us!

We had a sneak attack by Free Art Worcester last week and found this piece of "508" art in our shrubs out front - YEAH!

We love Free Art Worcester's mission to make works from reclaimed and recycled materials and to distribute the power of art by sharing them with the community in an Easter egg hunt-like fashion around the city. Such fun!

Worcester, count yourself lucky to have Free Art, who loves you right back!

Wedding FAQ's

Can you save my wedding date?
To book Sprout, we require a non-refundable deposit of $200 and a signed contract. We do not hold dates without a deposit and contract - first come, first served.

Can I skip the Quick Quote?
You may certainly skip the Quick Quote step if you have booked us with a non-refundable deposit and signed contract.

Do you do evening or Sunday appointments?
Other commitments prevent us from doing appointments outside our normal business hours. To check our hours please call the shop or go to our web site (heck you're probably there right now!) at www.sprout-flowers.com.

Will Sprout travel for our wedding?
Of course! Our delivery fees are by the hour and based on travel time.