Style Round Up- Bouquets 2022

Color came back to wedding bouquets this year! It brought so much joy into my little studio. Don’t get me wrong- I love a beautiful neutral/blush palette but I find myself ordering the same flowers over and over. With this year’s color combos, my floral cooler was a brand new kaleidoscope every week. Here are just a few of my favorite bouquets from 2022 in no particular order (with flowers identified for you).

This all pink bouquet has ranunculus, roses, spray roses, astilbe and baby’s breath.

Shades of pink from blush to vibrant.

This was my last rescheduled wedding from 2020 and the bride originally thought she wanted all white. By the time we got to 2022, she decided to add in rust and peach. And she loved how the colors tuned out!

Peach ranunculus, freesia, rust mums, hypericum berries, Coffee Break roses and waxflower.

There are so few natural blue flowers, but the ones we do have are beautiful! Hydrangea, delphinium, thistle, and baby blue eucalyptus.

With just enough cream and white to make the true blue pop- snapdragons, callas, and spray roses.

This bouquet feels like Fall in the Flint Hills- burnt orange spray roses, Toffee and Quicksand roses, Agonis grass, pampas grass, leucodendron, and astrantia.

This bouquet is the perfect example of mixing fall colors with lots of texture.

All the colors of Spring! A true rainbow with Coral Charm peonies, larkspur, delphinium, craspedia, butterfly ranunculus, lavender spray roses, feverfew, Kahala roses, sword fern and yellow stock.

It wouldn’t be a Kansas summer without a sunflower bouquet. This one has burgundy dahlias, mums and roses, viking mums, solidago, and Italian ruscus sprayed gold.

I love using local flowers when I can and sunflowers are easily available here in late summer.

This combination of blush and cream flowers- mostly roses- is pure and classic for any wedding. Tried and true!

Blush pink roses, cream roses, white ranunculus, larkspur, mums and stock, with astrantia and waxflower for fillers.

Lavender, sky blue and peach. I loved these colors together. This bouquet has lavender roses, light blue delphinium, peach spray roses, pink waxflower, feverfew, and white phlox.

This bouquet was so elegant in an old world sort of way. So much texture, so many things to see.

A dried King Protea was the focal point, with plum ranunculus and dahlia, lavender lisianthus and butterfly ranunculus, brunia, anemone and mixed dried grasses.

What a fun year it’s been for weddings! Click here if you would like to see more bouquet options. I love designing natural-looking bouquets so if that’s your style please contact me soon!

Spring, is that you?

I admit I’ve been hibernating/hermitting for the last few weeks. Everything is strange and weird and different and I like things to stay the same. Not my best quality. All my 2020 customers are dealing with hard decisions every day and I don’t feel like I have any good advice or insight to share. Our whole floral industry is on hold- from the growers, to the shippers, to the wholesalers. No one knows the answers to any of the hard questions. So I just kept quiet. But then I decided to get some fresh air/fresh perspective and pull some weeds. And guess what? Spring came in the middle of a global pandemic! Some things do stay the same and I couldn’t be more grateful! So here are some pictures of better things to come, especially in my little flower garden world. These are all things I have used in your bouquets and will again for all my future brides. Happy Spring!

This one is new from late last summer and I can’t wait to use it. Stairway to Heaven- Jacob’s Ladder.

Sweet little fine foliage plant that turns silver gray as it grows into a mound- Silver Mound Artemisia.

I know it’s hard to tell but this shrub’s leaves will turn dark burgundy as they grow. The perfect bouquet accent for fall weddings.

This is a peony! I am so excited to watch this grow and bloom. One of my favorites!

Purple Hyacinth- I don’t get to use this flower very often as it blooms in early spring when I don’t have many weddings. But it blooms with many flowers on a stalk and smells heavenly.

And of course Tomato plants! I don’t have a huge garden anymore but I always plant at least a few tomatoes in my flower beds.

I know that to others these might just be pictures of dirt and leaves, but I see more. Gardening is a hopeful hobby. In my mind, I can always see the great things to come. So I walk through my spring flowers every day looking forward to what summer will bring. I am hopeful for summer and fall weddings and I will be ready to help you plan your wedding flowers, or make changes and updates when you need to. Hopeful, faithful, positive and optimistic. These are the words I use most when things are hard and they definitely apply to gardening and pandemics!

I am a Flower Nerd (and you can be one too!) →

I really do love flowers. I grew up vegetable gardening with my dad and flower gardening with my mom. I got my college degree in biology. I volunteer as an Extension Master Gardener in my community. I pride myself on knowing the names of everything I grow and use in my bouquets. I know how each plant grows and where they grow best. I might even know the Latin name. I am a Flower Nerd and I am proud of that!

But not everyone is like me. When it is time to think about wedding flowers do you know the names of flowers you love? Or just know how you want your bouquet to look? Today I want to help you be a Flower Nerd so when you have that consultation with your wedding florist you will both be on the same page. Win, Win!

The flowers you most likely see on Pinterest are what a florist might refer to as premium flowers. They are most beautiful in their own season (i.e. peonies in May), sometimes difficult to acquire, and always more beautiful than everyday flowers. Yes they are slightly more expensive than what you would spend on yourself normally, but this is your wedding. Your goal is to only do this thing once, so feel free to splurge just this one time. 

Ranunculus  This is a beautiful flower with many layered petals and it comes in several colors- pinks, orange, yellow, purple, variegated and more. Ranunculus are at their best from January to May. They are available most of the year except the hottest months of the summer (end of July, August & September) when some varieties become difficult to obtain.

Anemone  This is the flower that looks a little like a poppy and has a contrasting center. The most popular color is crisp white with a black center, but other colors include bright red, pink, magenta, purple, and blue. Anemones are typically in season from October through May.  

Garden Rose  These beautiful flowers look nothing like the standard rose you normally see. Their ruffled layers make them a perfect substitute for peonies and they have a lovely rose scent. David Austin in England is a famous breeder of these roses which have the character and fragrance of old garden roses and the colors that brides love today. Peach, pinks, blush, coral, pale yellow, cream, reds and white- so many options and all incredibly beautiful. And they are available almost any time of the year!

Other flowers I love to include in bridal bouquets are things that add texture. You know from my photos that my bouquets are never boring. There are flowers like scabiosa, astilbe, thistle, stock, dahlias and celosia that add depth, color and character. If you look closely at the bouquets in these photos you will see herbs and berries like fennel, elderberry and blackberry, all from my garden. I always add something that I have grown to your bouquet as an added blessing from me to you. 

There is so much joy in flowers, and for me part of the joy is getting to know each flower personally. I hope I have encouraged you to learn a little more about what you want in your bouquet, or maybe even to start your own flower garden, so you can be a Flower Nerd like me!