Mar 25, 2014

The Buzz About Succulents

photo by: Bellisario Florist

For the last couple of years, many brides have been inquiring about succulents for favors and centerpieces, but for Kim, there was a special reason and a real need for a very different type of bridal bouquet. Kim is one of the unfortunate individuals that has bad allergies and can only enjoy fresh flowers in books, not in person! Regardless, she was like any other bride and still wanted to carry a beautiful bouquet down the aisle. Kim had a vision and Ralph Bellisario, her florist, had the talent to pull it all together! They found the perfect mixture of interesting textures and colors and the outcome was beautiful and stunning and fit this bride perfectly! This one-of-a-kind bridal bouquet made all of her guests look twice!

Succulent choices

On my first visit to the garden center this season, there they were - a wide array of succulents. Such interesting shapes, colors and textures. They are popular right now in making fairy gardens and this rage will probably inspire more clients to consider their use as party favors for their events.

Recently during another floral meeting, a bride inquired about using succulents in her bouquet. We were disappointed when the florist told her the drawback is that succulents really don't provide a good stem to work with and can easily come apart - so a fragile material to use in bouquets and it makes them a little more fragile than other sturdy flowers.

As we head into the summer season and heat, the attraction of succulents is their ability to store up a good water supply; this is why they tend to have thick leaves and texture. They are a product that wouldn't wilt easily...a real perk when heading into a hot summer season. Maybe we will see more of these in centepieces this year? I hope so!

What I am amazed by is the individuality that every wedding bouquet has. Probably Kim's succulent bouqet last April was the most unique I had seen but other brides didn't disappoint with adding pieces of jewelry among their petals, stem wraps with grandmother's hankies and one bouqet was strictly made up of antique brooches that had been collected...heavy but goregous!!!

2014 brides...what are you going to surprise me with this year??? Bring it on!