Flowers Galore!

Another guest blogger… My name is Katie Apker and as a law student-turned-boutique florist and former hall-mate of Jenna’s, I get to add my two cents. I own Fleur Bliss, a wedding & event flower studio in Portland, Oregon. I started studying floral design 7 years ago and love funky, boundary-bending euro-asian designs. Though flowers are almost indispensable on your wedding day, you really have the flexibility to decide how prominent a role they will play.

You should start meeting with florists once you have pretty firmly pinned down your color palette and design vision. Many florists get booked as far as a year in advance, but always email them for availability. A good florist will gladly sit down with you for at least a complimentary initial consultation, going over your colors, floral needs, favorite flowers, and other design ideas. Make sure and come to your consult with pictures, swatches, etc., but also be open to the creative ideas your designer might suggest. While shopping around, look at many examples of a florist’s work to get an idea of what they are actually capable of producing. Sit down with the ones that closely fit your personal style or that are skilled enough to produce a brought spectrum of designs.

You should never be pressured to put down any kind of a deposit before you get some sort of an itemized price quote from a prospective florist. A reputable florist should also be willing to work within your budget. While fresh flowers are really not cheap, don’t get caught up with or feel pressured by a florist whose designer ego inflates the price beyond what is a reasonable market price. Shop around a bit and get a feel for what various studios and shops charge in relation to the quality they produce.

I always recommend reputable studio or boutique florists over shop/retail based florists due to distinct quality differences. Having experience in many retail shops, I know that almost all retail establishments have the significant distraction of daily retail flower orders and most book multiple weddings in a single weekend – even despite a lack of capacity. These considerations greatly detract from the personal service and quality of the flowers that you get. Retail shops simply have less time than most boutique florists to plan for you and your wedding flowers. Retail shops also have greater overhead costs – so you often end up paying more for less.

Flower trends I am seeing this year: bold black/white schemes; damask patterns; incorporation of unique elements (think cumquats, ornamental peppers, pheasant feathers); fall themes (berries & turning leaves), rhinestone encrusted everything; vintage color scheme (champagne, blush, washed-out blue, etc.); and carnations as the new texturizing filler – so popular on the East coast right now!

As far as next year goes, I love the bright yellow & black color combination and the idea of metallic hues and grey replacing chocolate brown and ivory as the hot accent colors. We will just have to see…

P.S. As a side note to Megan Smith’s blog - Megan happens to have the hottest real-person bod around, so she knows what she is talking about! She mentioned the Calorie King website – I have the purse-sized Calorie King calorie counter book and it is a fabulous addition to my food journaling pursuits – having it with you means you never have an excuse to lose track of your intake for the day.