One thing many prospective brides or couples do not consider when choosing flowers for their wedding is the availability of particular flowers during the time of year they plan to marry. Flowers are really seasonal products. Much has been done to manipulate the availability of blooms so that many varieties are now available for more months out of the year.
Some methods of providing out-of-season blooms include shipping them from areas of the world with different growing seasons, refrigeration of bulb plants to encourage them to bloom out of season, and growing flowers in heated greenhouses with controlled climates. All of these options use more energy and fuel than simply using flowers which are in season at the time of your wedding. They can result in more costly blooms not as sturdy as those grown naturally.
Another aspect many do not consider when choosing flowers is the literal durability of the flowers themselves. Wedding flowers need to look good throughout the ceremony and the entire wedding reception. Some flowers can handle the stresses of a wedding flower better than others.
Some of the most popular wedding flowers have limitations most people are unaware of. To save you some time and to make choosing your wedding flowers easier I’ve given some of the seasons, drawbacks, and benefits of some popular wedding flowers in the following.
Gardenias are available all year. These richly scented flowers are typically cut by the grower to have a stem less than an inch long. Florists can easily remedy this for use in your bouquets and corsages with the use of a bit of wire and tape but it makes the use of gardenias impractical in some types of centerpieces. They are wonderful when floated in shallow vases.
Gardenias will discolor very easily from contact. Handle them with care and expect corsages and bouquets made with them to show some wear and tear by the end of the evening both from lack of adequate water and from handling.
Hydrangeas are usually available all year. However, there are wide swings of price and quality for this flower. Hydrangeas are in season during the summer. While many varieties are available all year, many hydrangeas bought off-season are undersized and lower in quality for a very much higher price tag.
Hydrangeas are a very thirsty flower and prone to wilt easily from heat or lack of water. The white varieties can show bruising more than the other colors do.
Wedding Flowers, Funeral Flowers, Wedding Bouquets, Send Flowers, FTD Florists
