We asked our wonderful Facebook brides what were some of the things puzzling them about wedding day flowers – and we were inundated with questions! There was a great range of queries from meanings of flowers to practical on-the-day questions. The talented Lina from Chanele Rose Flowers & Styling happily offered her expertise and answered your questions.
Kaitly: Flower meanings! What do different flowers mean? Sometimes the meaning is important and the last thing you want is a funeral flower or such at your wedding.
Lina: “There are many flower meanings and also colours of flowers will vary the flower meaning.
Some commonly used flowers include:
IVY – Wedded Love, Fidelity
JONQUIL – Returned affection & desire
GARDENIA – Secret Love
DAISY – Loyal Love, Purity
FORGET-ME-NOT – True Love
HYACINTH (BLUE) – Constancy
HYACINTH (PURPLE) – I am Sorry, Sorrow
HYACINTH (RED OR PINK) – Play
HYACINTH (WHITE) – Loveliness, I’ll Pray for You
HYACINTH (YELLOW) – Jealousy
Also with Roses the different Colours of Roses will vary in flower meaning if you are really concerned about the meanings you may want to reconsider the colour choices:
ROSE (PINK) – Perfect Happiness
ROSE (RED) – Love, I Love You
ROSE (TEA) – I’ll Remember Always
ROSE (WHITE) – Innocence and Purity
The list goes on…”
Tarlee: Real vs fake… And the advantages and disadvantages of both.
Lina: “Obviously if you want a bouquet to last forever you would choose the fake option – in my opinion that would be their only advantage. My thoughts on the matter are that you will possibly get sick of looking at that bouquet eventually and also they collect dust!
Fresh flowers are so lovely for a wedding, you cannot deny the fragrance, the look and the texture is something you will always cherish when you think back on your fond wedding memories..”
Brooke: Can you really tell if they are fake?
Lina: “Oh yes absolutely you can! Perhaps from far away some people may not be able to tell, however close-up there is no denying the look and texture will be a far difference from the ‘real thing’.”
Meagan: What are the best “off white” coloured flowers for brides opting away from the traditional stark white dress.
Lina: “This is a good question because all things in natural are not “True WHITE”
There are many flowers that are off white of have a slight shade of green with white – such as ranunculus- which are white generally and have a light green centre. Another example is the rose, if you choose a White rose “atiko” or “avalanche” you will find it have a slight green shade to it – you could choose roses like “Vendella” or “Sahara” which are both an off white shade and more like cream/dusty shade of peach. There are so many – depending on the season of course you could try: Calla lilies or Jonquils, Cymbidium orchids, Anemones, Kale, David Austens.”
Eleanor: How to keep your flowers fresh in the heat?
Lina: “If you are concerned about the weather and keeping your flowers fresh it can be a good idea to keep a little bucket of water close-by during the day. For example between the church and reception put your flowers into a bucket of water to have a little drink when they are not needed. Just be careful not to wet the nice wrapping.
There are some flowers that will love a little spray of water over the top such as Hydrangeas and orchids – but be careful as not all flowers will appreciate a soaking of water in the heat – it may do more damage than good.
There is also a technique these days where the bouquet is created in a floral foam called a Bridie (you can hardly tell), it will have the stems of your flowers drinking in the floral foam. This can’t be done with a natural stem look! This is a little more expensive than you would expect to pay for a natural stem posy bouquet!
Ask your florist about other methods of keeping your particular bouquet fresh.”
Stace: Do-it-yourself flowers. I’m thinking of organising the table centre pieces myself to cut costs. How early can you buy the flowers before the wedding?
How to store/arrange them? Also where are the best places to buy reasonably priced wholesale flowers (in all states)?
Lina: “If you are wanting to cut costs – it would be best to delegate a friend or family member to help you with this as you are likely to be up very early in the morning to make the flower markets (4 or 5am) and may be exhausted for your actual wedding day!
Every state will have their own Flower markets, which you can generally look up online to find the days and opening times.
Professionally speaking – if this is the first time you are working with flowers I would not recommend experimenting on your wedding day. I would advise to conduct a few trials beforehand to ensure you have the look right and also prevent any potential disasters..”
A big thank your to Lina from Chanele Rose Flowers & Styling for your wonderful advice for our brides.
If you have more questions on flowers please leave them in the comments section below and we will put them to our experts and get back to you!
To download your free chart on what flowers are in season when (Australia only) – check out our In Season article.
Have a wonderful week!
Kate x
If you want connect with today’s floral expert and check out some of here amazing work – check out Chanele Rose Facebook page.