Peony are grown around the world and are typically available from April through August, with peak season hitting around April, May and June, which is the most popular month for weddings. Most white varieties bloom early in the season. They are available in so many colors, including various shades of pink, purple, red, salmon, apricot, white, ivory/cream, yellow and bi-colors and are a densely packed bloom which makes them perfect for use in bouquets.

This is a pretty easy bouquet to make. In this picture I used approximately 10 stems of white double peony to form a round hand-tied bouquet, approximately 10 inches in diameter.

This next bouquet is a mixed bouquet containing pink peony, stephanotis, pink roses and Bells of Ireland.

Stock is available year round, but peak season spans from February through August. When you buy stock, make sure they have at least six, but no more than half open florets per stem. Avoid bunches with smashed, flattened, bruised, brown, molded, rotted or otherwise infected florets. Soft, limp flower spikes, leaves or stems should also be avoided. And, if the stems are slimey and/or the leaves have yellowed don’t buy them!

When you get them home, as with ALL flowers, give them a fresh cut (about one inch cut off bottom at a sharp angle) and strip any foliage that will fall below the water line fo the vase or bucket you will be storing the flowers in. Sometimes these flowers come with roots attached! If yours came that way, cut the entire root off or any white portion of the stem. It is always best to dip the flowers in a hydrating solution before putting them into the bucket of water. Store them in buckets/vases with flower food and lukewarm water. Then, after a couple of hours, put them into refrigeration until you are ready to use them.

Florists use a variety of items as fillers. Baby’s Breath or Gypsophilia is one of the most popular fillers although I don’t use it much myself. The small white flowers make a great filler for bouquets as well as centerpieces.

Queen Anne’s Lace is another popular filler. This white lacy bloom has the added advantage of being easily dyed to match or contrast with the arrangement you are creating.

Hypericum berries also make a great filler. Their brilliant colors make them especially popular with summer arrangements.

You will need to know the measurements of the jacket front pocket before creating this charming alternative to the boutonniere, but once you have that, the rest is easy. A piece of craft foam provides the base, much like the cardboard insert commonly used for the handkerchief point top traditionally used. Craft foam will grip to the inside of the pocket and hold the floral square into place. Then the fresh or silk flowers can be glued to the foam.

From there, you’re only limited by your imagination. A single row or multiple layers, you can create a great floral statement. And best of all, you’re not limited to selecting just one flower, you will be able to coordinate the groom’s floral pocket to his bride’s bouquet, match the groomsmen with the bridesmaids or even just pick up the foliage used in the bouquets and other floral décor.

The traditional formal male attire includes both a pocket handkerchief and a boutonniere, especially for weddings or proms. A while back, I saw an article that combines both concepts into a Floral Pocket Square and I was instantly enchanted with the result. The possibilities are endless and the ability to create a one of a kind floral for the groom will add an additional personal touch to the overall effect of the wedding flowers. Not to menti on that it will hold up so much better through the ceremony, the pictures and the reception, giving the bridal couple another treasured piece of their wedding to preserve. And no worry at all about pin sticks or getting caught on the bride’s dress or worse, the bride herself. And this style of boutonniere gives you alot more flexibility about the types of flowers and greenery you can use.

Stay tuned — Next time I’ll tell you how to create one of these pocket boutonnieres.

Tulips always bring spring to mind and with the wide variety of colors available, they make a great addition to any spring wedding. A potential problem when using tulips, particularly as a wedding bouquet, is the fact that they reach for the light. That means they will bend and stretch towards any light source. So if you wanted a hand-tied bouquet of tulips to be straight, you will have to wire and tape the stems, otherwise, those tulips will not cooperate with you. If you don’t adjust for the growth, the tulips will grow and be taller than the other flowers, which isn’t an awful thing, unless you wanted all the flowers to be at the same height.

This is a bridesmaid bouquet with ivory roses, red ranunculus and purple tulips. These tulips are the single variety. In this example, where the tulips are in the middle of the bouquet, they are held in place by the other flowers surrounding them…they will not move and won’t require being wired.

This second picture shows the bridesmaid bouquets with purple tulips inserted into the middle of the bouquets again. These bouquets contain hydrangea, roses, mini callas, tulips and cymbidium orchids.

Here is an example of a centerpiece with pink tulips. This is a good example of the type of arrangement where you would want to insert your tulips shorter than you actually want them to be when you use the centerpiece. Typically, centerpieces are made a day or two in advance. In that day or two, the tulips will grow an inch.

Keep in mind that the bridal stores are typically one season ahead of the current time. So if it is March, Spring time when you are planning your wedding, you may be looking at Fall/Winter colors at the dress stores. There is an assumption in this business that you will be planning at least six months in advance.

Do you have a theme? Themes can be picked on colors, hobbies, sports, favorite pastimes, ethnic backgrounds, the schools you went to, etc., etc. Samples themes include golf, wine/winery, Seasons such as Spring, Summer, Fall or Winter, travel, a specific Country, gardening, fishing, baseball, football, music, hearts…..let your imagination soar and make sure you are both on the same page!

Some of the different types of scent categories flowers and foliage are judged by are Aromatic, Heavy, Citrus, Spicy, Sweet

The Aromatic category includes a lot of foliage and herbs. Dill, Eucalyptus, and Lavender are all part of the Aromatic category. So are most of the greenery used during the Christmas Holiday Season.

The Heavy Fragrance category includes Gardinas, Oriental Lilies, Stephanotis and Tuberose.

The Citrus Category covers Waxflowers and eucharis. Both of these have a light lemony scent

The Spicy or Peppery Category includes Mums, Stock, and Florist Bloom. The prevailing scent in this group is a clove scent with some blooms having a stronger scent than others.

The Sweet Category is the one that always comes to mind when you think of flowers. Hyacinth, Lilac, Carnations, Freesia, Sweet Peas, Lily of the Valley and of course, last but not least, Roses make up this category.

And if you are planning to include red and/or white roses in your Valentine’s Day wedding, please make sure that you get them ordered early. Not only are roses the traditional icon of Valentine’s day, they are typically considered the traditional choice of a Valentine’s bride. This time of year, red and white roses in particular are not only much more expensive, but also a little hard to get a hold of in large quantities. One really good way to stretch your flower budget is to also include carnations of the same color as the base of either bouquets or arrangements. Their tightly packed blooms not only hold a great shape, but also allow you to use less roses and still achieve the same effect.

Roses – Hands down, the most romantic flower going and the best news of all, they are available nearly year round. The only thing that you need to keep in mind if you are planning a winter wedding is that this time of year, red and white roses start to go up in price as growers cut back on shipping these two colors to make sure that they will have enough to met the needs of Valentine’s Day.

Some of the other choices include gerbera daisies, iris, lilies, calla lilies, several varieties of orchids and freesia. Tulips are also in season this time of year, but because of their soft stems, they do not make good choices for bouquets. But they are perfect for reception flowers.

And last but certainly not least, is the carnation. Not only are they easy on the budget, but they are a reliable firmly packed bloom that not only holds its shape well, but has fabulous vase life. While you might not want to have your entire bouquet created out of this popular flower, keep in mind it’s a great as a base for your bouquet. I have used carnations as a base for a hand tied bouquet and used more expensive/prestigious flowers as the flowers you really see above the carnations. It’s a great way to get a nice look without the added cost of an entire bouquet made of expensive flowers.