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.

Gerbera daisy color varations are almost endless with the exception of blue and violet blue hues. The petal colors include white, cream, yellow, orange, pink, lilac, purple, red, brown, salmon, bicolor and multicolor. And recently, even green Gerbera daisies are now available. The center disc can be yellow, green, brown, black or dark red.

Gerbera daisies come in three different sizes, miniature which measure 2-3 inches in diameter, standard which are 3-5 inches in diameter and giant which are 5-6 inches in diameter. The blooms themselves have five different variations, singles, doubles, crested doubles, full crested doubles and quill crested doubles or spider. With so many options in color and style, this lovely flower perfect for use in almost any arrangement or centerpiece.

There is a single variety – fewer petals and resembles a tulip and doubles which have bigger petal counts and often are mistaken by the consumer as a garden rose. Lisianthus have great looking buds that add a fabulous texture to any bouquet or arrangement.

The purple lisianthus is one of the best purple flowers available, in my opinion.

These are particularly long lasting flowers- expect 7-14 days of enjoyment, depending upon how you are maintaining them. A bloom will last about 7 days with the larger buds opening into blooms, but often a little lighter shade than the main flowers.

Using flowers straight from your garden – If you are lucky enough to have space for a flower garden what better way to show off those flowers in a stunning arrangement for your home, a party or to give as a gift to somebody special. Preparing those flowers before hand the proper way will help ensure that your creation will not only be beautiful but that it will stay that way for the vase life of the arrangement.

Always make sure to pick your foliage and flowers early in the morning. This way the sun has not yet come out in full force and the sap will only just be rising the stems

Be sure to cut the stems on an angle. Cutting them off straight or hammering the stems will increase the chance that bacteria could grown and cause your flowers to wilt prematurely.

Place your cut flowers loosely in a bucket of cool clean water that has been prepared with flower preservative in it. If you are making a large arrangement, having a second and possibly a third bucket available will help to keep your flowers from being crushed in on each other. This will also help eliminate the risk of bruised petals.

If you have purchased your flowers from a local florist, flower market or wholesaler, they will come to you already cut and wrapped. Once you get them home, you will need to re-cut them on an angle, so that the fresh cut stems will be able to absorb water more readily. You can then place them in buckets just like you would do with flowers chosen from your own garden and get ready to start your creation!

It’s true, the hand-tied bouquet got started by accident.  You see, bridal magazines are selling gowns/dresses not flowers.  So as not to make you lose sight that you would also carry flowers, some advertiser stuck a small cluster of flowers into the brides hands (not wanting to take away from the gown).  But brides looking at these magazines liked the small cluster of flowers and thus the hand-tied bouquet trend was born.  This lovely bouquet style lends itself very well to the newest trend of bouquet embellishments.  The simple way the stems are put together create the perfect backdrop for the incorporation of everything from a treasured keepsake to the fanciest of rhinestone ribbons.  The bouquet to the left is tied with a gorgeous pearled ribbon.  The one to the right is wrapped all the way down with a lovely wide satin ribbon.

Hand-tied bouquets really cover a variety of bouquet names including a tussie mussie, nosegay, clutch, carry, round hand-tied, free form hand-tied and toss bouquet.  Its versatility in both size and design made it an immediate hit.  And, it remains the front runner for bouquet styles still today.

If the facility is decorated in gold and white then you could pretty much do anything you want. But, if the facility is decorated in traditional red and green, it would be hard to use purple and silver. But that doesn’t mean you have to be ‘Christmasy’. Beautiful red and white roses and green cymbidium orchids would be perfect for that traditional Red and Green decor. Another fabulous choice would be to incorporate black. The picture to the right shows a stunning reception that uses white, green and black along with the hotel’s traditional red and green decor.

Creating a pomander for your attendants is lovely alternative to the traditional attendant bouquets. While they do use a lot of flowers, you can chose to add additional ribbons or other fillers such as berries or beading. The floral ball base can be found in any craft store along with a huge variety of ribbons at a very good cost. Pomanders also are great for use on the end of the pews and make a lovely addition to your ceremonial flowers.

The most common method for drying flowers is air drying. To get the best results with Queen Anne’s lace you should select blooms that are just at their peak or even just before full bloom.

Cut the stems to the length that you want them for your project. Once they are dried, they will be more difficult to cut and it might cause some damage to the dried stem. Always remove the leaves. They do not dry well and could issues with the stems. Using rubber bands, group the flowers into threes or fours and secure them together tightly.

You’ll want to make sure that the area you are planning to use for drying is dark, dry and warm. Humidity can promote the growth of mold and prevent the flowers from drying properly and direct sunlight could cause them to fade. A closet or an attic area will work perfectly for drying flowers. Hang them upside down either on a hook or a nail. The drying process takes about 2-3 weeks to complete.

If you are in a hurry and need them to dry faster, try using the Desiccant Method. The Desiccant method allows you to greatly speed up the drying process by use of white cornmeal and borax as drying agents. You’ll need some additional items You’ll prepare them the same way you do for the standard drying method, using blooms near or at peak and making sure the stems are the length you will need for your project. Place the flowers in a cardboard box and cover them in a mixture of equal parts of white cornmeal and borax. Your dried Queen Anne’s Lace will be ready in about two days. The only real draw back to this method over the standard drying method is that white blooms may darken in color anywhere from a cream to a tan color.

To process roses you want to strip all the foliage that will fall below the water line. I like to remove ALL the thorns as well. You really only have to remove the thorns below the water level, but trust me, you will be handling the roses above the water line and you don’t want to poke yourself with the thorns. Some varieties of roses have really tiny almost clear thorns on the top third of the stems and that is typically where I am handling them. Those micro thorns will get into your hands and fingers and wreak havoc, because you can’t see them to get them out. I normally will use a florist’s knife and gently scratch those tiny thorns off the stems!

Next you want to give the roses a fresh cut, cut at least an inch off the stem length and cut at the biggest angle you can cut. Make sure you are using really sharp sheers or knife. You do NOT want to damage the stem with clippers that can’t make a clean cut. The bigger the cut you can make, the more drinking surface you are giving the rose. Roses need to drink water and any obstruction in the stem will disallow the water to get all the way up to the head which will cause bent heads. Even an air bubble will cause the bent heads and roses are particularly vulnerable to this problem. There are many professionals who believe that roses should only be cut under water, because when you cut underwater there can be no air bubbles getting into the stem.

If you use a rose stripper, which I totally recommend, make sure you do not tear or scrape the skin of the stem, because this allows microorganisms (bacteria) to get into the stem and will impede the flowers ability to get that good drink of water it needs.

It is absolutely BEST to dip each rose stem into a dipping solution of a hydrating liquid before you put them in a bucket or vase with flower preservative. I don’t know of the hydrating liquids being sold at a retail level. But the good news is, you can get this along with all the tools needs at our sister site, flowerarranging101.tv. Our starter kit has everything I’ve talked about here.

Make sure when you transfer your roses to a bucket or vase that it is a clean bucket or vase. I use Clorox Clean Up to wash all my buckets and vases. A watered down clorox solution is fine too. You just need to be sure that you are killing any bacteria in the bucket/vase.

If you are not going to use your roses right away, the idea situation is to process them (remove thorns/foliage, give fresh cut and dip in hydrating solution) and then place the roses into a bucket of tepid (luke warm) water for about two hours. After that, it is best to put the roses into a refrigerator for at least another two hours (ideal temperature is 33-35 degrees). After that, do all the arranging your heart desires with your roses.