Bridal Blooms: Spring Garden Flowers

We’re kicking off the week with a new column! Ever wondered what are the names of the flowers in the photos you’ve been pinning and collecting as inspiration for your wedding? With the help of talented Floral Designers, we’re going to learn to put a name to the ~~face~~ flower, so we can start recognizing them in the oodles of images of bouquets we love to drool over. Today Kristen of Kio Kreations will show us a few late-spring blooms captured by Kara Schultz. Spring brides, take note!

From Kristen of Kio Kreations: we did the fresh floral designs including all of the centerpieces, bouquet and boutonniere. The flowers used in the bouquet and centerpieces included garden roses (also known as “cabbage roses”), peonies, parrot tulips, geranium leaf, sweet pea, spray roses, and French tulips. Fen Li of BeadFloraJewels made the French-beaded flowers by hand that we featured in the bouquet, and we also used black French beaded leaves to accent some of the centerpieces and featured a set of French beaded napkin ring holders as well in our display.

We did this shoot in April, when all of these items were available, as some of them have a small window of availability. Peonies are typically in season from late December through end of June. French and Parrot Tulips are typically in season from December through mid/late May. Sweet pea is available late winter-June. Geranium foliage is typically available all year and has is very aromatic. Spray roses to me are the best little additive for filling out an arrangement with lushness! They are always available, come in a variety of colors and when “blown open” have a ruffly look that reminds people of a mini garden rose or peony. The beautiful garden roses we used are also available year-round and are a great compromise for brides who love the look of peonies but are getting married when they are not in season. Of course, we had the opportunity to use both in April, so we did. Love the mix of textures together!

European-style arrangements usually have a free-flowing, layered, somewhat garden look to them and that is what I was trying to achieve with these designs. The French beaded flowers were my inspiration for emulating European/French floral design. Mixing heights and having some cascading elements with the tulips and foliage was integral in making these pieces flow together. The bouquet for us, was the icing on the cake, and combined my fresh floral artistry with Fen’s beautiful hand-beaded flowers–making for a bouquet that was just stunning. It smelled fantastic, it looked lush and luxurious and it left the bride with some beautiful beaded flowers she could keep long after her wedding day. I love the idea of mixing materials in with my fresh flowers — and that is why Fen and I collaborated on this project.