gerbera

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Floral Chandeliers

Add some drama to your wedding or event with a floral chandelier.  It will create a focal point in the room and be a real talking point for guests.  Earlier in the summer I posted some articles about the Chelsea Florist of the Year and Young Florist of the Year competitions.  The florists had to create a floral chandelier for the Queen’s Jubilee dinner.  Some of the lucky entrants even got to meet the Queen when she visited the show and admired their work.

Today I’ve got some more chandelier inspiration for you and a few more of the amazing chandeliers from Chelsea Flower Show.  The design above has been attached to a chandelier in a wedding marquee.  It features vibrant lime, purple and cerise flowers, with dendrobium and phalaenopsis orchids hanging down.

The stunning chandelier above was made by Jessica Rose Andrews from The Garden Rose florist.  The design is based on a chandelier frame wrapped with textiles and hanging glass baubles.  I love how the intense indigo and violet flowers contrast with the green passion flower vines.  Jessica was awarded a gold medal for her design.

This chandelier by Betsy Ford is a simple but effective wedding decoration.  Betsy has hung germinis from a chandelier of fairy lights.

Katie-Jane Pridmore made this very elegant design, it contained lots of strings of pearls and intricate wire work.  The central garland of flowers contained phalaenopsis orchids, cymbidium orchids, carnations and gypsophila. Katie-Jane received a Silver Grenfell medal for her piece.

This beautiful tiered chandelier is by Erica Tippett of Bleujen Florist.  I really like this design, it was awarded a Bronze Grenfell medal, which I think is a bit mean.  The design features gold chains and hundreds of hanging crystals.

Floral Chandeliers can be very extravagant with hundreds of flowers and twinkling crystals, like the ones at Chelsea show or quite simple.  If your venue already has a central chandelier, your florist may be able to make a simple design of hanging flowers to rest on it. Which ever style of design you decide on it is sure to create wow factor and be remembered by your guests.

Images:

1 Cerise chandelier – stylemepretty.com, Donna Von Bruening Photography

2 Purple chandelier – Jessica Rose Andrews, The Rose Garden

3 Yellow gerbera chandelier – greenweddingshoes.com, Lemon Lime Photography

4 White chandelier- Katie-Jane Pridmore

5 Gold tiered chandelier – Erica Tippett, Bleujen Florist

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pink-and-white-flowers

Can you work out which of the flowers above costs the least and which is the most expensive? extra points if you can put all 6 in order of price (The answers are at the bottom of the article).  The flowers & plant association has a very useful guide to flower prices, perfect if you don’t know a dahlia from a delphinium.

Setting a budget for your wedding flowers can seem daunting, especially since the price depends a lot on what flowers you choose.  Before you set your heart on a particular flower or design, work out what you can afford and tell your florist roughly what your budget is.  If you have no idea what flowers cost, as a rough guide allocate around 10% of your overall wedding budget to flowers.  Your florist will be able to give you a good idea of what you will get for your money and advise you on suitable flowers and designs that fit within your budget.

gloriosa-peony-rose-bouquet

If you are on a tight budget your florist will help you make the most of your money.  They are the floral experts and know lots of clever techniques and special touches to give your flowers the maximum impact without blowing the budget.

A recent survey showed the average amount spent on wedding flowers is £200 – £400, 60% of florists surveyed placed their average order value within this range. For that amount brides received a bridal bouquet, bride’s maid bouquets, button holes and a top table arrangement.  Nearly 30% of couples spend £400-£1000, they received the bridal bouquet, bride’s maid flowers, button holes, top table flowers and reception table flowers.

rose-and-muscari-bouquet

The price of flowers is also dependant on the time of year, around St Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day nearly all flowers are more expensive because of demand.  The types of flowers you choose will affect the price, some flowers like carnations may cost a pound a stem, others like calla lilies could be six or seven pounds a stem.  If you choose a loose informal style for your flowers they will have more foliage and require fewer flowers, whereas a compact style arrangement with no foliage will need a lot more flowers per arrangement.

Don’t get hung up about all this information though, good florists are like miniature flower encyclopedias, packed full of information on flowers, prices and ideas.  They will know all the tips and tricks to ensure your flowers look fantastic whatever your budget.

So were you right?  The flowers are in ascending order starting with the cheapest, gerbera.

6 – Gerbera

1 – Ranuculus

2 – Lisianthus

5 – Rose

3 – Lily

4 – Hydrangea

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Gerbera

gerbera with grasses


Common name:  Gerbera

Botanical Names: African daisy

Origin: South Africa and Asia

Colours: almost every colour except blue

The Gerbera is a very popular cut flower.  It is loved for it’s daisy like appearance and the wonderful colours it comes in.  It has a contemporary look with its simple flower head and leafless stem.  Gerberas were discovered in South Africa and brought to the UK in the 1800s, named after the German naturalist Traugott Gerber.

They are the fifth most popular flower sold at the Dutch flower auctions and available all year round.  Gerberas are cultivated all over the world and there are now over 200 varieties.  Each with their own name.  A few of them are spongebob a yellowy pom pom variety, Serena a vibrant cerise colour and kimsey a pale pink germini. There are several types of gerbera including double petalled flowers, spider gerberas and frilly petalled varieties.

gerberas

Mini gerberas or germinis are also popular especially with florists as they are perfect for using in smaller arrangements.  Gerberas come in every colour imaginable apart from blue.  From white and creams, through to pinks, red and oranges.  There are even some terracotta colours gerberas.  The bright colours are very popular as cut flowers for the home, but most florists usually stock an assortment of colours.

Gerberas have a vase life between 4-14 days.  The conditions they are kept in will greatly affect their longevity.  Gerberas from a florist will be properly conditioned before sold which also helps them to last better.  Often the stems are wired, this is important because when they are transported from growers out of water the stems become flaccid, but once gerberas start to take up water they become turgid.  At this point the flower head will set in that position so it needs to start in an upright position.  They are also very sensitive to bacteria so vases should always be properly cleaned before use with gerbera and flower food added to the water.

I use gerberas in all aspects of work, the large gerberas are good value as the heads are so big while germinis are perfect for smaller work where a large gerbera might look out of place.  As they come in such a vast array of colours there is always a gerbera to match the look you are trying to achieve.  The vibrant gerberas in hot pinks and oranges are perfect for exotic looking themes. While the pale pastel shades such as bridal Kimsey, a very pink germini are beautiful in wedding work.

gerbera wreath

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