According to The Wedding Report, the most popular months to tie the knot are June, July and August, which also happen to be the steamiest and harshest time for flowers.
Florists who want to impress not only brides and grooms but also the maid of honor (who takes home the centerpiece) and the hotel manager (who notes the still-gorgeous designs late into the weekend’s revelry) understand that special event flowers need special care.
“Research shows that, almost without exception, any treatment, at any step, improves overall longevity,” writes Gay Smith, the technical consulting manager for Chrysal USA in Miami. “While aesthetics are important, longevity is the tipping point consumers use to determine whether they get their money’s worth.
Here’s a crash course in caring for some of the most popular wedding blooms, courtesy of Smith:
Bulbous Flowers. Get scientific with your lilies, freesia, tulips and anemones. “Rebalancing cellular chemistry alleviates problems, so always process these bulbs in bulb food,” Smith said. “Both Chrysal and Floralife offer special bulb formulas that make a dramatic difference.”
“Dirty Flowers.” Field-grown beauties — sunflowers, dahlias, kale, stock and gerbs — can quickly contaminate solutions. “Make sure the first drink contains a gerbera pill so the fill is super-clean water,” Smith said. “After two to four hours (and up to two days), transfer stems into flower food, prepared according to directions in clean buckets.”
Wilt-Sensitive Blooms. Garden roses and hydrangeas droop when their water balance is out of sync. The solution? Hydration, said Smith. “First, drink in Chrysal Professional No.1 or HydraFlor 100, which turns on the vascular system and boosts flow by dissolving air bubbles and keeping clean water flowing into head,” she suggested.
Find out more — including tips on how to care for sugar-lovers such as peonies.
