{"id":4807,"date":"2015-07-15T13:39:51","date_gmt":"2015-07-15T03:39:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/paperlust.co\/blog\/?p=4807"},"modified":"2022-08-18T12:19:23","modified_gmt":"2022-08-18T02:19:23","slug":"the-wedding-flower-bouquet-diy-vs-professional-florist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paperlust.co\/blog\/the-wedding-flower-bouquet-diy-vs-professional-florist\/","title":{"rendered":"The Wedding Flower Bouquet: DIY vs. Professional Florist"},"content":{"rendered":"

Poho Flowers stands just off a street that bustles and blows after dark. During the day there is a muffled hum that settles over Potts Point. At its centre, Poho stands blossoming with fresh cut flowers and carefully arranged bouquets awaiting pick up for delivery. One will be travelling all the way to the northern beaches of Sydney<\/a>, the other sits in silent promise of the bouquet Tonia and Sara are planning to put together for us on this gloomy Monday morning. Their smiles stay fixed to their face throughout the meaning as they bustle around the shop. Tonia is trying to show us her favourite but she can\u2019t decide, freshly distracted by each shelf of flowers. She tells us the sweet peas are always popular and the shredded edged tulips share a similar kind of nostalgia. Bridal bouquets<\/a> these days aren\u2019t always the classic white, although there is still a while wall devoted to white roses, chrysanthemums and cascading arches of orchards.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

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Tonia says that recently brides have wanted colours and more looseness in their bouquets, a reflection of the popularity of bohemian chic themed weddings and the more casual walk down the aisle towards the married future.<\/p>\n

The bouquet we order turns out to be a bit of a challenge: we\u2019ve come without a specific brief. Looking around the store, we ask for colour and seasonal blossoms (after begging and being gently refused a pink pineapple at the centre of our tropical bouquet. \u2018It\u2019s probably more appropriate for a table setting.\u2019 I finally concede). We settle for citrus fruit to add bulbous thickness through the middle.<\/p>\n

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Tonia\u2019s preparation is smooth with experience. She holds the growing bouquet in one hand, while she strips the tulip stems of leaves with the other and tells us how the shop has recently changed ownership. Jai is likely to stay for a while. He used to work behind the counter with her, now he\u2019s the boss. Talk quickly devolves into how much Tonia loves her job. The whole time she hasn\u2019t stopped smiling and I tell her I\u2019m ready to give up everything to become a florist. \u2018Don\u2019t get me wrong,\u2019 she says, \u2018I love my holidays too.\u2019<\/p>\n

The bouquet has rapidly grown into a loose ball of bright colours. And that\u2019s the thing about going to a flower boutique like Poho \u2013 especially one that has experience in providing flowers for the bridal bouquet and decorative flowers for the day \u2013 they know exactly what they\u2019re doing. While I want to add every exciting flower and colour, Tonia gently eases me back. \u2018We generally stick to a monochromatic colour palette.\u2019 Then she adds from there. The only time she stops, suddenly unsure, is to decide whether to add purple. \u2018I like it.\u2019 Sarah says firmly. Then it\u2019s a question of what kind of purple of flower to add. Once they\u2019ve settled on the perfumed sweet peas, the wrapping of the stem begins. A string keeps the bouquet together and a ribbon is tightly wrapped around the centre, leaving bare stems poking out the bottom, in keeping with the loose, dangling volume that is something of a house style at Poho flowers. A more traditional bouquet would be around the base of the flowers to the bottom of the stems in a ribbon that matches the brides dress. The ribbon at the middle of our bouquet marks a good place to hold the flowers.<\/p>\n

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I\u2019m surprised by the weight of it once it\u2019s been wrapped and tied again with another ribbon around the paper (I have a new found respect for the co-ordination and grace of women in high heels and dressed in their best, with the weight of the whole day on them, as well as a bouquet of flowers as they walk down the aisle).<\/p>\n

Wrapped in paper with water soaked tissue at the bottom, the bouquet fades during the day. At home in water the stems stand upright to life once again. The care and life expectancy will vary from flower to flower. Generally speaking, you\u2019ve got one or two days after they\u2019ve been cut for your bouquet, though they\u2019ll still be standing well in a vase of water.<\/p>\n

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THINGS TO REMEMBER<\/strong><\/h2>\n