By Elizabeth's mom, edited by Jennifer

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Elizabeth's mom had a lot of fun taking care of the flowers for Elizabeth's wedding. In addition to $5 corsages and boutonnières, she also made some large floral arrangements, which she discusses today.

Editor's disclosure: Shiny Orb receives no form of compensation from Elizabeth's mom... except for the occasional care package of snacks sent to our office. 

Because beaches often have no pews, arches, or other markers, I created two floral arrangements to mark the ceremonial area of Elizabeth's wedding.  The nature of flowers and foliage is such that "you can do no wrong," so don't be afraid to try your hand at floral arranging!  It's cheap and easy to do.  Estimated arrangement time: 5 minutes.

Theme and design tips

Based on your wedding setting, decide on the colors and "look" of the flowers you want for your floral arrangements.  Because Elizabeth’s wedding was at the beach, I wanted natural looking arrangements and if possible, with a tropical theme. I also kept in mind that the flowers needed to be pretty durable to withstand any wind and hot June weather.

Flower and foliage selection tips

Spring and summer brides will be blessed with wide variety of flowers. You can get flowers flown in from other areas. You can use flowers and foliage from your backyard. Or, buy and grow some plants in pots. However, because one can not be sure if the flowers will bloom when you need them, be sure to have a backup plan if you are growing flowers from seeds.  Enjoy perusing local floral outlets, farmers markets and garden stores to get ideas for flowers and colors.

Beach-themed wedding ceremony floral arrangements (DIY)

For the floral arrangements I made for Elizabeth's wedding ceremony, I bought the following for each arrangement:

• 1 24" clear large cylinder vase from Michaels ($15 per plastic or glass vase)
• 4 long ferns and a bundle of tall grass (all from my backyard). Any large greenery will do.
• 1 Bundle of tall weeping willows ($5 a bundle)
• 3 Bird of paradise ($5 for 3) sprigs
• 2 sprigs of orchids ($5 total for all the orchids, a great deal from a farmers market)

• Optional 1 large ceramic cylinder (I made this myself in a pottery class to add weight to the vases and hide the end of the plant stems, but by no means is taking up ceramics necessary!)

Steps:

1. Purchase/cut orchids and ferns up to 2 days before the wedding.  Purchase/cut all other plants/flowers up to 2 weeks before the wedding.  All other items can be bought at any time.
2. Put 7" of wet sand in the vase.  If you have a ceramic cylinder, place it in the glass vase on top of the sand.
3. Place a tied bundle of willows in the center of the ceramic cylinder if you have one or in the center of the vase.
4. Spread the ferns and grass evenly around the inside of the ceramic cylinder.
5. Insert the Bird of Paradise sprigs and "hang" the orchids in the front or the side of the vase.

That's it!

Note: having the ceramic cylinder prevented all plants and flowers from touching the wet sand, enabling them to remain fresh for a few days.

Photo credit: First photo taken by Audrey.