The first step with any florist is to place a deposit to secure your date.

Petal Power
By Karen Benning

Let your wedding day burst alive in beautiful blooms

You have the dress, you've reserved a location, you even have a groom. By comparison, flowers will be a cinch, right?

Not so fast.

Your wedding's floral arrangements should evoke the ambiance of this major life event. That takes planning. Coordinating the flowers for a wedding is much more involved than throwing together a few bouquets.
Flowers not only grace the gown, they can emblazon the ceremony and enrich the reception. They frame the entire event with elaborate displays of breathtaking color and aroma.

Tina Osmond, lead designer at Picadilly Flowers in Anchorage, points out that in addition to traditional arrangements, people are getting more creative with their wedding flowers. She's even attached pretty petals to the collars of pets.

"There are lots of places to put floral arrangements," Osmond says.

Chanda Mines, owner of Bagoy's Florist in Anchorage, agrees that wedding flowers are "much more individual and creative" than they used to be. For one thing, "people are waiting" to get married, she says. "They're more certain of what they like."

Another element of the trend toward individuality, though, is availability.

Getting different kinds of flowers is "not as hard as it used to be," Mines says, "because flowers are coming from all over the world."

However, be careful about assuming you can get anything at any time. This is, after all, Alaska. Mines warns that there are certain times when certain flowers are hard to come by.

"January is a hard month for flowers," she notes.

In addition to seasonal considerations, you'll want to contact a florist early to reserve your wedding date. Many only take one or two weddings per week. While the actual planning might start a little later, the first step with any florist is to place a deposit to secure your date.

That doesn't mean you have to start deciding on bouquets just yet. Mines prefers that a bride know what dress she's going to wear, the location for the wedding, and the overall theme. "Other details can be filled in later," she says.

What should you look for in a florist? Adrian Dube, owner of Anchorage Floral, thinks you should look at a florist's portfolio, but consider other things as well. In addition to calling, you should "go into the actual store. Does it feel comfortable? Do you get a sense of professionalism?" The portfolio gives a florist credibility, but pay attention to your intuition. "This is a relationship built on trust," Dube says.

Once you've selected a florist, you can breathe a little easier. Don't worry if you don't know a nasturtium from a viburnum.

Dube, like many good florists, has an organized system that will make the whole process easier on the bride. When she first sits down with a client to talk design, she goes through an extensive worksheet of questions with them. From there, she breaks the floral design into three phases. First there are the personal flowers: the bridal bouquet, and other arrangements that are worn or carried, such as corsages. "Most brides have thought about their bridal bouquet," Dube says, so she works that out first, knowing that this first step will help give a sense of the mood or style.

Secondly, Dube looks at the environment, which plays a vital role. Is it indoor or outdoor? Outdoor weddings are unique, she says. Flowers can be used to define spaces that already exist indoors, such as aisles, seating areas, and a frame for the ceremony. And there are unpredictable factors with an outdoor wedding.

Tina Osmond remembers a wedding at Hatcher Pass. "We had terracotta pots for outdoor plants," she says. "It was so windy, it knocked over one of the pots." She had to rearrange the plants in a hurry.

The final phase Adrian Dube addresses is the reception. One trend, she says, is that more brides are doing the reception themselves. It's a money-saving approach, but be careful. Professional florists know the challenges involved in putting together unique arrangements, as well as how to preserve flowers so that they remain fresh throughout the festivities. In addition, when the actual arranging is divided between the customer and the florist, it can detract from the consistency of the overall look.

Chanda Mines notes a way to work around these problems and still save money: have the florist deliver the reception flowers, but not set them up, since the setup for items such as centerpieces can be relatively simple.

Through all of the three phases of planning, should you consider trends? Several florists say no.

"I really focus on the bride," says Dube. "I try not to steer them. This is a very important moment in their life. I'm there to make their vision come true. Trends are just background."

Chanda Mines agrees. "Don't succumb to the trends. This is a day that the bride needs to enjoy. Make it fun."

By allowing a floral designer to handle the anxiety-producing details, you can indeed make it fun.

Need a creative florist who specializes in weddings? Check out "Florists" in our Resource Directory.