Monday, August 24, 2015

How Much Should I Budget For Wedding Flowers In Sonoma County?

Hi, I'm Julie Klingaman with Grohe Florists in Rohnert Park, and one of the first questions we often get from brides and grooms is, "How much money should I budget for my wedding flowers?" And typically, most florists would say to use about 10% of your total wedding budget to put towards flowers. That number doesn't have to be concrete, and it will vary greatly depending on the type of center pieces you're looking for because the bulk of your money is gonna go towards center pieces. The size of your wedding determines how many center pieces you're going to need.

Another factor you need to consider is the size of the bouquet you're looking for. Are you looking for a large bouquet or something just small to go up in the center of the table, and the types of flowers that you choose? If you have a smaller budget and you don't wanna spend a lot of money, you may use some seasonal flowers that we do in a small vase, or if you want something large and elaborate with exotic flowers, that's going to cost more money and may go over your 10% budget.

Another factor to consider is your bridesmaids. How many bridesmaids do you have in your bridal party? The more bridesmaids you have, the more cost you will have because you're going to be purchasing bouquets for each girl. If you're on a lower budget, we can again use some seasonal flowers, and make them a little bit smaller, or we can do something really large and elaborate or medium that... It just will work within your budget. Think about doing 10% of your total wedding budget towards flowers, but when you start discussing it with your florist, they should be able to work within the budget you do have. Just let them know. That makes it a lot easier when you tell them your budget because they can make sure they work within that budget.

I hope that this helps you determine what your budget is for your wedding. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below.

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

How Make a Wrist Corsage (DIY)

Hi, I'm Julie Klingaman from Grohe Florists, and today I'm going to demonstrate how to make a glued wrist corsage. What you need is any kind of floral, a piece of glue, a wristlet and a bow. You also can have different types of wristlets that are available. There's diamonds, there's black diamonds, there's beads, there's pearls, there's all different types of wristlets available but today I'm just going to go ahead and use the standard wristlet. The first thing I need to do is I like to fold this prongs over that are sticking out here because they can get a little sharp if you don't want to scratch your wrist. Then you're going to tie your bow onto the wristlet just like you would tie any kind of knot. You're going to just bring it around, find the two ends, and tie the knot.

The next step you're going to do is you're going to get greenery and you're going to glue the greenery around the edge of the wristlet to kind of cover the metal bar that's on here. I chose today to use a little eucalyptus and a little pittosporum leaves 'cause they're nice and flat and kind of broad shaped to cover that. And I'll take a little bit of the glue and I just put it right on the ends and keep gluing them all the way around till that kind of skirts the whole band. I have one prepared here so I'm going to skip over continuing to do that step so you can see my first two that I put on this one and here is after I've put the leaves all the way around.

The next step is picking out the roses that you want to use for your corsage. Today, I'm going to use baby roses, they're spray roses. You can use all different types of flowers. You can pick 'em from your yard, you can pick 'em up at your local florist but you want to pick a smaller flower, they're easier, they don't get as heavy and floppy. So smaller flowers are better and you're going to cut them off of the stem right at the base, giving a little nub so that you have some area to put some glue on. So now I'm going to come over here and I'm going to cut some baby's breath and I'm going to just cut some little pieces. You can really use as much as you want. So I'm going to peel off some of the petals that I think don't look real pretty and I'm going to put the glue just like I did on the greenery except I'm going to put it all the way around kind of on the rose so it covers that. And I'm going to just find a good spot on this wristlet in between some of the ribbon and put my rose right on it and the ribbon will kind of help hold it. It's going to take a couple minutes to dry.

You don't want to use way too much glue 'cause it can get pretty messy but if you do, make a couple errors or something. You can use a little extra greenery or the baby's breath to kind of cover it up. Now, I'm putting in just the little accent pieces like I told you about the seeded eucalyptus and the baby's breath and I'm just kind of finding spots that I feel like need a little extra fluff to them. But there you have it and this is kind of what it turns out to look like in the end. I'll put it on so you can see the size, it's not too big, it's not too fluffy and pretty comfortable to wear, very light. I hope that this video helps you make your own wrist corsage for a special day that you'd like to use it for.

Thank you and have a great day.

Friday, August 14, 2015

Wedding Boutonniere Etiquette: Who Get's One?

Hi. I'm Julie Klingaman with Grohe Florists. A common question we get from brides and grooms is who do they order corsages and boutonnières for their wedding. Today I'm going to let you know the common people that everybody purchases for.

The groom gets a boutonnière, and his groomsmen, and the fathers and mothers. Then if you have a ring bearer then you also will get him a boutonnière. Then, to expand out from that, if your budget allows and you want to include more people, include your grandparents, the sponsors, your minister, or any brothers or sisters that will be attending the wedding.

That should cover everybody that's important in your wedding. If you have any further questions, you can ask your florist or you can leave a comment or question below.

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Power of Giving Flowers as a Gift



Hi, I'm Julie Klingaman from Grohe Florists in Rohnert Park and today I'm here with Ryan Perry.

Ryan Perry: Hi Julie. So big question for you. A lotta guys, we all know that if we do something stupid, we get tossed in the doghouse and it's a good idea to say, "I'm sorry", and include flowers. But there's more science behind the whole getting out of the doghouse with flowers.

JK: Yeah, there actually is a power of flowers. There's been research that has been done that shows that by sending flowers, as a giver you look emotionally caring, you look intelligent and successful, and people truly appreciate it and it strengthens relationships to actually send flowers, to give flowers to somebody. So not only did you get out of the doghouse and score some extra points but you actually made that person feel really special.

RP: Alright. So, and I'm assuming that doesn't just have to be then getting out of the doghouse, I would see maybe business opportunities, sending the appropriate flowers to people at business. Also social events, it's pretty common in Sonoma County to bring that bottle of wine with you to a social gathering. What about flowers?

JK: People love receiving flowers and I have heard from many people that they truly appreciate when somebody brings them flowers. Actually, some people love to have flowers delivered to their house before the event so that they can place them in an area and they're not put on the spot to get 'em in a vase really quick ahead of time. But, of course, any way you give flowers you create an emotional impact right away that brings instant smiles.

RP: Alright. So I guess, as guys, not only should we consider flowers as a way of saying, "I'm sorry", but also as an ongoing opportunity to score points, be perceived to be more, what'd you say?

JK: Emotionally caring, emotionally intelligent, and then also you're truly making that other person happy.

RP: And that's pretty nice when you can actually make somebody feel good, just with flowers.

JK: Yeah, it's pretty... It's a pretty amazing power that flowers have.

RP: Alright, very cool.

JK: Thank you. If you have any questions or comments go ahead and leave 'em below. Thank you.