Flowers For A Wedding example essay topic

A Floral Engagement A Floral Engagement From the brides bouquet to the beautiful centerpieces few people realize the time, effort, and consideration that goes into the planning a wedding. The floral patterns and arrangements are just one part of the battle, but if you think about how many flowers are in a wedding then it is easy to see that they are the hardest part of putting a it together. Did you ever think about how many flowers are actually in a wedding? The bouquets and flowers are a very important part of a wedding day. A bridal bouquet should be a reflection of style and should compliment the bride's dress.

It adds that special touch to create the mood desired for the wedding. Flowers should show true depth and add beautiful colors and to a wedding dress. Brides usually try to find bouquets and floral patterns that have a completely unique elegance that reflects them for their special day. There are many things a bride has to do before her wedding day in order for her floral decisions to contrast nicely. Like determining her wedding style or theme, so that all the flowers in the church match the types of things (music, decorations) in the wedding. Hiring a wedding consultant, if she plans to use one to help her out with things including the floral arrangements.

Deciding on a color scheme, this way there are not too many contrasting colors in the flowers at the wedding / reception. Planing the reception, like where it's going to be and climate matters for certain types of flowers. Selecting the dress and headpiece, so that the bouquet matches perfectly. Selecting a professional florist, so she gets the best quality service for a reasonable amount of money. Selecting the bridesmaids' dresses, according to the color scheme, of course, they have to match all the flowers and bouquets also. Deposits have to be paid and contracts have to be signed so that there is no confusion on what the bride wants, and is going to get.

Having both mothers coordinate and pick their dresses, so that they match the color scheme as well. Selecting the men's (groom, and groom's men) wedding attire so it matches the theme and color scheme. Then finalizing all the details with the florist. Believe it or not, there are a lot of considerations to think of when planning on what kind of flowers and arrangements they want. Like whether or not the bride likes simple, exotic, extravagant, or natural flowers?

Then deciding what shape of bouquet goes best with their style of dress, and overall taste? The bouquet shapes come in round, cascading, hand-tied, crescent, or sometimes the bride can create their own custom shape (2, Congrat. ). Are traditional white colors incorporated in their bouquet preferred, or do they want a bold statement made with a lot of colors? What kind of accent colors, textures, and fragrances, if any, are preferred? When choosing the flowers for a wedding it's good to choose only the best, hand selected flowers, so they stay fresh longer and have really nice quality.

Headpieces and hair are other really good places to put flowers that would accent the mood. This is usually done with the bride's maids and flower girls. They can accent their hairstyles using flowers in hair combs or in "up-do's". A good way to make flower girls look really cute is to put a wreath of flowers around their necks (2, Congrat. ). When thinking about exactly how many flowers for individual people there are needed at a wedding, the following list gives an idea of how many there really are.

First you need flowers for every person in the wedding party. For the Women there is: the brides bouquet, the brides "toss bouquet", brides maids bouquet's, the flower girl's bouquet, the mother of the bride's corsage, the mother of the groom's corsage, the stepmother's corsage, the grandmother's corsage, and the godmother's Corsage. For the men there is: the grooms boutonniere, the grooms men's boutonniere's, the ring bearer's boutonniere, the flowers on the ring bearer's pillow, the father's boutonniere, the stepfather's boutonniere, the grandfather's boutonniere, and the godfather's Boutonniere. All the Attendants need flowers also. There is: the usher's boutonnieres, the musician's flowers, the vocalist's flowers, the reader's flowers, guest book flowers, the gift table attendant's flowers, and all the personal attendants flowers (3, Congrat. ).

Not all of these people are used in every wedding, but it gives a general idea of how many flowers are needed for the people at weddings. There are also many flowers used at the ceremony site. Some examples are: the altar flowers, the pew flowers and decorations, candelabras flowers, candle flowers, the foliage decorations, unity candle flowers, arch flowers, flower petals (for flower girls to throw), garland decorations, arrangements in the foyer of the church, and the flowers and ribbons on outside of church doors. It takes a lot of flowers. Flowers will highlight the mood at your ceremony site. They will also add life, color and a personal look.

Canopies are another accessory that can be added to a wedding for a certain mood or accent. There are about six basic types of canopies used in weddings (5, Congrat. ). The arch is also a very important part of a wedding. It can go in the back of the church aisle. Then it can be put behind the wedding party table at the reception.

It would be the focal point of all attention during both parts. Arches run for a little bit more money then other parts of the wedding, but it's an exceptional value. There are also reception tables to decorate with flowers. A wedding party table of ten or less should usually have one long and low centerpiece with colored flowers to match the bridesmaids' dresses. A wedding party table of eleven or more should have two long and low centerpieces (10, Aberdeens). But then there is the question of if you even want to decorate the reception tables with flowers, there are a lot of things used to decorate the tables, flowers are just more traditional so more people use them (15, Aberdeens) Another thing to think about is the time of year in which the wedding is taking place, because that is what decides the basic costs and availability of flowers.

For example, if you are planning to have your wedding in the wintertime, the choice of flowers might be smaller than if you were getting married in the springtime. Getting the flowers that are out of season is still possible, but they would probably be a lot more expensive because they would have to grow in a "hot house" (289, Flower), and that is more work for the florist. But then you have to think about the fact that a lot of people are going to want to get married in the spring because of nice weather and Valentines Day, so the florist prices are going to go up because of supply in demand (38, McNally). So considering the price and type of flowers wanted for a wedding is essential in picking the date for a wedding. Now that all things have been considered there is still the matter of how much all the flowers will cost. Bouquets usually run at about $40.00 each and depending on how many brides maids there are, there could be 6 bouquets or more (not forgetting the flower girl), that's $240.00.

The toss bouquet is a little less, so that is about $35.00. All the women need corsages, they run about $15.00 each, with 5 main women that is $75.00. Boutonnieres aren't too expensive, they run about $10.00 each, with about 10 main men in the wedding that is $100.00. All together with just the main wedding party that is $450.00. Then you have the altar arrangements, at about $50.00. Then the centerpieces for the tables at the reception tables, which are about $30.00 each (3, Blossom's).

Already this wedding is costing $530.00. That's a lot of money just for the flowers. It's a big lesson to learn when you finally respect and understand all the work involved in the floral arrangements of weddings. From the bouquets to the centerpieces, the costs and the stress, flowers are really the hardest things about putting together a wedding. They are a very big part of the battle, but it turns out to be something wonderful in the end.

Bibliography

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Euthanasia - France, 287-289 McNally, Lisa. A Blissful Wedding. New York: Random House, 1996.
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