Tall flower arrangements

Most dream weddings include tall, lofty guest table arrangements, full of flowers, like the one below.

Flickr photo by Pure Elegance Events

But, can you afford the heavy, silver stand, rental of which can start at $30 a piece, without even factoring in the flowers? How about all those lush lavender roses, the hydrangea, the tulips, the lisianthus, the dendrobium orchids? Yeah, that gets expensive. Maybe there are some ways to have the tall flower arrangement look, without the tall flower arrangement look price.

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Flower arrangements for your sweetheart table

What kind of flowers should you request for your sweetheart table? If you’re looking for flowers that will make for a big impact at a distance, you want colorful, big, lush blooms, like hydrangeas and blooming roses.

Flickr photo by Hoang

Above, I don’t typically see two arrangements on a sweetheart table, but these are meant to be used as a couple. I like the blooming roses and petals strewn between them.

Flickr photo by Hoang

White orchids on a red tablecloth? Big impact. I love it.

This wedding, which I decorated ages ago, used large blooming lavender roses and Casablanca lilies (my favorite flower!), and white Hawaiian orchids. The Hawaiian and dendrobium orchids don’t have as much visual impact as, say, a cattleya orchid, but I like them for the trailing and dangling effect.

You see what I mean? The dangling orchids here are lovely. This reception, which was held at the Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral in downtown Los Angeles, had a great sweetheart table and backdrop. And all the flower arrangements are simply dripping with orchids.

You can’t see too much of the flowers here — they include pink roses and lilies — but I am including it because its one of my favorite colors and one of my favorite pictures. 🙂

Simple seaside wedding in Laguna Niguel

Why are beach weddings so popular? Because the beach and the ocean are inherently beautiful, and you want to have your most beautiful moment — your wedding — in a beautiful place. So you don’t need much to dress it up.

My undercover wedding attender snapped these photos for me of a ceremony at the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel back in July. It was an overcast day, but trust me — it was a blessing in disguise, since you don’t want to be broiling under the sun as many attendees find themselves at outdoor ceremonies.

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18th birthday party flowers

My brother, the budding florist, decorated this 18th birthday party, or debut, not too long ago.

Photos by Daniel Barrientos

The party was at the Holiday Inn Burbank back in June. (Yes, I know I’m late.) He says he used lemon leaves, white hydrangea, purple lisianthus, purple carnations, and green cymbidium orchids. (He got tired of me guessing, heheh.) At this party, he also provided seat covers and the sheer lavender overlays.
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Fancy flower arrangements from a design show

My brother, the budding florist, has been doing his homework, which means checking out the work of other experienced florists at design shows. He took some pictures for me at one recent show in Orange County.

Photos by Daniel Barrientos

He sent me quite a few photos, but I split them up into “regular” flowers and tropical arrangements. These are the “regular” flowers, but the designers designed them in such a way that they are in no way “regular” at all. Take, after all, this arrangement of pink roses, purple daisies and green poms — so colorful and cute and perfect for a fun, outdoor wedding.

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New Trend? Flowers in large vases

The LAT schools us on a new trend — flower arrangements in oversized vases.

“THERE has been a very big European trend to have oversized vases and create arrangements inside of them,” says Paula Pryke, a London-based authority on all things floral and author of the new book “Table Flowers: Innovative Floral Designs for Entertaining.” For a smart, sophisticated and simple-to-make variation on the current trend, Pryke suggests suspending orchids in glass. “You don’t need a lot of flowers,” she says. “It does last a couple of weeks.” All you’ll need are two or three stems of cymbidiums (phalaenopsis also will do), a 3-foot glass vase and aluminum floral design wire, available at craft stores. Pryke matches the color of the wire to the nose of the cymbidiums.

But I guess you can thank them for directions on how to do it.

Here are some professional applications of the “new trend.”


Above, the table arrangement from my friend Cathy’s wedding — back in June 2006.

Also, another display of – gasp! – four such arrangements at the Glendale Hilton, from November 2006.
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