Calla Lily Bridal Bouquet

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NavyBrat

NavyBrat

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I have a wedding the end of May and would like some advice for the bride's bouquet. The bouquet selected is from the Teleflora Wedding Book Item TW 22-2. The bouquet consists of 14 calla lilies in an oasis holder. I'm mystified as to how the bouquet is assembled in the oasis holder. Appreciate any advice in constructing this design.
 
Man they have small pictures on teleflora.com...sheesh...

I have not done that exact same bqt, but have done similar with callas many times. I would NOT use a holder, but would hand wire and hand tie the bqt together.

That pic appears to be full sized callas, their stems will not (do not) lend themselves to fitting a bqt holder, and by hand wiring them nead the head, and taping the length of the stem you can them bend them and move them where you want them to be.

I did this bqt once for a bridal show on a Friday, ended up leaving the BQT in the trunk of the car until Monday, and honestly is showed little wear and tear...

As long as the callas are fresh, and very well hydrated they should be fine for a day....
 
Lord... no holder. :)

V
 
Mark & Sher,

Thanks for your replies. I sure would like to have the designer from Teleflora come to my shop and show me how the bouquet was made in the holder. I don't know how she accomplished that mission!

Mark-I will follow your advice for constructing the design. Won't give it the ultimate test of leaving it in the trunk though! Now that's quality! Funny!
 
I would NOT use a holder, but would hand wire and hand tie the bqt together.
Click to expand...

AGREED! Those oasis things are so tacky. Good greif TF, evolve.

Most Callas last a long time out of water and are very hardy. How much are you paying for them and what is their length?
 
Dazeal said:
Most Callas last a long time out of water and are very hardy.
Click to expand...

I had a corporate client who wanted "out of the ordinary" designs every other week. One week I had great callas and wanted them to be more flexible... I left them out of water over night. They were easily manipulated into the flow I wanted and gave the desired look. The arrangement lasted almost a full two weeks.

V
 
Many Brides have not "evolved" so we do what they want...we did this calla lilly bouquet earlier this year..it was beautiful, it was exactly what the bride wanted....and it was in a holder...
You can do one of two things...use mini callas...explain to her the difference...or you can use fancy grade regular callas.in a grande holder.you can hand open some of them if you feel the need but callas in a holder do not present a problem..again, it is not "what we want" but "what the client wants".
Had a trendy Bride come in for an appt today...she and the boyfriend rode up on their Shadow, sporting all platinum jewelry, her in high heels, a Coach bag, and a dress...yes JB a dress that I saw in a local boutique for about 560.00 big ones. Talked at great length about styles, looks, feelings etc...she ordered a white rose cascade...I charged 175 as a starting place...she signed a contract...she then wanted to know if I could put "lights" in the bouquet...yep for another 35...so you decide if you want to do what they want or what you know is the "coolest" thing in the market! lol
Sher
 
Sher-
SO TRUE!! After all is said and done....tis THEIR wedding......we're just along for the ride! If the bride is happy we'll pretty much do as she wishes. The only disclaimer being if I KNOW a certain design won't hold up for the day etc. etc.
For the most part.. we try to come up with viable alternatives that give the same look..
(sigh)...Here's to Bride-Brain kids!!! and they wonder why we charge for our time!! haha!
Let it bloom!!
Jeannie
 
Sher-
SO TRUE!! After all is said and done....tis THEIR wedding......we're just along for the ride! If the bride is happy we'll pretty much do as she wishes. The only disclaimer being if I KNOW a certain design won't hold up for the day etc. etc.
For the most part.. we try to come up with viable alternatives that give the same look..
(sigh)...Here's to Bride-Brain kids!!! and they wonder why we charge for our time!! haha!
Let it bloom!!
Jeannie
 
We have made this bouquet several times. It is a favorite with brides. We do not use an ordinary bouquet holder, but we make one using a small oasis cage, the kind that has a type of handle on it (bear with me; I seem to be having either a senior moment or a lack of coffee or both because I cannot remember the actual name of this). We make a handle by attaching wire from the top of the cage to the bottom of the handle. We cover that with tape and finally ribbon to make it comfortable for the bride. We tape 3 or 4 3" cowee sticks to the cut end (cut at sharp angle) of the stems and insert into the wet foam. The wooden sticks swell, holding the callas in place. We also spray around the site of the insertions with FloraLoc. We've never had any complaints about anything falling out of the bouquet, and we test it before it leaves the shop.

We also had a bride who wanted lights added to this bouquet. The lights in the callas made quite a show, and the bride was thrilled. I, personally, was thrilled that she and her mom did not want to haggle over the price.
 
Victoria, when I bend Callas to dip back under water or set them up cradle like in a square vase, I run the stem, where I want to bend it, under really hot water and massage the stem and bend it. It works great :)

Navy, here are some exmaples of weddings we did last year:
http://www.chicfloral.com/wedding_flowers.htm

I love this bouquet / throw bouquet of eggplant tulps and Eggplant Callas. Simple but the texture was complexed.

pu039.jpg
 
If you do it in a holder, you can put cowee picks or pieces of hyacinth stakes into the ends of the calla stem to make the stems stronger, as well as poking a hole in the oasis before inserting, so the stem doesn't get (as) crushed. Also stem lock would be a great thing to use here! It can be done.
 
Callas are long lasting.

If you decide to use an Oasis holder for the callas: I wire and use wood picks, and also glue around the stem as I go with the tube flower glue. I have found the spray glue will sometimes "melt" the Oasis.

Anyone else have this problem with the spray flora lock, or was I using too much?

Collaborated on a large December wedding and did the church decorations and reception centerpieces. Another florist did the calla lily wedding party flowers, (selected by the bride). The callas were in Oasis holders for the bouquets, and were simply stuck into the foam, and were not secured. Needless to say, the calla's were falling out at the church. I stayed after the ceremony to clean up, and found several calla's on the floor, from the bouquets. Even calla's in the altar arrangement (also in Oasis), had lost 2 of its' callas.

A note about calla bout's, I wish I would have glued orchids to calla bout's for a wedding this past summer, as the wire did not hold the orchid very well for extreme hugging.
 
Connie,

Please let me know the name of the "small oasis cage" in question, when you get around to it.

I'd like to try it out and see how I can work it with my design.
Thank you.
 
flowerkid said:
Connie,

Please let me know the name of the "small oasis cage" in question, when you get around to it.

I'd like to try it out and see how I can work it with my design.
Thank you.
Click to expand...

As far as I know, they are simply called small cages, Oasis brand I think. They hold 1/2 block of wet foam, and they have a handle-like projection from one end. They also come in a "grande" size, but we used the smaller one.
 
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