wedding bouqet in Foam holder

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Kristine

Kristine

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Nov 26, 2002
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Next month I am designing a rather large bouquet (for us) in a foam holder. I always have nightmares about the thing dropping stems even tho we stem lock the crap out of them.

the bouquet consists of 12 stems roses, 12 stems mokara orchids, 6 blooms oriental lilies, ital. ruskus foliages 5 stem oncidium, 3-4 green mini cyms in a long cascade.

Thanks for any tips and help :) ( I love this place)
 
I have never had a bouquet fall apart. So here's what I do

first. I use the biggest bouquet holder I can find!

second, sometimes when I worried that a stem may fall out, I attach a cowee pick to the stem. The cowee pick swells up and sorta locks itself into place.

third, I commit to the placement. I do not pull the flower out and adjust it, when it's in..it's in!

I used to never stem lock, but the older I get the more of a chicken I become... So I stem lock, why take the chance?

HTH.
 
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I use toothpicks with those stems I am afraid may fall out they also swell. I use stem lock on occasion if the stems are big. Really we just dont do a lot of bouquets in foam anymore.. And boy am I glad! :O) I can do a hand held in 20 minutes.. foam takes me 45....
 
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What Shannon said!

It is also possible to do a hand-tied cascade but I think it's a certain look that the bride has to be on board for... I know Mocha Rose just did one recently and posted pics in the "wedding photos" thread
 
depending on how long your cascade is..........This old-timer's trick may help. You wire and tape your cascade as long as you need it........leaving a fairly long stem......then you insert the whole taped length and your wire end comes out the other end, You bend the wire into a hairpin shape.......pull the cascade back down till that hooked wire catches on the cage plastic. Your cascade is locked into place.
 
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RWK said:
depending on how long your cascade is..........This old-timer's trick may help. You wire and tape your cascade as long as you need it........leaving a fairly long stem......then you insert the whole taped length and your wire end comes out the other end, You bend the wire into a hairpin shape.......pull the cascade back down till that hooked wire catches on the cage plastic. Your cascade is locked into place.
Click to expand...
On ubloom, Leanne Kessler has a great webisode on this method.
 
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RWK said:
depending on how long your cascade is..........This old-timer's trick may help. You wire and tape your cascade as long as you need it........leaving a fairly long stem......then you insert the whole taped length and your wire end comes out the other end, You bend the wire into a hairpin shape.......pull the cascade back down till that hooked wire catches on the cage plastic. Your cascade is locked into place.
Click to expand...

Yep, that's how I learned in the late 1980s, before stemlock....NEVER lost a cascade!!!!
 
Wish I could find a picture....I know I have one somewhere, but in the recent house renovation, I fear it got lost in the shuffle...but.... I had/have a picture of a cascade bouquet I made using the wired and taped technique.....It was a floor length cascade that featured 18 purple catteleya orchids, 12 lavender/purple phaleanopsis, ivy, and stephanotis.

If I remember right - this was back about 1986/87 and the shop owner ( wedding consultant ) sold it for close to 1200.00
 
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RWK said:
depending on how long your cascade is..........This old-timer's trick may help. You wire and tape your cascade as long as you need it........leaving a fairly long stem......then you insert the whole taped length and your wire end comes out the other end, You bend the wire into a hairpin shape.......pull the cascade back down till that hooked wire catches on the cage plastic. Your cascade is locked into place.
Click to expand...

That's the way!
seriously Rick, am I that old???:boggles:
 
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three of our four weddings this week are various kinds of cascades in BHO's. Not my favorite, but I am liking the change from hand tieds ...

we use all of the techniques above, except stem lock. Still haven't mastered making a tremendous mess with the stuff. Hairpinned wired cascade portion works well; toothpicks/stakes wired next to slippery stems; piercing fat juicy stems slant-wise through the stem into the foam helps keep them is more secureley as well.

I forget who posted about using 2 BHO's taped together for a reeeeaaaaallllly large cascade, but I filed that away for another use.

good luck - pictures!
 
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I've made cascades down to the floor, using the method Ricky described, wiring and hooking the wire through the top of the holder.
I make lots of normal cascades and use small cowee picks and floralock.
No problems. I use floralock on my pomanders also.
I love the look of an elegant cascade.
 
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Well, to answer Franca's question......Yes, We ARE that old. This coming monday marks 45 years of living.
 
The pictures that follow are all casacdes that I have done over the years...The one I am carrying has 10 full cut calla lilies, virginia roses, steph lots of greens white lizzy, It weighed about 25lbs....I didn't wire anything, I did use cowee picks and I did get my callas in first and then my other flowers then greens, I did not stem lock and this bouquet made it through the whole wedding and to my grandmothers grave...

Sorry couldn't get pics to upload..
 
THe two BHO holders.....was probably my mention. I call that my 'Skinny as a rail' brides bouquet.......because to carry it off right, your bride needs to be skinny.....

You tape the handles together with the BHO cages opposite one another. One cage faces front, the other faces back. The bride carries the bouquet at her side along her waist.

This looks incredible if your bride has a cathedral train to her gown or longer train.

You design the front facing holder to wrap around and down the front of the dress, the back facing holder has all the materials trailing down the back of the dress. If you are using some super long smilax....with blooms glued in and amonst the foliage .......so that you have the illusion of flowers all the way up and down......The look is incredible.
 
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I just made one today....taking a pic of it.....just read this and wish I had read it earlier...I have never had one fall apart......and I am not being jinxed now...LOL....but will try that technique next time....I too shove em in and no pulling out....I also like the toothpick idea and when I recheck bokay tomorrow if anything seems loose I may do that for last minute fix....thanks for info
 
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