image via Love ‘n Fresh Flowers

The Question:

How do you keep the ribbon-wrapped handles of your hand-tied bouquets dry during transport/delivery?

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The Answers:

In reality this depends on a few things! If the bouquets are being delivered quite some hours before the wedding or on a warm day then we deliver all our bouquets in water to ensure freshness so of course the ribbon is wet and we leave instructions for the bridesmaids for drying the bouquets.  If there is to be many trailing ribbons and details on the bouquets that we can’t afford to get wet then we often do the final binding on site just shortly before the ceremony.  The biggest advice.. (which may sound like a no brainer!) test any new ribbons for colour bleeding if you are delivering the bouquets in water.

-Gemma Bain (Planet Flowers)

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Keeping the ribbons dry during delivery can be tricky. Depending on the style the bride has requested I usually transport the bouquets with a really tiny amount of water (less than an inch) so it doesn’t slosh during travel and upon arrival I add a little more to each vase. If the ribbon wrapping is really close to the stem ends or there are lots of streamers I either remove the bouquet from water for transport and put in a vase of water upon arrival or I wrap the stems on site. It’s so disappointing when the water seeps all the way up making the ribbon droopy!

-Elisabeth Zemetis (Blush Floral Design)

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Believe it or not we don’t transport our bouquets in water. The maids bouquets are created and wrapped with ribbon and put into the cooler with super long stems. The long stems keep the ribbon above water height. Just before departure we cut the stems to the appropriate height and lay the bouquets in a box for delivery. The bridal bouquet is bound just before we leave our studio. All bouquets are transported in boxes. This works in my market because we typically are not allowed to deliver to an event until two hours before. If we have a wedding that requires early delivery or we are traveling to get to the event, we either wrap the bouquets on the job or transport them with long stems. 9.5 times out of ten they go in a dry box.

–Holly Chapple (Holly Heider Chapple Flowers)

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When designing bouquets, I always leave the stems exposed and fairly long and never wrap all the way down or even cover up the ends.  Right before delivery, I give the stems one last fresh cut, but still leave them at least a good 2″ long.  Then I replace the water with fresh water, but the key is to only add a teeny tiny bit of water so that it won’t slosh around.  If I really need to, I’ll add more water once on location, using a watering can with a long skinny spout!

-Liz Rusnac (Fleurology)

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Wrapping the bouquet handles is always the last thing I do. Most of the time I wrap it half way down, pin it temporary and put the bouquet in a vase with just a little water (1 cm or so). I always deliver myself, so I make sure I’ll be there about 10 minutes before to finish off the handles. Sometimes I do all the handles and the boutonnieres on site.

-Emelie Ekborg (Svenska Blomsterbloggar)

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Fortunately (or unfortunately if you are not a florist!) we don’t have particularly hot weather in Scotland so we cut all our bouquets for a final time at the studio and then deliver them about an hour before the wedding so they are transported out of water (photos attached). Exceptions to this are hydrangea and tulip bouquets which we recut on delivery to the bride and then place back into small vases with water. This helps them hold up longer on the wedding day. If you need to transport the bouquet stems in water then I would recommend using organza ribbon rather than satin ribbon as this dries out more quickly and tends not to looked water stained.

-Nick Priestly (Mood Flowers)

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Thanks Nick, Emelie, Liz, Holly, Elisabeth and Gemma!

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Now a question for you readers & designers…One of our panel members posed an idea and we’re wondering if any of you might have tried it.

Question: Would wet moss work to keep stems hydrated?

We would love to hear your experience if you’ve tried using moss to hydrate stems…

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A few designs from Love ‘n Fresh Flowers to enjoy today…

Beautiful work, Jennie Love!

Happy Wednesday everyone…