Brides, mark your calendars! The Butler Days Inn Bridal Extravaganza will be October 1, 2006. This is a bye-week if you're concerned about the Steelers schedule. We'll be there, along with almost 100 of the area's best wedding vendors. We'll have bouquet samples, some of our portfolio books, and some of the newer accessories from Beverly Clark and Cathy's Concepts.

More information at www.DaysInnButler.com.

We're thrilled to announce that Polly Berginc of The Bloomery has been accepted into AIFD.  Even more exciting--her acceptance letter arrived the day of her daughter's wedding.

AIFD is a highly selective organization of the world's best florists.  To gain membership, an applicant must undergo a stressful design test, judged by the membership panel.  Just getting to the test is almost a year-long process, and only about 30-40% of those who test are accepted.  Polly was accepted after her first try, which is uncommon.  This year's test was even more grueling because the air conditioner broke in the testing room, raising the temperature to uncomfortable levels.  That's all right--the a/c breaks in flower shops sometimes, and we're still expected to perform at our best.  Once inducted into AIFD, a member must earn continuing education credits to maintain his or her membership.

Polly will be one of only five AIFD members in western Pennsylvania, and one of 26 in the state.  Polly will be inducted next year at the National Symposium in Palm Desert, CA.  Until then, we can only refer to Polly as an AIFD Registered Candidate.  After induction, Polly will be able to use the letters "AIFD" after her name.  That means we have about 10 months before we have to order her new business cards.

For more information on AIFD, check out their website at http://www.aifd.org.  We'll have a real press release soon.  But we couldn't wait to spread the word.

<update 2006-08-25>

AIFD posted its press release today at http://www.aifd.org/2006aesresults.htm.  64 of 115 who tested were accepted.  There is a full listing of all invitees, and some more background on AIFD.

Couples are becoming very creative when it comes to numbering their tables, usually replacing the number with a word, phrase or name that is special to the couple.  Guest cards are being replaced with lolipops, candied apples, or intricate miniature topiaries.  To make it easier for you to find these posts on our blog, we’ll keep an index on this post.

Seating Your Guests - Beyond Table Numbers And Place Cards

Candied Apples as Seating Cards and Favors

Seating Your Guests With Shamrocks

Another Creative Way to "Number" Your Tables

Gerbera Daisy Seating Chart

We’ve seen more and more brides skip numbering their tables, and instead do something more creative to seat their guests.  This couple gets an A++ for effort. 

Our couple took their first names and last name, and created name poem, with a different word for each letter in their names.  As part of the garden theme for their reception, the letters were made from grapevine (grapevine letters can be found at most craft stores), and was hung above the guest book table.

For example, the I in the bride’s name stood for Inspire.

 

Seating cards were small topiaries in tiny flowerpots.

Table cards were hand made to match the other reception decorations.

 This is yet one more example of a creative way to number your tables at your wedding.  Touches such as this really personalize your wedding day, and help make your wedding memorable for your guests (as give your florist something to blog about).

We’re featuring two locations in one this time (yes, this was a Thursday night wedding—Thursday is the new Friday).  The ceremony was held at Heinz Memorial Chapel, and featured a hand-tied bridal bouquet of white oriental lilies.

The bridesmaids carried arm bouquets made of white roses, white cymbidium orchids and white freesia.

The flowergirl carried a tiny bouquet of white cymbidium orchids.

The reception was held in the majestic Mozart Room at Heinz Hall, where we met Tony Lee from Truffles & Flourishes Catering.

Centerpieces were simple vases of two dozen Black Magic roses, surrounded by the petals of an additional 6 roses. (note: when we compress these images, the dark red gets lightened a bit--we apologize, but if we didn't compress the images, they'd take forever to load)

The sweetheart table was a romantic setting covered with red rose petals and votive candles, set in the middle of the dining area.

 

 

Florists: Your Fridays might be getting a little busier. Friday night weddings – once only chosen as a way to get great deals on food, a cake and flowers – are becoming a first choice for many brides- and grooms-to-be, according to The New York Times.

“It sets the tone that your wedding is about the party,” Carley Roney, editor in chief of The Knot, a magazine and wedding resource Web site, told The Times. “You could have even more cost savings on a Sunday afternoon, but that doesn’t say ‘We’re cool.’”

Because Saturday night has traditionally been the most popular (and expensive) time to hold a wedding, according to The Times, venues often offer great deals – say, $2,000 to $3,000 off – if brides book the spot on a day it’s less likely to fill. But those special rates are starting to diminish as more people opt for the Friday-night cocktail event.

Source: SAF Dateline, July 14, 2006

(we’d link to the original, but you need a password to access the site)

We just wanted to say take the time and say thank you for doing such a beautiful job on the flowers for our wedding.  They were so beautiful!  My bouquet was exactly what I wanted.  Thank you also to your husband who was nice enough to fix my dress right before I walked down the aisle.  We are so glad we chose you to do our wedding and will highly recommend you to family and friends.

Mr. and Mrs. J.D.

This is a question we get asked often.  That question is really too general to answer; a number of factors play into the pricing of a bridal bouquet.  These factors include (in no particular order):

• What flowers will be in your bouquet?  On average, daisies are cheaper than roses, which are cheaper than calla lilies, but this is not the sole factor.
• How many flowers?  A hand tied bouquet of two dozen roses is cheaper than a hand tied bouquet made from three dozen roses.
• What time of year are you getting married?  Valentine's Day and Mother's Day are peak floral holidays, and we're asked every year to do weddings at these times (the answer is always no--we're busy with the holiday).  Also, New Year's sees increased prices because of the Rose Parade.  Not much goes on in October, so flowers are usually a little cheaper then.  A red rose bouquet at Valentine's Day is going to be 2-4 times more expensive than the identical bouquet in August (or heck, even April for that matter).
• What style of bouquet?  Cascades and pomander balls take a considerable amount of time to make, and so the labor charge is usually higher.  Hand tied and arm bouquets are a little easier to make, and labor is a little less.
• Are your flowers in season?  Sure, we can sometimes get lilacs in August.  You probably don't want to pay for them, though.  Lily of the Valley is another very seasonal flower.  Roses, most lilies, pomps, gerberas and carnations have excellent availability throughout the year.
• How fragile are your flowers?  Flowers such as orchids, gardenias and stephanotis are very sensitive to environmental conditions, lilies are very fragile, but carnations are quite sturdy.  The sensitive or fragile ones require extra precautions when designing and delivering your bouquets, which also figures into the price.
• How good is the designer/shop?  Yes, we're a little more expensive than the "basement Bettys", but we're worth it.  We have a staff of trained and experienced designers, plus the coolers and vehicles to make sure your flowers arrive in perfect condition.  We stake our reputation on it almost every weekend, over 100 times a year for the past 5 years.  There are people in our area claiming to be cheaper than the retail florists, but your bouquet may share space with the milk in their fridge.

We have created bridal bouquets in the $40 range, and bouquets in the $250-$300 range.  That's why you'll see us give an approximate price or a price range in the photos we post on our blog or in our photo gallery.

If you're looking for the cheapest bouquet you can get, look into an arm bouquet or clutch of daisy pomps and/or carnations.  They are plentiful, inexpensive, and sturdy.  As for silk flowers--good silk flowers are sometimes as much or more than their real counterparts; cheap silks look cheap.

Want a few insider secrets for choosing your wedding flowers?  We shared a few with By-area writer Mike Adamcik, in his recent post "Interviews: Floral and funna …".  He's right, that's a terrible pun.

The interview's been up for a couple of days, but since we're on the beach at Hilton Head Island right now, we're a little behind in our blogging.

And now, something from the groom’s perspective. Mike Adamchik is a writer in the Bay Area who recounts his transision from bachelorhood to married man on his blog "Hitched: My last year as a bachelor...".  In addition to essays he’s written, Mike also answers submitted to his Ask Groomzilla section.  We make no guarantees as to the usefulness of any advice.

Something we’ve seen at many weddings lately is small bottles of asti spumanti, sometimes with homemade labels celebrating the bride and groom.  Along the same idea, but also a great idea to bring some local flavor to your reception, check out local wineries.  Many of them produce the small bottles, and some may even provide custom labels for your event.  It’s also very common (especially here in Pennsylvania) for couples to arrange for their own bar and tending services, adding local wines to your bar would give your reception both an exotic and local flavor.

We have a wedding at one local winery very soon—La Casa Narcisi Winery in Gibsonia, PA.  In addition to their wines, wineries also can be picturesque locations for showers, ceremonies and receptions.  We’ve also had the occasion to try several of the wines from nearby Rustic Acres Winery (right here in Butler), and they were very good.  If you’re not a fan of traditional wines, fruit wines or blends may be more your style, and local wineries will usually have a better selection of these than your typical wine store.  Local vintners can also work with you to pair the proper wine with your meal choices for the perfect meal.

If you’re unsure about choosing a wine, find a winery nearby and attend a tasting.  There, you’ll be able to sample various wines and learn about each one.  Here in Pennsylvania, you can find local wineries at http://www.pennsylvaniawine.com/.  We here around Pittsburgh are in the Pittsburgh Countryside region, with at least a dozen wineries close by. 

If you’ve had a good experience with a local winery or their wines, let us know.  Also, if you’re a local winery, please feel free to leave a comment below describing what you have for weddings and events.