Planning ahead for our wedding, we started thinking yesterday about flowers. If you asked either of us what our favourite flower is, we’d both say the same thing: tulips.
In the spring, I really love to have tulips in my house – they are always such pretty colours and I love their simplicity!
I’ve always fancied going to see the tulip gardens or ‘Keukenhof’ in Holland; perhaps I’ll visit next year. Just look at this sea of tulips, bobbing in the breeze!
So we both love the idea of having tulips at our wedding. I’m also pleased because deciding on a flower seems to be quite an easy thing to do this far in advance, and we can tick something off our list!
More complicated things like bridesmaids dresses, suits, music, cars and other things are still filed under ‘to-do!’ On the plus side, we have our whole bridal party now, and what a fab group of people they are. Can’t wait to have our best friends with us on the day.
OK, back to the tulips. I had a little look (read: 4 hours) on Pinterest for tulippy wedding ideas. And wow, can you be creative with those delicate little flowers!
This simple arrangement of tulips fading from purple to white, which originally featured on the blog, Beautiful-Bridal, is just gorgeous. Something I’ve just found out about tulips is that they continue to grow (albeit slightly) when they have been cut, so arrangements are best made as last minute as possible.
On a slightly more flamboyant note, how dazzling is this bouquet of pale orange tulips?
This mouth-watering arrangement was snapped at a wedding in the Philippines. You can read about it on this lovely website called Wedding Colors. Beware if you live in a chilly or unpredictable weather country such as the UK; you may suffer weather and palm-tree envy!
Tulips are so elegant and feminine: just look at this oh-so-pretty bouquet idea I found on The Enchanted Cove.
Another handy tip about tulips is to push a pin through the stem, just below the flower. This stops the flower from taking up too much water and becoming top heavy, which leads to them drooping a little. I found this out years ago when I read a lovely book called ‘The Flower Shop Year’ by Sally Page. (I was going through a I-want-to-be-a-florist phase. Unfortunately I am still not a florist 🙁 )
Anyway, I digress. Back to the tulips.
Ahh! Look at these fabulous bright bundles, teamed with colourful ribbons, found here.
And these squashed-in little beauties found on the addictive songbird blog.
(Marianne has some lovely creative ideas on her blog. I love this one!) Wouldn’t this be a great centrepiece idea.
I always feel a little bit sorry for tulips squished into a low vase, but I think they mustn’t mind because they’re sturdier than they look, and it’s a great way to show them off.
I also love this centrepiece idea of popping a lot of tulips with shortish stems into a small jar or even an old paint can (I knew I’d find a use for the many old Chalk Paint cans I have).
One of the great things about tulips is that they need so little preparation – all they really need is to be trimmed down to size and popped in some kind of vessel. And hey presto, a beautiful flower display.
Happy flower arranging!
Helen xx