A wedding without flowers is like a birthday without garlands; the party is not complete. Roses, carnations, shades of sand, and vibrant colors all feature in the many summer weddings that florists are planning.
The wedding season is in full swing for Ira van Dijke of Bloemwerk Ira van Dijke in Sint-Annaland with around 93 weddings planned. Some of these are already behind her, but there are also quite a few in the pipeline for which she provides the flowers.
Surprise
"I don't have mega weddings, so 93 is manageable if all I have to do for a couple is make a bouquet and corsages. I do limit myself to no more than five weddings a week, as I also work alone. With the couples who come to me, I always broadly discuss how the process will go. They usually choose a certain style for the flowers, and I work that out. So it's a bit of a surprise for the bride and groom when the bouquet is picked up or when I deliver the floral work to the venue."
Roses remain favorite
Ira notices that she is seeing a lot of loosely tied bridal bouquets this season: "Like every year, the sand tones are popular again, but this year I notice that it can all be a bit looser, like a field bouquet." Despite the style being a bit looser, the type of flowers used in floral arrangements is not changing, Ira says. "Roses remain a favorite, in all shapes and sizes. Actually, I use them in every bouquet or flower arrangement as a base. I usually use Ecuador roses or Vip Roses, and sometimes the Princess Maya. For beautiful flower arrangements, I like to use a number of more expensive roses in addition to the cheaper varieties. Apart from roses, I also see a lot of seasonal flowers. Dry flowers were popular in recent years, but you really see them less and less."
Wholesalers
She buys the flowers from several different wholesalers, but mostly from Hoek Flowers in Rijnsburg. "The advantage with wholesalers is that they deliver to my home, so I don't have to drive back and forth to get the flowers. If I order before 5 pm, I sometimes have them in my shed by 10 pm. Sometimes, I wake up the next morning and see that they have been delivered during the night, ideal!" laughs Ira. "If I have a wedding on Friday, the flowers are in by Tuesday. That way, they have enough time to open up."
Just enough
"I've always had enough flowers. I only buy what I need and don't have any extras," she explains. "So I haven't really had any problems with availability in recent months, despite there being fewer flowers in the market. Sustainability is important to me, and I really want to throw away as little as possible, so I only buy what I am going to use."
Lisette Bouwense of Unique Flowers by Lisette has 35 weddings planned this year and is now well over halfway through. For almost five years, she has been working as a freelance florist for weddings and events, and can regularly be found at the wholesaler in Middelburg, where she gathers all kinds of flowers for her bridal arrangements.
She says: "August is surprisingly busy this year, which was not the case in previous years. September will also be very busy, but that has always been a popular wedding month. At every wedding, I always provide a bouquet and a corsage for the groom, but nowadays you also see a backdrop with flowers at the ceremony more often. I always look at what is needed in terms of floral arrangements and styling for each couple. I don't like working with fixed packages."
Seasonal flowers
"I work a lot with roses, such as Vip Roses, but I also use a lot of lisianthus, peonies, and carnations in all kinds of beautiful colors. I also like working with dahlias, but if they are not in season, I use chrysanthemums instead. I really prefer working with seasonal flowers because they bring variety to my flower arrangements, which I like," says Lisette.
Trends
"What kind of flowers I use at a wedding depends very much on the colors chosen by the bride and groom. At the moment, I see that floral arrangements at weddings can be very colorful again, with lots of field flowers. That makes me very happy. It's quite a big change from pastel and sand tones, which I've seen a lot of in recent years, to more color." Lisette laughs: "It may sound a bit irreverent, but I'm glad that nowadays all flowers are actually used in bridal work and not just roses to make 'cauliflowers.'"
For more information:
Bloemwerk Ira van Dijke 
Tel: +31 6 46354717
[email protected]
www.bloemwerkiravandijke.nl
Unique Flowers by Lisette 
Tel: +31 6 51740517
[email protected]
www.uniqueflowersbylisette.nl www.uniqueflowersbylisette.nl