Should You Pick Real or Artifical Floral?

Article for The Spectrum
by: Julie Hinton at Forevermore Events

Photograph from Orchids and Companyhttp://orchids.squarespace.com displaying a real and an artifical bouquet.
Can you spot which is which?

Dusty, coarse, frayed edges and great-aunt Gertrude all come to mind when thinking of those taboo words in wedding floral: fake flowers. Many reception venues even state in their contracts that artificial flowers are not allowed to cross their thresholds.

Fake floral has received a bad name for not being used correctly, being poor in quality and being just plain outdated. Fortunately artificial flowers have come along way in the past decade.

"The sad muted flowers with frayed edges and weird leaf centers are not the only choices available for event designs anymore," said Lindsey Madsen, owner of Orchids and Company. "By using a variety of fabrics, fibers, specialty dyes, UV coating, hand painting and numerous other techniques have made it beautiful and easy to incorporate artificial flowers. So the dreaded fake flowers have become fabulous fauxs."

A question a bride needs to ask herself when deciding to go artificial or fresh floral is which will fit her look and event best. Professional floral designers can help you know which works best for you.

If the florist is asking numerous questions, almost to the point that you feel like a guest on a game show, then take a deep breath, that is actually a good sign," Madsen said.

Getting to know the nature of the event, where the flowers are being used, the timeline of events, and if children or pets are in the bridal party, will help determine which look will work best for your event.

A misunderstanding about artificial floral is that it is more cost effective than using the real thing....

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