Silk Wedding Flowers - A Year Round Solution

Flowers are an integral part of any wedding. From the bride's bouquet and the decoration at the wedding ceremony to the reception, flowers appear literally everywhere and it would be hard to imagine a wedding without flowers. But how would you feel about having silk wedding flowers?

If you're anything like me then your first reaction will probably be a definite no! The idea of using artificial flowers at a wedding is simply unthinkable. Well, think again.

I have just returned from a trip to the Far East where I saw some of the most magnificent floral arrangement that I have ever seen – and every single one of them was artificial. I couldn't believe it when I was told and had to actually touch the flowers to distinguish them from the real thing. Some had even been perfumed so that they actually smelled like the real thing. It was almost unbelievable.

Artificial flowers are nothing new of course and the tradition of making artificial flowers is believed to have started with the Chinese and dates back hundreds of years. Taken up by the Italians in the twelfth century, the art of making flowers from the cocoons of silkworms was developed and was then taken over and perfected by the French. Indeed, history records that in 1775 Marie Antoinette was presented with a silk rosebud and is said to have been so overcome by its perfection that she feinted.

Shortly after this the French Revolution forced many of the French flower makers to flee to England from where the craft was taken to the Americas by English settlers.

For many years florists looked down on dried and artificial flowers as being inferior, but this is changing today and many florists now regularly use artificial flowers, and in particular silk flowers, in floral arrangement where they frequently mix both natural and silk flowers together.

Against this background it is easy to see the benefits of silk wedding flowers.

You no longer need to worry about whether or not flowers are in season and bear the expense of flying in out-of-season blooms. Neither do you need to face the mad hectic rush of having an army of people arranging the flowers right up to the minute of the ceremony for fear that they will wilt before the guests arrive.

If you would like to have spring flowers for your wedding in October then that's fine and if you'd like to fill the church with sunflowers in March that's equally fine. The possibilities are endless.

And what better keepsake could you have of your special day than some of the flowers from your wedding to help decorate those special events in the future such as your wedding anniversary or the christening of your first child.

The idea of using silk wedding flowers is not quite as crazy as it seems.