speaking of flowers...

[glaucomflecken]

anybody using silks? I know its not the popular option/considered tacky by some but myself and my sister have bad allergies esp around October and I am not risking the red watery eyes on my wedding day...they will be red and watery enough from crying! plus flowers are not that important to me and i cant fathom spending loads on a florist, and am too much of a worry wart to buy fresh ones and DIY the night or two before.

So, if you have and were pleased, where did you buy them from? are the silks at michaels or hobby lobby quality or should I order online a better quality silk? my fear is not knowing what they look like in person if i get off the internet. were they hard to arrange if you did them yourself? i have a coworker who was a florist who is helping me.

we are doing simple hand tied bouquets for the girls.

thanks!!!

 

[teebee]

We aren''t doing silks but if you get a chance, go by Hobby Lobby and see if they have these amazing roses that I''ve seen at ours. They aren''t really fabric, but are more like a soft plastic material? I''m not explaining it well at all, but they looked just perfect ~ far and away much better than any fabric flower I''ve ever seen. I also saw the same type of material used to make calla lillies and they were also very realistic. You would be somewhat limited in your color choice, but at the Hobby Lobby here they had at least 2 rose colors that I thought were really beautiful. Very vibrant but not fakey bright looking, if that makes sense.... Hope that helps... Oh, and I haven''t seen anything worthwile at Michaels ~ their flowers do look so terribly fake to me.

 

[qtiekiki]

I wouldn''t be comfortable ordering them off the internet. I had seen some silks that look very realistic. They are usually fabric ones that have a really soft look to it. I had seen the plasticky ones that look horrible. I think you really do have to look at them in person to make sure they looks good to you because everyone has different opinions on what look good. We don''t have hobby lobby here, so I don''t know how their selection is. With Michaels, it''s depend on the store - I saw great selection in the Michaels in San Leandro, CA and not much of a selection in Pasadena, CA.

 

[glaucomflecken]

thanks ladies for the info. you know, i am thinking now maybe i should risk the allergies (I have never been alergic to roses before but you never know...) and order fresh ones and do it myself. I am going to price compare too, but I have heard Hobby Lobby has better silks than Micheals.

thanks!!!!

 

[aphisiglovessae]

I''m planning on doing silks for my wedding. And no, I''m not hiring anyone to do them for me. I have a whole year and I am an artist, so I''m doing it all myself. I won''t have a lot of arrangments anyway. Couple of reasons why: It''ll be a heck of a lot cheaper (from what I''ve calculated) and my parents have some pretty nasty pollen allergies. Plus, some of the flowers I want are super expensive fresh and might be hard to get. But I think the number one reason for me would be: Fresh flowers die!!!! Why spend 2 grand on some flowers that will only last a week, two weeks max? At least with silks you can have some gorgeous flower arrangements for your home afterwards and your bridesmaids can have a cute one for theirs? Just my two cents.

 

[abradabra]

The best silks I''ve seen are at actual floral shops. I would talk to your local florist and see if he/she has any suggestions.

 

[teebee]

hey PNP ~ I stopped by Hobby Lobby after class and took a look at those roses I mentioned. They are called Natural Touch or something like. What it looks like is that they are indeed a fabric flower but the fabric seems to be coated with something that gives it a much more life-like feel & look. They have a much larger color selection than when I first saw them and also come in different bloom sizes. I grabbed about 5 and bunched them together just to see how easy/difficult it might be to arrange them for a bouquet and I thought that they looked very nice without much manipulation ~ add a few more blooms and a pretty ribbon on the stems and I think you''d have a lovely bouquet... I didn''t really check the price though but I think they are kinda pricey. But, they don''t die so.... just depends on what you''re priorities are.

 

[jellybean]

One of my girlfriends used silk flowers for her wedding a couple of years ago. She got hers from Michael''s, and while I wasn''t crazy about them, she did get a lot of compliments.

I think the reason I didn''t like them is because she chose colors that were kind of unrealistic. I was a bridesmaid in the wedding and our dresses were called "champagne" but the color was more like a rum pink. The round bouquets were hydrangeas that were two shades of pink - something I had never seen in person. The bride''s bouquet was a big cascading one of hydrangeas that were this bluish/purple color along with some of the pink ones from our bouquets. To me it just looked fake.

For my wedding we had tall pilars with hurricane lamps on top (candles inside the lamps) lining the aisle of the church. My two aunts decorated them with silk ivy and stephanotis. I did get the ivy and flowers from Michaels and everyone thought they were real. They did turn out gorgeous.

Sometimes smaller flowers look more real than the bigger ones. That''s my $.02.

 

[teebee]

I totally agree with JB ~ I think that what makes some silks tacky are the strange and unatural colors that some are made in... I mean, even real white roses are not a bright white like a lot of silks, but an ivory hue... and blue??? don''t get me started....

 

[glaucomflecken]

Hey girls

I went to Hobby Lobby and Michaels today. Michaels flowers were YUCK O! But there were the ones that Tee Bee saw at HL called True Touch or something like that and they were SO real looking and feeling! The only thing was the white roses had pink tint to them so the colors were limited. I have to research more pros and cons!