If you want to use these flowers in your pieces–you will pay for it. They are on the expensive side. The wonderful thing is that you can mix in a couple blooms here and there if you your budget does not allow for an all-cymbidium orchid flower pallette.

Cymbidiums come in a wide array of colors. This is a link to a good website to see all the color options.

Happy planning!

Kim Martin — Floral Design Specialist — Florassentials — Columbia, MO

This tip may be a little late for most of you, but take note and make changes next year!

For those of you that missed our post last year, we ALWAYS recommend non pre-lit trees. Read more about that here. So how do you know how many lights to put on your non-lit tree?

To have a professional quality lit tree–a good general rule of thumb we follow is 100 lights for every foot of tree. For really wide and large trees, you will need to add more than 100 lights for every foot.

A couple other lighting tips:

• You always want to light the tree all the way around–even if it is in a corner or up against a wall. The lights on the back will show through the front and give it some additional dimension. Lighting the back might be a pain–but it will be worth it!
• When lighting a tree you should never wrap lights straight around on the outside of the branches. Lighting should go horizontally around the tree and you should work your way in and out on every branch. Again, doing this will give the tree some depth and dimension and the professional quality you are looking for.
• Start with your lights at the bottom! Plug in the set you are starting with and leave them lit as you put them on the tree. Putting on lights while they are lit will enable you to distribute them evenly.
• Never plug-in more lights end-to-end than recommended on the box. This will decrease your light life. It is short enough when you follow the instructions! 

Hope this helps down the road in your holiday decorating experiences! Happy decorating!

Kim Martin — Floral Design Specialist — Florassentials — Columbia, MO

Decorative mesh has taken holiday decor by storm! It’s a material that has been growing in use for the past couple years and it has finally come to our area!

Deco mesh comes in all colors and is a great addition to all or your holiday decor. You can buy it in 10 or 20 yard rolls and it is usually about 18″ wide. Some of the mesh will be rather thin–the more sparkly mesh will be a bit thicker and carry a slightly bigger price tag. It is usually made out of a plastic material, but the premium quality mesh will have a little foil mixed into it to give it that extra sparkle.

The mesh can be twisted, turned, looped, tucked and crossed in any way. Deco mesh really adds volume and texture in an instant. Its versatility makes it extremely easy to use! And not only is it versatile, based on our experiences it holds up very well outdoors!

We have been adding deco mesh to trees, wreaths, garlands, centerpieces and just about anything else we can think of!

Our tip for decorating this year: Before you drag all of your décor out or storage, pick up a couple rolls of mesh to really out do yourself this year! To see the colors of mesh we have available, click here!

Happy decorating!

Kim Martin — Floral Design Specialist — Florassentials — Columbia, MO

No matter how many times I post about it, the most common question we get is, “How much are my wedding flowers going to cost?” This is a difficult and very unpredictable question! You shouldn’t be surprised by a florist’s unwillingness to blindly throw out numbers at a brief encounter or in a quick email.  It is very hard for a florist to give an exact cost because so many variables are involved. We always reserve our cost estimates until we have had time to sit down and thoroughly talk through everything!

But back to the question at hand–the harsh, but honest truth: probably more than you think!

All weddings are going to have different components. Some will be just bouquets and boutonnieres; others will be rentals, centerpieces, church pieces, etc. The number of pieces you have and the size of your wedding will greatly affect your floral costs. Here are my best pieces of information for coming up with a realistic floral budget!

·         Your floral/decorating budget should be 20-30% of your over-all wedding budget. For example, if your total wedding budget is $10,000, you can look at spending $2,000-$3,000 on flowers and decorations.
·         The average wedding flower and decoration cost in Columbia is around $1,500; this amount  holds true for our business as well. This price range  would be a good starting point for a budget if you are having the “average” wedding. A large number of guests, special flower requests, and extensive decorations will certainly increase the price.
·         It is VERY difficult to do a flower centerpiece for less than $15. Most centerpieces you see in magazines are well over $50-$100 each. Centerpieces are the quickest way to rack up spending on wedding flowers. If you are working on a tight budget—you may consider creative  options for centerpieces. (We especially like to be creative and create unique pieces for our customers, whether they be floral or non-floral!)

I hope this information about floral costs gets you thinking in the right direction and provides useful to your wedding planning!

Kim Martin — Floral Design Specialist — Florassentials — Columbia, MO

What is not to love about daffodils? They are the first sure sign spring is just around the corner and you cannot help but feel happy when you look at them!

Daffodils are great flowers to use in a spring wedding and below are my top three reasons why.

#1) Daffodils are budget friendly—maybe even free! Most of us have them growing in our yard—or know someone who does. If you harvest them yourself, put them directly into plain water. The flowers should easily last for a couple of days without refrigeration! The only caution to using flowers from the yard is to make sure you have a backup plan; Mother Nature is very unpredictable!

#2) Daffodils make a bright, simple statement. It is hard to beat their bright yellow color; they are like little drops of sunshine! The monochromatic color scheme will give your flowers a sophisticated look and have a big impact on your tables or in your bouquets!

#3) Daffodils are easy to arrange yourself. Take a cluster of them and drop them into a mason jar for a fabulous centerpiece! While a bouquet or other pieces may not be something you want to tackle, it’s hard to go wrong with centerpieces. Doing your own centerpieces will not only save you money, but also show your talent too!

It’s hard not to love this bright, happy flower which has maximum impact and little cost!

Happy Spring!!!

Kim Martin — Floral Design Specialist — Florassentials — Columbia, MO

When it comes to planning flowers, or wedding planning in general, I know it can be a dreadful time for some brides. My goal is to make your flower planning as painless as possible!   To aid in the process I’ve put together three honest, real tips to make your flower planning a great experience–even if it’s not your forte!

1.  Do your homework.

When you are meeting with a florist about your wedding flowers—they want to hear what YOU want! Take some time to look through a wedding flower magazine or surf the web. Sometimes finding pictures of what you don’t like is as helpful as finding pictures of what you do like! You will get the most out of your consultation by being prepared and bringing pictures.

2.  Don’t be afraid to share your budget!

You can spend a lot of money really quickly when it comes to flowers! Before you go into a consultation, decide if you want your dream flowers—no matter the cost–or if you want your flowers to fit within a budget. If you decide you want your flowers to fit within a budget—and let’s face it, most of us do!—don’t be afraid to share that. Planning a budget friendly wedding takes a much different approach from a florist’s point of view!

3.  Keep an open mind about your flowers.

As you look through magazines and surf the web—realize that many of the flower pictures you see are very large and extravagant and sometimes not even real. Many of the pictures are things the average person could not afford. For example: Picture a dozen rose vase. It is a fairly standard arrangement and the average cost in this country is around $75. Count the number of blooms in the arrangement you are looking at. If it’s more than 12—you are probably looking at $100 for the arrangement!

Many pictures brides bring to me are not realistic for their budget and it really leads to disappointment in the end. Keep an open mind to your flowers—don’t get stuck on one picture! It’s best to find multiple pictures of different things you like—some may include flowers—others may not. A florist can then take all the pictures/ideas to create something that fits your style and is within your budget.

Kim Martin — Floral Design Specialist — Florassentials — Columbia, MO

Many of you probably feel like the holidays are over and all your decorations have been put away for weeks—but we are still wrapping up and packing away—so I thought it would be a good opportunity to get one last tip up here before we switch gears to weddings!

To be great holiday decorator, you have to be an amazing packer-upper! Every job has its down side—and packing away decorations is one that unfortunately comes with holiday decorating.

We have found it takes about 1/3 the time to take down decorations as it does to put them up. Just because decorations come down quickly, does not mean it can be done carelessly! If you are careless, you will pay for it next year.

The best tip I can offer is 1) to use twice as many containers as you think you need and 2) use separate containers for everything!

Cramming ribbons, decorative picks, ornaments, and lights all into one tiny little container will not have good results. Take your time and roll up ribbon and lights. If you don’t, you will be re-buying them next year. Ribbon does not un-wrinkle and lights do no un-break. Pack all wreaths, garlands, and swags into separate containers. Never stack them. Some materials never “fluff” back out quite the same. Don’t take any chances.

Those of us who like to decorate spend a lot of money on decorations. Unless you want to keep re-buying them year after year—take the time to pack them away properly. Let’s face it–an $8 container certainly costs less than a $40 wreath! It may seem like a waste of time now, but it will put a little smile on your face when you open the container next year !

Kim Martin — Floral Design Specialist — Florassentials — Columbia, MO

NEVER buy a pre-lit tree. Or anything pre-lit for that matter! Pre-lit may sound like less stress, time, and money, but that is not the case in the long run.

There is nothing more frustrating to a decorator than having to become an electrician!  With traditional lights, you can toss the strand and open a new box and TAADA–it’s fixed! When the lights are attached to a tree it complicates things a bit. Fixing pre-lit tree lighting is VERY time-consuming. And, I don’t know of too many people who have been successful at it!  

Based on our experiences, pre-lit trees will last a couple of years depending on how much you run them. When the lights burn out, the only way to remedy the problem is to wrap new strands of lights on top of the blown ones. If this isn’t a mess I don’t know what is!

Pre-lit trees are expensive. Unless you have the extra cash to replace a tree every couple of years, stick with a traditional tree and traditional lights. The most you will have to do from year-to-year is buy a couple new strands of inexpensive lights.

From someone who has experienced plenty of both, the pain of stringing lights every year is certainly easier than dealing with a section of a tree that does not work!

Kim Martin — Floral Design Specialist — Florassentials — Columbia, MO

If you feel like your tree could use a little sprucing—this is the tip for you!

The easiest, most cost-effective way to make fabulous changes to your tree is to add elements other than ornaments. By that I mean floral picks! Floral picks (or floral stems) can describe a lot of different things. They can be found anywhere that sells holiday florals and are usually multi-stemmed bunches or branches. They come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and textures. Some will have berries and others will be completely covered in glitter.

Once you get your picks home they are really easy to implement into your tree decorations. You can use the pick in a whole piece or cut it into multiple pieces. You will take the pieces and push them into the tree. It’s that easy! You want to have enough picks to make a statement—but not so many that the tree becomes overwhelmed.

Floral picks will add a new texture and dimension to your tree. It is an extremely easy way to really spruce everything up! Give it a try—I bet it turns out better than you think! If not, we are always here to help you clean up the mess!

Happy decorating!