Bouquets : A Year of Flowers
for the Bride (Hardcover)
Book Description
The bridal bouquet is a tradition in
almost every culture on Earth. Year after year, millions
of women walk down the aisle, each carrying a personalized
blend of carefully selected, artfully assembled flowers.
To ensure that one's bridal bouquet lives forever in the
memories of all those who share the day, this exquisite
book introduces 40 original arrangements to complement
the wedding gown, celebrate a special theme, honor a treasured
family custom-and keep shaky hands occupied.
Gorgeous photography showcases each season's variety and
diversity of flowers in creations from the simple to the
elaborate: daises with ivy for the June bride; a mid-summer
bundle of fragrant herbs; mistletoe and roses for a Christmas
Eve wedding; hydrangeas with glass beads and tiny sea
shells for a seaside ceremony; an Asian fan with amaranthus
and chrysanthemum for an autumn reception. With detailed
directions for wiring, taping, using tools, and choosing
and grooming flowers, leaves and ribbons, Bouquets enables
every bride-to-be, mother, sister, and friend to recreate
these designs-or inspire the florist to fashion the perfect
handful of flowers for that special day.
About the Author
Established San Francisco-based floral designer MARSHA
HECKMAN has planned more than one hundred weddings-and
teaches courses on how to do it. The work of San Francisco-based
food and travel photographer RICHARD JUNG has appeared
in four cookbooks and in such magazines as Travel &
Leisure, Sunset, Better Homes and Garden, and Metropolitan
Home.
Excerpted from Bouquets : A Year
of Flowers for the Bride by Marsha Heckman, Richard Jung.
Copyright © 2000. Reprinted by permission.
All rights reserved
The Bridal Bouquet is a tradition in almost every culture
on Earth, and in this exquisite book, floral designer
Marsha Heckman crates forty original bouquets to complement
the wedding gown, communicate a special meaning, honor
a family tradition, and keep shaky hands occupied.
Organized seasonally, the book provides
three or four bouquets for every month of the year, each
one exploiting the amazing variety and diversity of flowers
available throughout the year. From daises with ivy for
the August bride to mistletoe and roses for a Christmas
Eve bouquet; from hydrangeas with glass beads and tiny
seashells for a wedding by the sea to an Asian fan with
amaranthus and chrysanthemum for an autumn reception to
a bouquet of fragrant herbs for July, these unique designs
are gorgeously photographed Each one is accompanied by
step-by-step directions for wiring and taping, choosing
flowers, leaves and ribbons, grooming the flowers, and
making handles.
An integral part of the wedding, flowers
provide beauty, perfume, and color. They help define the
theme of the event. Bridal bouquets live forever in the
wedding photographs and in the memories of all those who
share in the day. "Bouquets" will help every
bride-to-be, mother, sister, and friend recreate these
bouquets or will inspire the florist to fashion that perfect
handful of flowers the bride carries down the aisle. Here
is the ideal engagement or shower gift for any prospective
bride.
Review: An excellent how-to book for beautiful
wedding bouquets!
This is the book to get if you want to make fresh wedding
bouquets for a wedding. Especially helpful are the detailed
materials list for each bouquet project, plus an estimate
of how far in advance the bouquet can safely be made.
Each project features flowers that are in-season for the
time of year stated in the book, and styles range from
the traditional to the unique and unusual. There is something
here for every taste! I highly recommend this book!
Review: Stunning arrangements,
but not for beginners
I bought this book together with "Creative Wedding
Florals You Can Make" to get ideas for the flowers
for my wedding in June. I am making my own bouquets and
arrangements. As a gardener, I know a lot about flowers,
but I have never tried anything like this before. The
arrangements in this book are creative and absolutely
beautiful, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is
looking for creative ideas to give to a florist, or to
someone who has experience in putting together floral
arrangements. However, if you have never done floral design
before, I would suggest that you buy another book along
with this one (such as "Creative Wedding Florals")
to supplement the how-to information in this book.
The bouquets are arranged according to season, but many
can be used throughout the spring and summer. They include
mixtures of garden flowers, roses, lilies, herbs, and
hydrangeas, and the pictures are absolutely gorgeous.
There are also instructions and ideas on how to make corsages
and boutonnieres that complement the bouquets, which I
found very helpful.
All in all, this is an excellent resource
book for ideas, but it is a bit weak on the instructions.
Review: Inspirational
This book is truly beautiful and will inspire anyone to
instantly plan a dinner party, a tea, a wedding or shower(actually,
any kind of gathering!) in order to put all the wonderful
ideas to use. There are so many creative and innovative
suggestions for setting a table and it made me look at
things I already own in new ways. I also appreciated the
suggestions for borrowing from friends and family or purchasing
inexpensive pieces to make my old presentations look fresh
and new.
It is so hard to pick a favorite from among
all those shown - but the Day of the Dead celebration
and the white summer wedding are spectacular. The children's
birthday in the park will give mothers some great suggestions
for a unique party - including menu and recipes.
Review: Beautiful Photos,
Great Ideas
I was looking for a unique yet elegant bouquet for my
wedding, and I found it in this book. I loved the beautiful
photography and the seasonal ideas. It was nice to see
something different from the huge, over-the-top arrangements
you find in bridal magazines. I made a color copy of my
dream bouquet from this book, and my florist recreated
it for me. I would recommend this book for both florists
and brides alike!
The Knot Book of Wedding Flowers (Hardcover)
Amazon.com
For every bride (and her mother), The Knot Book
of Wedding Flowers provides an invaluable and inspirational
guide for planning a perfect storybook event--be it a
private family affair or an all-out bash in a hotel ballroom.
Author Carley Roney, editor-in-chief of The Knot online
wedding planning site, which has branched out to offer
this and other books (like The Knot's Complete Guide to
Weddings in the Real World), provides extensive information,
friendly advice, and helpful tips for brides of every
budget. Special features of the book include beautifully
illustrated glossaries of a wide variety of common wedding
flowers as well as surveys of the various shapes and styles
of bouquets, centerpieces, guest favors, and boutonnieres.
How-to sections help the bride decide on her floral style
and palette--deep red or purple flowers are popular modern
choices, and of course all-white weddings remain perennially
popular. Do-it-yourself instructions, clearly illustrated,
help brides create their own flower decorations. And even
brides with very deep pockets will appreciate the guide
to choosing a florist, as well as the timeline planner
and sample worksheets at the back of the book. Throughout,
150 glorious color photos seem practically fragrant. --Judy
Fireman
Book Description
From bouquets to boutonnieres, corsages to centerpieces,
The Knot Book of Wedding Flowers features everything a
bride needs to know about those all-important details.
This lavishly illustrated book includes more than 150
color photographs and a wealth of useful information.
Featuring page after page of beautiful arrangements, a
fully photographed glossary of popular wedding flowers,
advice on finding and working with a florist, step-by-step
instructions for creating a host of floral accents by
hand, and explanations of floral terminology, this is
a book to be enjoyed well beyond a wedding. From the ceremony
arrangements to the posies for the bridesmaids, this comprehensive
resource guides the happy couple through every aspect
of floral decoration.
About the Author
Carley Roney is founder and editor in chief of The Knot,
one of the nation’s leading wedding media companies. She
is the author of several wedding books, including the
companion volume to this book, The Knot Book of Wedding
Gowns (0-8118-3223-6).
Review: Not enough information included
I was hoping this book, since it focuses on flowers,
would have pictures and small descriptions of most of
the flowers a couple might choose for their wedding. However,
this book is very limited in that regard. It's as if they
settled on the top-seller flowers, put in a photo and
description of those, and then threw the rest out. Because
of that, this book was not very helpful to me. I went
to see the florist a lot less informed then I thought
I was, and ended up choosing several flowers that I didn't
even know about because they're not in this book.
The pictures are pretty, but way too much
was left out for this book to be functional.
Review: very thorough and inspiring
I loved this book. It's great for anyone who likes flowers,
even after you plan your wedding. I don't know what people
are complaining about in the other reviews--this book
walks you through FIFTY of the most commonly selected
flowers for weddings! How many more do you need? Most
flower shops probably don't carry more than that throughout
the year. There are beautiful pictures and descriptions,
and the rest of the book is very thorough with info on
how to choose the different floral elements of your wedding.
Review: Wedding Flower Woes
This book had beautiful pictures of many different flowers.
The section with a description and picture of each flower
was great.
I was disappointed that it didn't have many pictures of
arrangements for a church. Of course, most books and wedding
websites don't. If you are looking for centerpiece and
bouquet ideas, this is the book for you. But if you need
ideas for arrangements for a church ceremony, this isn't
where to find them.
Review: Beautiful flowers
There werent enough flower choices, but the ones that
were shown were beautiful, and I really enjoyed choosing
which flowers I wanted. This book gave me a good idea
of what to expect and look for in flowers, and I really
appreciated the fact that the meanings of the flowers
was included in it. (I even got my fiance to look at it)
:0 Great Book!
Review: Wonderful book and great
photos - a must buy!
This book not only helped me select my wedding flowers,
but I've lent it to two brides-to-be and got rave reviews.
I even used it as a guide in creating bride and bridesmaid
bouquets for my friend's recent wedding (I have to admit
that I did have a bit of additional experience prior!).
The book goes through each flower alphabetically and tells
you when each is in season and their meanings. It also
guides its reader by explaining each type of bouquet by
shape and includes step by step instructions on how to
create a centerpiece, bouquet and boutineer. I highly
recommend this book to any bride or amateur floral designer.
Wedding Flowers (Hardcover)
Book Description
Wedding Flowers taps into the desire of
every bride to make her wedding day special. The choice
of flower color, fragrance, and display is one of the
most effective and fun ways to do so. Wedding Flowers
will give the bride the confidence and ability to design
her own floral theme and work with a florist to execute
it, or perhaps even undertake some of the arrangements
herself for a truly personal touch. The book explores
wedding traditions as well as making suggestions for how
a modern bride can depart from them. It addresses every
type of seasonal concern; distinguishes decorative, ceremony,
and reception flowers; provides great ideas for floral
accessories; and, of course, devotes a lot of consideration
to the all-important matter of the bridal bouquet. With
step-by-step instructions throughout, the book demonstrates
how brides, bridesmaids, friends, and family can make
some of Paula's most popular wedding flower arrangements
themselves.
About the Author
Paula Pryke has over fifteen years of experience at creating
beautiful weddings. Her work is featured regularly in
all the leading magazines. Wedding Flowers builds on the
success of her five previous titles: Simple Flowers; Festive
Flowers; Flowers, Flowers; Flair with Flowers; and Living
Color. She works as a floral consultant and has her own
school for floral arrangement and design in London. Always
a trendsetter, Paula Pryke continues to innovate with
this latest title.
Review:Wedding Flowers
Paula Pryke Wedding Flowers is a wonderful book. The bouquets
are absolutely beautiful and inspiring. She provides excellent
directions. Festive Flowers by Pryke is another great
book.
Wedding Flowers Made Simple: Over 80 Glorious
Floral Designs for That Special Day (Paperback)
Review: Wedding Flowers Made Simple
Great Work!! I'm a florist and am constantly gathering
information for my artistry.
Review: Wedding Flowers Made Simple:
Over 80 Glorious Floral Designs for That Special Day
The photography in the book was beautiful but the bouquets
were not practical for most brides. I did like that flowers
were identified with amounts needed.
Review: Wedding Flowers Made
Simple:Over 80 Glorious Floral Designs for That Special
Day
This book give more inspiration...
Sensational Bouquets by Christian Tortu
: Arrangements by a Master Floral Designer (Hardcover)
Amazon.com
"Nature is a good guide; it teaches us everything,"
says master floral designer Christian Tortu. It is the
perfect summation of his work. Unpretentious yet stunningly
beautiful, Tortu's arrangements have drawn inspiration
directly from his childhood treks through the countryside
of his native town of Anjou, France.
Sensational Bouquets by Christian Tortu is at once an
intimate profile of the artist--who has designed floral
arrangements for Dior and Chanel, as well as for the Cannes
Film Festival--and a useful guide to how he creates his
exciting and unique bouquets.
Tortu always looks to nature for inspiration.
There, he finds freedom: of form, of color, of scent,
all mixed together flawlessly, without artifice or ostentation.
Paying homage to nature's inherent sense of design, Tortu
creates stunning arrangements while bending all the rules
of traditional flower arranging. Unexpected plants join
in clever, surprising combinations to celebrate the drama
of nature--of birth and death, and everything in between.
Garden roses nestle in a tangle of blackberry branches
much as they would in an overgrown garden. Wild thistles
poke their prickly blossoms out of a bunch of softer,
rounder bred thistles and speak of a miraculous harmony
between wild and cultivated plants. Green almonds, lotus
fruit, and poppy capsules come together in an enthralling
play of yellow against green.
As if Sylvain Thomas's sumptuous photographs
of Tortu's arrangements weren't inspiration enough, the
text of Sensational Bouquets reads like poetry. This book
will both motivate and guide readers to toss out what
they've learned about flower arranging and let nature
and their own unbridled intuition dictate how they assemble
their next gathering of wild and/or cultivated plants.
--Robin Donovan
Book Description
This gorgeous volume celebrates the floral designs of
Christian Tortu, who has dazzled followers the world over
with his ability to create novel compositions that show
off the shapes, colors, textures, and singular beauty
of individual flowers to their ultimate advantage. He
has designed flowers for the great fashion houses of Dior
and Chanel as well as for the Cannes Film Festival. From
a simple yet striking circular bouquet of tulips tied
in raffia to glorious bursts of dahlias in wax vases,
from delicate rose petals and orchids floating in silver
shells to an enchanting mix of water lilies and hyacinths
in transparent glass, more than 100 color photographs
taken exclusively for this book bring to life the astonishing
still-life arrangements of this internationally heralded
French floral designer. This lavishly illustrated volume
will be a treasured gift for all plant and flower lovers.
Review:Indulge your Eye and Insight
SENSATIONAL BOUQUETS BY CHRISTIAN TORTU is a visual treat
as well as a learning inspiration for approaching that
most personal craft of bringing the garden into the home
- gathering and arranging flowers. Christian Tortu apparently
has a following in Paris where he has a florist shop which
has emphasized his creed of "All plants are born
free and created equal." Having learned his craft
and his passion for the natural garden from his parents
as he matured in the Anjou gardens, gathering flowers
from nature to place at the disposal of clients who yearn
for the beauty of the garden to enter their home in ways
other than window views, Tortu doesn't believe in the
traditional 'sprays' of flowers place in an expensive
family heirloom vase on a sterile table. Instead he combines
fruit, vines, all phases of a flower's life ( bud, blossom,
denuded vestige ) with grasses and all the elements found
in the natural setting of his flowers. The results are
lush, compact, original thoughts that are startlingly
beautiful.
This is writer Corine Delahaze's first outing and she
shows promise of a fine observor and poet. The photography
is by Sylvain Thomas and emphasizes the closeup details
as well as the free-standing wonders of Tortu's designs.
The combination of text and photographs balances well
with Tortu's creations. There is much more to learn about
nature than just an ordinary treatise on flower arranging
here. In Tortu's words "Nature is a place of total
freedom. All plant life is accepted as equal." And
from this humble belief Tortu lifts the spirit as well
as the imagination with his artist's gift.
Review: Intriguing New Ways
to Look at Flowers!
I enjoyed this book very much. Sensational Bouquets is
rich in new thoughts about what flowers and plants represent,
filled with novel arrangements, and is enriched by outstanding
photography of those arrangements. After reading and viewing
this book, you will never think about nature and natural
beauty in quite the same way. You will be the richer for
the experience, because your sense of beauty will expand
as a result.
Christian Tortu grew up on a truck farm in Anjou, and
is proud of his agricultural roots. Now he designs backdrops
for fashion shows and the Cannes Film Festival. He operates
floral shops in major cities around the world.
Let me share a little of his philosophy,
as described in the many sections he wrote for the book.
"Each plant is a fragment of a landscape . . . ."
In his arrangements, he creates that sense of landscape
in a way that I have never seen before in flower arrangements.
Nature is palpable in them.
"If man were to stop rushing around
for one moment, he might take a look at flowers -- and
then take a closer look." I remember having that
experience in the orchid garden in Honolulu. I was enthralled
with the beautiful blossoms in my 20 minute self-guided
tour. As I was about to leave, an elderly gentleman asked
me if I would like to have some help in looking around.
I agreed, and spent the next three hours going over the
same ground with him. Except I saw about 100 times as
much with his help. I was astonished at how many delightful
orchids I had totally missed in my haste (and I had thought
I was being leisurely).
"In time, his convictions would crumble,
and he would realize classification is fruitless even
beyond flowers." People love to judge, and that judgment
gets in the way of really seeing and experiencing life.
So these arrangements are a metaphor for breaking down
our closed mental sets.
The basic premise is that "all flowers
are created equal." Weeds and shrubbery get as much
attention as rare orchids. And the moment of perfection
is not all that is explored. " . . . [E]very stage
of the flower is a moment that deserves attention."
One bouquet even captures burned foliage and flowers after
a fire. Seeing these images makes one realize the truth
of these observations. " . . . [I]n the name of harmony,
each one [arrangement] has its own touch of anarchy."
Mr. Tortu changes things in terms of color,
type of composition, and form. I was especially fascinated
by his many monochromatic arrangements, especially the
green bouquets.
The book is done in sections: Genesis; Revolution(s);
Crossroads; and the Chronicle of a Black Bouquet. Using
these themes makes it easier to appreciate the statements
his designs make.
Here are my favorites in the book:
Agave foliage with euchasis in gray wax
vases
Green tomatoes and basil, tomato flowers,
dog rose fruit and vine foliate
Green arum lilies, tea grass, viburnum,
and narcissus buds
Garlic flower and nasturtium
Nasturtium, wild strawberries, and blackberries
Privet berries and King Arthur orchids
Lime tree branches and iris
Violets
White hyacinth, and catmint
Osage orange, pears and chayote, quince,
eggplant, and begonia
After you enjoy this delightful book, I
suggest that you take some other element of nature and
see how arranging it differently changes your perceptions.
Now that it is spring, you could start by taking fresh
shoots and making arrangements of them in new combinations,
new shapes, and in different types of containers.
Open your mind to the potential of new combinations,
expressed in new ways!
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