Tips | Home Decoration Pro

Home Decoration Pro; Wedding Flower Planning

There are pluses and minuses when it comes to selecting live flowers or life-like for your wedding, whether it be large or small, indoor or outdoor. It takes plenty of planning, but you need to remember that silk flower arrangements and centerpieces are much more flexible than live florals. Before you discount either, lets take a look at the options and requirements.

It’s been said that planning a wedding starts with the dress, but begin with when and where for your once in a lifetime event. Here are the essentials when planning for your floral needs:

Floral colors wanted?
Type of flowers?
Availability?
Indoor or outdoor event?
Temperature controlled environment?
Are the flowers hardy enough to perform well?
Any allergies to florals (participants & attendees)?
Who will be in charge of arrivals?
Quantity of flowers needed?
Local florist or web order?
Who will accept and take care of the order?
Where will the flowers be stored (safely)?
Order date?
Arrival date?
Supplier experience and dependability?
Samples available?

Planning the Perfect Wedding

Silk Vs. Real Bridal Bouquets —powered by eHow.com
These are some of the more critical questions to ask when planning fresh floral arrangements or bouquets, but the list is much shorter and more flexible for silk floral bouquets, centerpieces, and arrangements. Some opt to use a combination of both, and that can be a great option, but if fashioning arrangements, dependable, skilled people are a must.

Hydrangeas and orchids prove they have staying power and maintain their status as the most popular fresh flowers for weddings. Calla lilies and roses have also been a poplular choice the last several years.

Lets check one of the fresh florals web sites and see what they suggest. Pacific Callas says hydrangeas are available year round at their site, and may be easier to keep fresh than most. An example at this publishing: price is $99 for 10 stems and includes over night shipping. They say “Please order as far in advance as possible to ensure availability. You can order your calla lily flowers no later than 2 days prior to your desired ship date.” For calla lilies there are 9 steps they recommend and six additional “tips” for making sure they’re ready when you are. Of course you will have plenty of time to take care of all of this since you won’t have any other details to be concerned with…….right? If ordering bulk flowers on the web, plan on them being arranged by someone you can depend on and keep it simple unless you have a skilled artisan.

If you’re leaning toward fresh, call a local florist shop first for availability and pricing. If you’re encouraged it’s time for a visit. Ask to see examples and past pictures and discuss the ordering process, delivery procedure, timing, and of course pricing. If you’re set on fresh and your local shop meets all your qualifications + no serious known allergies go ahead.

Small hand held bouquets made by a web supplier should be fine providing the timing and your maintenance environment upon arrival is correct. Do they have a phone number in case you have questions? Give them a call and see if you’re comfortable working with them.

Silk Flower Hydrangeas Arrangement

If you need centerpieces or arrangements, but not the hassle of fresh flowers check our site as we have beautiful examples of the most professionally crafted and designed silk floral arrangements available. If you don’t see the perfect one notify us about what you want, size, colors, flower type and number of arrangements 60 days or more before the event to be safe and we’ll get you an estimate.

For more on this subject check out Hanna Johansen’s blog article from the Iowa State Daily, and if you’d like to see an educational video about live flowers vs. silk flower bouquets check out the three minute video below.

Silk Vs. Real Bridal Bouquets — powered by ehow

Home Decoration Pro; Decorating Ideas With Velcro

Perhaps I should say “decorating with the use of Velcro,” but I got your attention and you’ll be glad to learn about the new system Velcro (registered brand name) has put together for attaching your favorite wall decor without damaging your walls. Not only that, but it’s going to be easy to use and no mess. As of the writing of this post, it’s probably not even available yet in most of the retail outlets that are scheduled to receive them first. I checked with our local Staples store, which is supposed to be one of the first, and they hadn’t even heard of it yet. I have a sample on order, and plan on doing a hands on review after it comes in, but it looks so promising I decided YOU need to know about it ASAP. Here are some of the advantages I see:

Ease of use
No damage to walls
Can hold up to 4 pounds
Easy to remove your art for cleaning & replace
Inexpensive
Remove cleanly
Versatile for many uses
No tools needed
Easy to level decor item
Low profile
Works on any smooth surface
Sets available for poster installations

So lets get into the details so you can stop knocking holes in your walls while trying to place your favorite wall sconces, pictures, or art designs on that empty wall space (or replace that old piece your mother-in-law gave you). There’s no need to be stressed anymore about placing your art productions onto your smooth walls if your art weighs less than 4 pounds and has enough smooth surfaces to attach the Velcro strips. “Each fastener set (1.5″ x 1″ strip & 1.75″ sq) holds up to 1 lb., do not hang items over 4 lbs.” Just clean the wall areas where your strips will go and place the Velcro with “hooks” pointing upward. There are even arrows on the Velcro backing to help you get that right. Then remove the covering for the adhesive. After applying the strips to the art in the areas needed, typically 2 corners for lighter pictures and 4 corners for heavier pictures, you need to remove the adhesive covers that will be pressed against the wall. Now, press firmly in at least a relatively level position. Now your picture is firmly attached to your wall…….except it may not be quite level. No problem, as now you can lift the picture upward slightly on the side that needs to be adjusted. Got it? Okay, now press firmly again and it looks great! You’re such a Pro! So in other words, you can adjust or even completely remove the picture for cleaning and then replace in seconds without hassle.

Poster being applied with Velcro tabs.

Posters and memo boards are not usually considered a decor item, but they can be useful in certain situations and if you work with them in the office or classroom you will find the new Velcro system to work beautifully with its versatility and lack of any damage to the item or the wall. No torn corners on the poster when you remove it from the wall (like tape), or left over tape on the wall or thumb tack wholes. Done with the poster? It’s easy to remove the adhesive from the poster without damage as it peels right off.

Another option offered for the holidays is Velcro garland ties which may also work with wreaths (not yet confirmed). Garlands can be strapped to outdoor rails, and I’m thinking a couple of ties carefully placed may be able to hold a wreath to a wall (indoor or out) which would make installation quick, easy, and painless.

So that’s pretty much it “in a nutshell.” That should save you some time and grief the next time you’re ready to apply a light weight object to a smooth surface wall, or maybe that new wreath or wall sconce set. Now the only problem is “What should I put in that empty space?”

Now, if you’re ready to see it in action check out the short video. You’re welcome!

Billy Goldmark, Silky Flower Store