Wedding flowers—bouquets, boutonnieres, and ceremony and reception décor—are an important part of the wedding day. However, after the event, those florals don’t really last. Guests may take home a centerpiece to enjoy at home or a bridesmaid may admire her blooms for the rest of the weekend, but they don’t have staying power unless they’re somehow preserved.
The term forever florals refers to flowers made from alternate materials that offer longevity and other benefits, too. After silk flowers, wood is a popular second choice to real stems. At Curious Floral, a Folsom-based company that offers sola wood, dried/preserved and silk flowers, about 50% of business is from sola wood floral sales, says owner and floral designer Samantha Skinner.
According to Skinner, their long-lastingness is just one reason brides and grooms choose wood flowers. “Sola wood flowers are always in season, so our clients aren’t restricted by seasonal availability,” Skinner says. With no limits on color (sola wood flowers at Curious Flowers are hand dyed), shape, size or varietal, couples can choose wooden versions of popular stems or ask for out-of-this-world designer florals.
Taking a little power away from Mother Nature lessens stress surrounding floral availability and removes last-minute snafus with planting, timing and transportation. “Using wood flowers allows you to have your completed flowers days or even weeks before your wedding,” Skinner says. They travel well and can be transported long distances for destination weddings. As an added perk, wood florals often cost less than traditional fresh flowers.
