Peony Guide: From Wedding Bouquet To Decor

Peonies – the most popular and favorite brides flowers for bouquets and decoration. This is not surprising – lush, delicate in color and texture, they solemnly look and smell delicious. We decided to tell all about peonies and called the flower studio “Summer Day” to help us. The studio team shared the most important secrets: when to buy flowers, which varieties to choose, with what to combine and how to care for a wedding bouquet of peonies.

Seasonality

The season of peonies is limited: it starts in May, reaches a peak in June, and in the following summer months begins to fade. At flower markets and bases, peonies begin to appear in early spring, but it is worth bearing in mind that off-season and at its beginning the price may increase 3-5 times.

Peony Guide: From Wedding Bouquet To Decor

How to choose peonies

What to look for when choosing pions:

Look for peonies with soft, soft buds. They should not be small dense balls, and also they should not have green leaves (sepals) – in such cases, there is a possibility that the bud will not bloom.
Stems should be clean, without black spots rot.
It is better to choose flowers with thick, strong stems – they last longer without water, and the heavy head does not bend the stem and the wedding bouquet keeps its shape better.

For bouquets and decoration, there are optimal varieties: Gardenia, Odile, Mathers Choice, and Madame Claude from white and pale pink peonies.

The variety known to many, Dyushes de Nemours is not worth taking – these flowers often crumble. Of pink shades, we recommend Sarah Bernard, from the wine red ones: Salmon and Red Charm. Also persistent and fluffy are terry varieties of coral and pinkish colors.

Bouquet and decor combinations

Wedding bouquet and decor peonies are ideally combined with flowers of similar shades and similar forms, for example, with peony roses, ranunculus, dianthus (carnations), roses, hydrangea, anemones, and succulents. From greenery choose stahis, olive branches, eucalyptus. Even so, peonies are combined with most colors and the main rule is one thing: this combination should be harmonious. For those who doubt, we list several versatile and stylish colors:

mono-bouquets
white + silver
white + green
pink + white + silver
a mix of pink shades
coral + salmon + silver green
wine red + pale pink

In round bouquets of peonies, in contrast to spreading compositions, one should avoid a combination of round buds of peonies with sharply protruding colors of a “spear-like” shape like lavender, ears of corn, astilbe.

Care for a wedding bouquet of peonies

Save pre-purchased peonies can, often sprinkling water inflorescences. In dry and warm air, peonies bloom quickly or, without opening a bud, dry up. In a cool room, they can be stored for a long time, and keep a bud in a half-closed state. If, on the contrary, it is necessary for the flower to quickly open the bud, the plant stems are cleaved with a sharp knife and placed in hot water.

Any flowers need water, but peonies are quite resistant. If the day is not hot, the bouquet will calmly endure a long photo session or walk, and for dinner, the restaurant should be better to put the bouquet in the water. In hot weather, leaving a bouquet without water in the open sun for more than half an hour is already risky, but if there is no opportunity to put flowers in the water, you can periodically at least spray them.

You can collect a bouquet on the eve of Day X, but it is important to ensure that the peonies are not fully opened at the time of its preparation, and be sure to leave it for the night in a cool place.

Peony Guide: From Wedding Bouquet To Decor

Decor board

Given the high price of peonies, the frequent need to decorate the site in advance and the delicacy of the inflorescence itself, sometimes when creating large-scale compositions or arches, decorators use a base made of artificial flowers that are practically indistinguishable from real ones in photos and in life. Fresh flowers are added in those places that accurately fall close up in the frame or will be closest to the guests.