Caring for Your Flowers on the Wedding Day

By the time your flowers reach you, I've done most of what I can do. The rest is up to whoever is holding the bouquet, and nobody warns them. So here's what I tell every wedding party at the door.

When the flowers arrive

Take them out of the box straight away. Cut flowers have been travelling in the dark and they're ready to drink. If your bouquet arrives in a small container of water, leave it there until you're needed. If it's wrapped in paper, put the stems in a clean jar or vase with fresh, cool water.

Then put the whole thing somewhere cool. Not freezing, and not in direct sun. A hotel bathroom with the window open, a shady corner, the cooler end of a hallway. The fridge is great for boutonnieres and corsages, if the fridge isn't full of anything that smells strongly of onions.

Away from fruit and heat

There's a quiet rule that fruit bowls shorten the life of flowers, because ripening fruit gives off a gas that ages blooms. It's why I tell people to keep the wedding breakfast platter at the other end of the room. Heat is the other enemy. A car parked in sun for twenty minutes can undo a morning's care.

Before you carry it

Hold the bouquet by the handle and let your arms relax. Don't squeeze. If it's tied with ribbon, keep your hands away from the knot. Hold it at about waist height; it frames the dress and keeps your elbows soft in photographs.

When the photographer wants you to hold it higher, lower or to the side, go with it. But set it back in water between shots. A few minutes in a vase or glass makes a difference you can see in the evening pictures.

The things nobody mentions

• Don't spray anything near the flowers. Hairspray and perfume leave marks on petals.

• Don't put a bouquet face-down on a table. Lay it on its side or stand it in water.

• Ask someone to be in charge. A bridesmaid or a friend with a calm voice, whose only job is to know where the flowers are.

• Decide in advance who takes the flowers home. We offer to compost anything left over, but many couples like to bring the bouquet back and dry it.

After the day

If you'd like to keep your bouquet, hang it upside down in a dry, dark spot for a couple of weeks. Roses, lavender and many seedheads dry beautifully. Peonies and dahlias often don't, and that's fine. A flower that lives for one perfect day has done its job.

For a look at a finished day, with every flower listed, the orchard wedding story is the best place to see the plan in practice.