Hi - Good for you! I do this as well. I ask for a $50 deposit (and am thinking about making it non-refundable...it hasn't been an issue so far), applicable to their total flower purchase. I limit myself to 2 weddings per weekend. They use my buckets and return them. They also pick up their flowers at our farm. I do offer to do the bouquets/bouts/corsages if they think that might be a problem. The local B&Bs and caters are sending brides my way...so pursue those, as well as local harvest.org Good luck, Wendy

I can see what you mean about having an elegant dress, and then having sunflowers in your bouquet! It doesn't *quite* go together. Sunflowers are a bit more informal. That being said, I think the colors are gorgeous, and can be very elegant in themselves, if the flowers are not quite so. My concern would be, would you have flowers that late? When in October is the wedding? Dahlias can be more elegant, and bloom for me fairly late although I can't remember off the top of my head HOW late - at least late September, I think. I once grew an absolutely gorgeous dahlia called End of Summer, which did not even begin to bloom till the end of fall, lol - way into October and even November (although it was a very warm autumn that year). Unfortunately the color probably wouldn't do well for you. However, there are lots of red, yellow, and orange dahlias to choose from. I would just go to a vendor's site (Dan's Dahlias, Swan Island, Frey's) and just look through their pictures. Goldenrod (solidago) is a nice fall flower, and of course mums and asters can be had. As for sunflowers, there are lots to choose from. I grow two that are a deep, brownish red - Velvet Queen and Prado Red. One of them is really almost brown - might actually be ugly if it weren't so unusual, and it can be used to complement other sunflowers. I've also grown Earthwalker, Bees Knees, and Pastiche, which are bicolor/mixed color sunflowers. Sparky is a kind of cool, quilled sunflower. And then a quick search at T&M showed a sunflower called Claret which was described as having a "gorgeous metallic sheen", and Little Dorrit, which has beautiful big centers. There are so many sunflowers. Again, I would go to a vendor site such as T&M or Johnny's and just search through their offerings. Let's see... I don't suppose you would have helenium that late? Or maybe heliopsis? Monkshood? Sedum? How about some pansies - the large icicle pansies can be quite eye-catching. Ooh, I just thought of something - how about ornamental kale? They come in pinks, purples, reds and whites, and can be absolutely beautiful - and don't forget the smaller, cut-flower kales. Like roses in fall - gorgeous! http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=ornamental%20kale&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi I would also do a google search for fall wedding flowers. I'm sure you would find lots of ideas, aside from the orange roses from the florist, lol. Good luck. Please let us know what you and your niece decide. What an exciting project! :) Dee Here is a link that might be useful: cut-flower kale

Not to be mean, but I would have some kind of backup plan. Your beautiful flowers could be trashed by a sudden rainstorm. I would get in contact with the local Garden Club, so they could offer suggestions with your local conditions in mind. I know my stuff is 2 weeks behind my mother's same flowers, because she is 100 miles south, down by the MI State line. Lilies are always beautiful, come in white and colors. You just have to select the varieties that bloom in your time frame. Maybe some of the early Daylilies would be going. My Peonies have come and gone by July. Roses are mostly gone. However the Fairy, small flower rose in pink and white, is a steady bloomer, all season. So are some of the Carpet roses. Annuals might be your best bet. You could check with local Nurseries, for bedding plants that do well in your area. Some are very dependent on day length and light intensity for good flowering. Some large pots of plants, could be very attractive as edging, focal points. I had wonderful luck with the small flowing petunias, Million Bells, in various colors, last summer. Bought the plants, made up the pots myself. Just plain large pots, which I raised on old bricks stacked up. Added height made the pots very nice. Lantana is a good trailing plant, steady bloomer. Small Dahlias in a pot, make a lot of color. Large flower Dahlias could do well, if started very early. Many styles and colors to choose. Tuberous Begonias can add a lot of color, just start them early. Calla lily flowers are lovely, not sure of bloom time after starting them. Many foliage plants with great color to fill out pots or bouquets. Not sure Zinnias from seed would be going well, have lots of flowers by July. Read the seed packets to see how long a germination is needed, to flowering time. Much will depend on dirt tempeture. Cold dirt does not allow germination, molds the seed. Attend some Bridal shows, quite popular right now here. When I got married, I ordered flowers from a vendor I met at the show. She made the various artificial flowers from wood fiber. You absolutely could not tell them from real, until you touched them. She did a beautiful job with my flowers, had them to me early for arranging. I wanted Rhebrum Lilies and Carnations for the flowers. Lilies were hugely expensive in Feb, had to be flown in. The fake ones were very inexpensive compared to real flowes. Price allowed me to have lots of both kinds of flowers for big arrangements. Florist arranged them with real filler flowers, we had great bouquets. The other factor in using fake was Feb weather. VERY undependable in the snow season then. My SIL had to cancel her wedding date the year before. Had to be moved to a week later when they got 3ft of snow on Friday night!! Roads were impassable. Lost all the money spent at florist. I thought with using the fake flowers I would have my arrangements, bouquets, all done, no losses or wilting if weather was a problem or caused delays. I lucked out, the snow was 5 days ahead of wedding, so roads were clear for guests. Temps were terrible, got UP TO -15 that day, but the new 3ft of snow on top of the 2ft we had, was cleared off for driving and parking by our wedding day. Maybe some of your friends could plant some flowers for you, so a storm would not wreck all the flowers. Or you could have some fake flowers made up into arrangements to bulk out your other flowers. My other SIL made fake flower arrangements for her reception, in colors of the wedding party. Her friends helped out, had a lot of fun doing it way ahead of time. All very attractive, saved her quite a lot of money for the multiple tables she needed done. My mom made the candles they used. Looked as nice as any purchased florist stuff. Hope this is helpful. Doing your own flowers is great, just that real ones might be undependable, no matter how hard you try. Gardens are subject to outside conditions you can't control. You sure don't need any extra stress at the last moment, if possible. Best wishes, in all your labors to prepare. Remember to have some fun at your wedding! That will give you happy memories to look back on, not worries of the day.

That's a complicated request :-)) It is extremely difficult to predict exactly when garden grown flowers will bloom, as so much depends on local climate and weather conditions. I experience the same challenges, as I design landscapes and have had requests to design gardens that will look their "best" for a garden wedding. Hard to nail down a specific day when that would happen!! September is considered 'late season' as far as flowering is concerned, so I'd look to plants that you know should be in bloom at that time of year. Asters come to mind, especially for the lavender coloring. And late flowering summer bulbs, like dahlias and glads, which should be available in both lavender and peach tones. The fancy colored annual callas are another possibility - they are availably in a peachy orange color. I'd also consider hydrangeas, which may not look their best on that particular date but can be cut and dried ahead of time - hydrangea blossoms, especially the blue mopheads, will often take on purple/lavender tones as they dry. Other dried flowers could work too - globe thistle heads (Echinops), sea holly (Eryngium species), lavender. If you have the room for them, roses can also work. There are some gorgeous peach colored roses - 'Brandy' and 'Just Joey' are stunning. And you might need to purchase some fillers - baby's breath or wax flower or limonium.