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Flowers, Lights Set the Scene for Wedding Day

Trends in big event flowers, themes and LED lighting.

Choosing between hundreds of beautiful flowers and creating dashing bouquets for wedding centerpieces and bridal bouquets can be quite the task for the bride and groom.

With the help of area businesses catering to the wedding industry, Patch uncovered some of the trends in the floral and decorating industry:

Popular wedding flowers

  • roses
  • hydrangeas
  • calla Lilies
  • peonies
  • orchids

Trendy ways to enhance flowers

Branches and berries are increasingly popular to include in many arrangements and Twig & Berries Event Design of Commerce suggests incorporating a smidgen of metallic. 

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“Sometimes, we dust our branches with a little gold or silver paint, which makes them more elegant and gives a nice sparkle,” Marcy Ribits, co-owner of Twig & Berries said. “Another nice touch is to add the metallic in the container or table linen.”

Ribits noted her company uses corkscrew willow branches most frequently because there are a variety of sizes offered up to 12 feet tall. “They make such an impact and add great height to a room,” Ribits said. 

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Courtney Teeple, social sales manager at the Diamond Center at Suburban Collection Showplace, noted that rhinestones and crystals have adorned many of the flower displays that have recently taken place at their facilities.

Popular themes for arranging flowers

  • Romantic appeal:  According to Ribits, a romantic look combines tranquil colors with rustic additives. For example, pale blues, greens, blush pinks and ivories set the scene for this display. Ribits noted that peonies, hydrangeas and garden roses match this theme best. This is one of the displays that pairs well with natural elements such as branches and berries. “This is more traditional for brides who like to go with the classic, soft romantic look,” Ribits said. 
  • Vintage/Bohemian look:  Loosely arranged flowers are placed in a variety of different containers for centerpieces to accomplish this look. All of the containers used to master the vintage trend tend to be simple, but using numerous different styled containers creates a unique, yet together, look. Just as the containers complement each other, complementary colors and flowers are used to create the floral arrangements. It appears not much thought goes into setting the bouquets, because the ‘loosely arranged’ display makes it appear as if they were just freshly picked. No matter what theme the bouquet or centerpiece is, Ribits and her mother Gay Ribits, who co-owns the store with her, suggests picking three different sized centerpieces – tall, medium and small. 
  • Monochromatic appearance:  By definition, monochromatic means, “having or appearing to have only one color”. A bride can accomplish this dramatic look by using the same shade of color but incorporating different flowers in the centerpieces or bouquets. Ribits suggests using this theme with brighter colors such as yellow, green, hot pink and reds. “This trend is for the modern bride who isn't afraid to step out of the box,” she said.

In addition to flowers, remember the lights

Though flowers can add delightful scents and colors to any venue, LED lights can really set the mood.

Pegasus Entertainment in Southfield says it can light up a wedding as flashy or classy as the bride and groom would like. Uplighting is the most popular use of LED lighting, in which a colorful, glowing effect can be obtained, said Eric Kamen, a senior account executive who handles sales and design for or Pegasus. It can also color a whole room depending on the color of the room to begin with. There are an unlimited number of things people can do depending on the budget, Kamen said, including using static color to complement the wedding colors or adding some color changing.

Another popular lighting option is using projected images of the bride and groom’s monogram, names, initials or something else representative of the wedding or couple.

Decorate with balloons

If springing for a room full of flowers isn’t possible budget-wise, there are a variety of ways to decorate with balloons. Balloon archways, centerpieces and pillars can be handled by professionals, such as Go Balloonies out of West Bloomfield. 

For more wedding planning options, the companies included in this report and more will be at the annual  on Sunday, which has a Wedding Marketplace section this year, at the

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