One amazing thing about working with faux flowers is that they are much less fragile than living flowers. This opens up a whole world of possibilities. Or in this case, a whole world (okay, maybe just a bag) of sparkling accessories. When I met with my client she handed me a small bag filled with vintage jewels. Some were old pins, some were buttons, and others were undetermined, but all were beautiful.
I spread them out and got to work, picking ones that were favorites but also picking ones that shared a similar shape or tone. Some were an intense white while others were a deep cream. Others had glistening silver and some a tarnished glow. The trick in adding any sort of jewels to your bouquets or other creations is to pick one look and stick with it. Otherwise the bright white will make the cream look dirty as will the bright metal against an older tarnished metal - rather than look like a marvelous vintage peice it will look dirty.
The outcome was a beautiful bunch of white peonies with special gems sprinkled in. The bride also gave me jeweled L and B letters, the first letters of her and her fiance's names. Rather than let those get lost amid the rounded jewels, I tied those at the base of the bouquet and paired them with a small antique clock. They add visual interest to the front of the bouquet without competing for attention. That is the other trick with jewels, less can be more. If there is a vast sea of jewels, no one will notice the individuality of each one.
My piece of advice: don't be afraid to work with faux flowers. They are unlike real flowers in almost every way, but they provide a lot of great opportunities for creativity that real flowers don't allow - and bonus, they never wilt and you dont need to remember to give them a fresh supply of water each day!
