Alice Bands are named after Lewis Carrolls' character from Alice in Wonderland.  She, if you remember, wore a band in her hair to keep it off her face without tying it back.

The name has become synonymous with the item shown here and has remained hugely popular for flower girls all over the world.

They are versatile, comfortable, and can be made to match the wedding flowers, but can be worn afterwards to parties and playtime!

Alice bands are often more reasonably priced than a full circle headress, depending upon how 'fussy' you want it to be.  Pearls can be added, the band ribboned or more expensive flowers used.

If you are looking after your budget, the flowers can be simply attached to the plain, clear band, which is virtually invisible once in place.

Satin Blossoms on half-ribbonned bands

15mm mulberry paper roses on clear band

Full-ribbonned band with 10mm mulberry paper roses and pearls

When you choose artificial flowers, makes sense to have matching bridesmaids posies and headresses.
 
This helps to keep a theme running through the wedding, ensuring consistency.  

Artificial flowers for the bridesmaids, especially flower girls, eliminate the worry of wasps and bees around their heads if it is a hot day, which, of course, you hope it will be :) 

In this example, we used tiny, mulberry paper roses, in alternating colours.  The Bride carried a posy of ivory and red foam roses, and wanted the flower girl to carry just red, as her dress was ivory with a red sash.

Mulberry paper roses are available in a large selection of colours and two sizes - 10mm and 15mm (pictured above)

When thinking of ordering matching bridesmaids posies and headresses, always check the sizes.  It is worth noting that an average sized circle headress for a flower girl aged 2-6 years is 16inches.  For a teen-adult it is 18inches.  

To measure, run a tape measure around the head where you would like the headress to sit.  If you cant find a tape, do the same thing with a length of ribbon or string, then measure that!

Similarly, the average size for a flower girls posy is 6inches across and a bridesmaids posy 8inches across.

Blue flowers for a wedding are notoriously difficult.  Not because there are no blue flowers around, but there is a limited choice if you are hoping for the right shade of blue!

Delphiniums are a beautiful shade, however, can be seasonal and, therefore, costly at certain times of the year.  Gentiana are another example of a lovely blue flower, but are, like delphiniums, on the small side, so would work much better when mixed with a larger focal flower.

A wonderful, and far less stressful way to incorporate blue flowers for a wedding, would be with the use of artificial blooms, or with accent blue highlights in white or ivory flower bouquets.  This can easily be achieved with blue crystals or pearls.  It is crucial, however, to choose your accessories in the exact shade of the bridesmaids dresses.

A useful measure is to use the same fabric as for the bridesmaids dresses.  If they need to be altered, and they very often do, make sure your dressmaker keeps the offcuts for you to give to your florist.  You would be surprised at how little is required for those, all important touches.  Many manufacturers will sell pieces of fabric by the metre for this purpose and it is worth asking your chosen bridal shop to enquire for you.  This may cost in the region of £20 or so per metre, but will be well worth the extra cost!


For professional advice on blue flowers for a wedding click here

Artificial Wedding Flowers are fast growing in popularity.  The quality of artificial flowers has improved enormously over the past 20 years and, these days, it is often difficult to tell the difference between them and their fresh equivalents!

Artificial wedding bouquets, if stored properly, can last forever and be brought out years after the wedding to show your grandchildren!

If your wedding day is exceptionally hot, your fresh wedding bouquet will be struggling to survive and lilies in particular can look like piece of wet tissue paper by the end of the day.  Using artificial wedding flowers can combat this problem, staying perfect throughout the photographs, reception and for years beyond.

Certain artificial wedding flowers, such as orchids, can also be much cheaper than their fresh counterparts, making artificial wedding flowers a cost effective option in many cases.

If you are attempting to make your own wedding flowers, artificial flowers can enable you to begin months in advance, and are much more forgiving of mistakes!  You can practice, undo the arrangements and practice again, without spending a fortune on replacement blooms.  Perfect!

Browse through the 'Gallery' section of the website to see the possibilities...