With a growing focus on sustainability, cost, preservation, and tasteful elegance, many couples are being more thoughtful and deliberate when selecting flowers for their big day. Choosing silk flowers, dried blooms, or fresh, locally sourced arrangements is an opportunity to be environmentally conscious about the event’s exquisite displays. Dedicated floral artists in the Hudson Valley will create and design unique, eco-friendly arrangements for your wedding, while others will preserve the bride’s bouquet — a symbol of beauty and love — as a memento that can be kept for years.
Eco-Friendly Fresh Florals
Inspired by the many wildflower fields in the Hudson Valley, Rachel Calvelli, owner of Simplicity in Mind, designs and creates a floral vision that is unique to each client’s wedding. With sustainability foremost, Calvelli takes a holistic approach to the craft — she seeks flowers from local farms to reduce the need for shipping, and she minimizes the use of plastic foam and other nonbiodegradable materials in her arrangements. “Even after the wedding or event, I like to compost the flowers and then I put everything back into the soil in my garden,” Calvelli says.
“Anything I create is not form-fitting or tight around; it is more natural and flowy and elegant, as I don’t want to take away from the products we are creating with; I just let the florals and the stems have their movement.”
— Rachel Calvelli, Owner
Simplicity in Mind Floral Design Studio
Her bespoke floral design style embodies the beauty of nature. “Anything I create is not form-fitting or tight around; it is more natural and flowy and elegant, as I don’t want to take away from the products we are creating with; I just let the florals and the stems have their movement,” she adds. Calvelli says many couples are requesting more of a “garden aesthetic rather than tight flowers like traditional floristry was in the past.” She’s also noticed that many are opting for more color in their weddings, “rather than just your traditional whites and creams and blush.”
Floral Walls
When Luxe Touch Event Rentals began specializing in weddings, owner and creative director Joanna Chiotis saw a growing need for silk florals, mainly to address the significant cost for couples as they weighed the option of fresh flowers, as well as to respond to a desire for more sustainable choices. “I started off with my flower walls and also did floral arrangements and centerpieces, and it’s been doing really well,” says Chiotis. Unlike fresh flowers that often are arranged with foam material, which creates waste, and are discarded, silk floral creations can be repurposed and reused.
Flower walls are used for sweetheart tables, photo booth and step-and-repeat backdrops, and are a versatile option during the event. “A bride who was running around and so busy throughout the day said she was so happy to get together with her guests and have fun at the flower wall,” Chiotis recalls. And compared to fresh flowers, a silk flower wall is a fraction of the cost. “The wall costs about $375, so it is very affordable and budget-friendly,” she says.
Freeze-Dried Bouquets
A time-honored technique to preserve one’s wedding bouquet is through the freeze-drying process. At Lasting Floral Designs in Pound Ridge, owner Nancy Multari says this art form is their specialty. “We have very large machines; we do a chemical treatment initially, and the flowers stay in there for about two weeks at a minus 50- or 60-degree (Fahrenheit) temperature,” she describes.
After that, the final framed design might include tokens or trinkets, like a cake topper or even a hair comb, in addition to the flowers — things that tell the story of the day. “We correct the color and the placement to hide any imperfections,” Multari says. “Certain flowers don’t preserve by freeze drying; we give you the option to recreate them with silk — we basically work off of a photograph of the bouquet. As for the fresh ones, some brides go on their honeymoon and don’t realize we needed it live, as soon as possible.” The artistic result is a tangible object that can be treasured for a lifetime and is a piece of one of the most meaningful days in a couple’s life, Multari adds.
Pressed Flowers
Pressing flowers became a passion for Miriam Martinez, owner of Hudson Stems, a company that uses a unique method of pressing, preserving, and framing wedding bouquets. During the pandemic, Martinez experimented with the art as a hobby, and it soon became a flourishing business. After creating a pressed-flower keepsake as a gift for a friend, she received glowing reactions and decided to offer the service to newlyweds across the Hudson Valley region.
Individual flowers are color-corrected to remain vibrant and then pressed and displayed in a frame or a jewelry box. “After spending all this money on florals, this allows people to turn something perishable into something cherishable that they can have forever,” she says.
Martinez notes that the eco-friendly benefits of her local service are a definite plus. “We are trying to get the word out that we are in the Hudson Valley; you don’t need to pack and ship flowers across the country to other preservation artists,” she says. “You can drop them off with us.” The individual flowers are deconstructed and reconstructed, petal by petal in the design process, depending on the flower type, and remain in the press for four to six weeks. The final product resembles the fresh form (after a mockup is made for the couple to approve), the designer explains. “A lot of memories from your wedding live in your head, but this one is one that you can put on your wall and display as art.”
Related: Set the Stage for Your Westchester Wedding With Fantastic Floral Arches
