Ants in the Peonies

I took the morning off work today in order to help my wonderful friend Kelly create the floral arrangements for her wedding this Saturday. First things first, I didn't even know you could go to a place (we went to J's Fresh Flower Market off Plainfield), purchase your flowers, and then arrange them yourself in order to cut back on cost. Genius. Or at least genius if you have some nice friends who don't mind taking the day off work to help you out. Good thing Kelly's such a sweetheart.

Kelly's choice of flower for her wedding centerpieces and bouquets were Peonies. I have never worked with peonies (or any other flower for that matter) before and I learned a need-to-know trick in working with the beauties. Ants really love living in peonies and drinking their nectar that forms on the outside of their buds! The problem is, you can't actually see the ants in the "heart" of the flower since they blossom so full so it is crucial that you shake all your peonies out upside down before you bring them inside and create an arrangement with them!

A little "side" trick that I loved today was the idea of using charms on the bridesmaid bouquets so the girls can tell whose is whose! They look really cute and add a little extra charm to each bouquet! :)