Is there anything more romantic than a Valentine’s Day wedding in NYC?

The story of St. Valentine is one of hopeful love. During the time that he lived, soldiers weren’t allowed to marry under Roman law. That wasn’t acceptable for ol’ Val who (as we like to think) believed that if any two people wanted to get married, they should have the right to do so. He married many soldiers despite the harsh laws and harsher punishment – it was the right thing to do – but ultimately, for this practice, he was executed.

It’s been an exciting few years, but just because we all can get married in many states doesn’t mean everyone can get married everywhere yet. This Valentine’s Day, we’ll be looking to St. Valentine as an inspiration because we know there’s nothing more inspiring than watching two individuals embark on a lifelong journey of love and partnership.

So, flowers. Here’s the thing about Valentines Day and flowers – flower shops are pretty-much going to be jam-packed with roses – and sometimes, very little else. If you’re having an an event on Valentine’s Day and you don’t want roses, you need to let your florist know a few weeks in advance. Valentines Day is a bit of a stress on the gears that keep the industry moving – for about 96 hours, all anybody is going to want when they call up the shop is a dozen (or more) roses. All these roses get the shelf space that usually goes to the rest of the inventory – while other flowers are around, they’re in a bit of a short supply compared to the rest of the year. Flower biz is like any other biz – if you let your vendors know what you want with as much “time to go” as possible, you’ll get the flowers you want without any stress.

But, this is Valentine’s Day – you probably totally do want roses. They’re a great choice – your grandma and aunt will think they’re lovely, they’ll smell nice but not too strong, and when the event is done you’ll have a whooooooole bunch of rose petals to strew about everywhere. When you’re designing your rose centerpiece, keep in mind that roses come in lots of lengths, some on very long stems – this is great for creating arrangements with with a lot of height variance. Roses also come in many, many colors – it doesn’t have to be all red and white! You’ll find oranges, pinks, purples and yellows – again, just make sure to mention this to your florist a few weeks before Valentine’s, so they can order what they’ll need and schedule your event into their busiest time.

One of Starbright Floral’s amazing designers, put together this composite bouquet to match the latest floral trends walking down the runways. This is a carefully crafted piece made by wiring individual rose petals and arranging them into one giant rose. It’s high on impact, but deceptively low on fuss (in actuality, this takes a long, long time!). While this would make an amazing centerpiece, the time it takes may be prohibitive to the budget. For an alternative rose centerpiece, these pave styles are flawlessly refined.

Whatever is in your centerpiece should also be in your boutonniere (you can read all about boutonnieres here). If you’ve got a wedding party, make sure the folk getting wedded are in a different boutonniere from the folk standing up with the couple.