Amanda Rapacz

9 stunning wedding detail shots Wedding detail shot inspiration and tips After months of meticulous planning, you want to be sure your photographer captures all the classic wedding detail shots. Here are a few examples and ideas to help you write your detail shot checklist. 1.      The Rings Photo: Mik & Max Photos 2.      Accessories Photo: Sandra Armenteros Photography Photo: Alexis Christine Photography 3.      Bouquet Photo: Becky Church Photography 4.      BoUtonniere Photo: Jordan Yvonne Photography 5. Hair Photo: Khong M. Lee Photography 6. Ceremony Space Photo: Studio J Photography 7. Wedding signs Photo: Sandra Armenteros Photography 8. Invitation Suite Photo: Melanie Jean Photography 9. Reception centerpieces Photo: Studio J Photography Preparing for wedding detail shots The day of the wedding is often busy and chaotic. To ensure your photographer gets the detail shots you want, a little preparation will go a long way. We recommend: Creating a checklist of your must-have detail shots Gathering items for the detail shots in advance Assigning a member of the wedding party the task of getting the items to the photographer Asking your florist to deliver some florals to the bridal suite (including a few loose stems) Scheduling time for detail shots in your wedding day timeline (about half an hour should be sufficient) We love the artistic look and sentimental charm of detail shots. If you get a detail shot with Silk Stem florals in it, send it our way to be featured on our Real Weddings page at support@silkstemcollective.com

The Pinterest Wedding How I almost let a Pinterest Wedding Board sink Our budget Back in 2019, I knew nothing about wedding planning. My fiancée and I had just gotten engaged, we were one of the first in our friend group to get married and as a result, we were clueless. So, like many couples, we hopped online and created a Pinterest Wedding board to start gathering inspiration. We pinned cascading calla lily bouquets, greenery hung from the ceiling interwoven with bistro lights, and dramatic orchid centerpieces. Our budget felt like a lot of money so I just assumed we would be able to afford at least some of the ideas we had pinned. But we would later learn these floral ideas would cost more than our entire wedding budget. It was a shock to say the least. Then came the disappointment. I felt like I was settling on every aspect of the wedding because nothing we chose even came close to my Pinterest vision. Everything we chose was nice but I didn’t want just ‘nice’ for a day that was supposed to be one of the most important days of our lives, a day in which we were already spending a small fortune. Flash forward to now, running Silk Stem, and I laugh out loud when I see what kind of floral inspiration is posted on Pinterest, or any social media platform for that matter. Pinterest Weddings are Fake (Duh!) It seems like a no brainer but this was a shock to me back in 2019. Not only are images of Pinterest Weddings super fake, but they are designed in such a way as to look real.   We estimate up to 80% of wedding inspiration images on Pinterest are not from real weddings. Rather, they are from carefully

The Average Cost of Weddings is a Lie $26,720 was the average wedding cost – but 3 in 4 couples spent less than $20,000 Weddings are notoriously expensive, especially in the US. Venue rental, catering, flowers, photographer… the cost adds up quickly. Whether it’s the excitement of starting a new life or anxiety of keeping up with expectations, the pressure to spend comes from all directions. Not surprisingly, many couples rely on the internet for information on average wedding costs but wedding vendors, we see rampant misinformation on how much couples are really spending when it comes to their big day. Here’s why online articles titled “This is how much a wedding actually costs” are about as reliable as crazy Uncle Arnold’s RSVP response. A Single Source of Information A simple Google search for “average wedding cost” yields billions of results, many with dramatic headlines: New York City weddings cost $77,000 Here’s how much the average wedding cost in 2019 The average wedding costs more than $25,000. What’s the price tag in your state? What seems like a consensus across the web on the exorbitant cost of a wedding is really thousands of articles reciting the same two studies repeatedly. A vast majority of information comes from just two sources: The Knot and Wedding Wire (both of which are owned by the same parent company, but we will get to that). The Knot’s Real Wedding Study and Wedding Wire’s Newlywed Report have been cited thousands of times in the last year alone. When Google searching “Average Wedding Cost”, every first-page result except one links to one of these two studies. We can’t ignore that the parent company of these two sources, XO Group, is in the business of advertising wedding vendors. The Knot and Wedding Wire are essentially giant ads

14 Stunning Faux Peony Bridal Bouquets These faux peonies wont wilt, brown, or wither regardless of season Peonies are making a comeback as one of the most popular wedding flowers for 2026, and with flower prices increasing due to high demand, faux is the new fresh when it comes to wedding flowers. Faux peonies in particular are at the top of the list and quickly growing in popularity. Peonies are a beautiful, full flower with amazing texture and a variety of colors. Luckily, fake peonies are always in season and you don’t have to worry about them loosing their beauty by the end of the day. Here are 15 faux peony bridal bouquets that we love! Vibrant pink faux peony bouquet by TaylorsTouchFloral   2. Elegant white faux peony bridal bouquet by Silk Stem Collective 3. Greenery-packed peony bouquet by Hire and Admire 4. Soft white bouquet with peonies by SERENITY 5. Blush faux peony and greenery bouquet by Silk Stem Collective 6. Dusty blue bridal bouquet with artificial peonies by SERENITY 7. Dramatic faux greenery bouquet with white peonies by Silk Stem Collective 8. Understated white bridal bouquet with silk peonies by SERENITY 9. Ivory silk peony bridal bouquet by FairytaleFlorist 10. Timeless round silk peony bouquet by SheaSatinandSilk 11. Vibrant pink faux peony bouquet by BloomsURent  12. Lush mix of blush and white artificial peonies by Wedding Flowers for Rent 13. Dark purple rose and pink peony bouquet by BloomsURent 14. Whimsical mauve faux peony bouquet by SERENlTY

Environmental Impact of Sola Wood Flowers We recently released an article on the carbon emissions analysis of fresh flowers and faux flowers and received so many wonderful responses. But many of you had additional questions! Good information on the environmental impact of wedding flowers is hard to find. The most frequent questions we got were regarding the environmental impact of sola wood flowers. We were also curious to see how they compared to fresh and faux flowers.   We started investigating and found sola wood flowers have the smallest environmental impact compared to fresh or faux flowers by far! Let’s look at how wooden flowers are made, transported, packaged, used, and disposed of to help understand the environmental impact and how that compares to other floral options. Production Wooden flowers used for wedding arrangements are most often made from sola wood. Although other types of thinly cut, light weight woods like balsa and cedar are sometimes used, sola wood is by far the most popular. Sola wood, (also known as shola, sholapith, and Indian cork) is a renewable resource that comes from an aquatic plant, Aeschynomene aspera, which mainly grows in marshy wetlands of Southeast Asia. It is native to Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.(1)    After harvesting, most manufacturing occurs in India. (2) The manufacturing process is truly an artform and all work is done by hand. If you haven’t seen these artisans at work, we recommend this video. Workers use sharp knives to cut thick stems into small sections, peel off the bark, and cut the remaining wood into extremely thin sheets. Next, artisans hand cut the thin sheets of wood into petals shapes. The petals are assembled by hand and wrapped thread holds the petals in place to

Eco-Friendly Wedding Flowers: Carbon Footprint of Fresh vs. Faux Rosaprima is the largest rose farm in Ecuador, growing and distributing over 100 million stems of roses per year. They are a leader in eco-friendly wedding flowers and are constantly investing in new technologies and methods to reduce their environmental impact, including a recent project to install a skyline zip cable system which will save three million gallons of water annually, and an advanced pest monitoring system allowing for minimal and localized application of pesticides.(1)   But even with these top-of-the-line technological advances, are fresh-cut flowers the greener choice? Or are reusable faux flowers, like most reusable goods, the better option? The analysis is complex and depends on many variables, but the short answer is that reusable faux flowers produce less carbon emissions only if they are reused multiple times.    Here is a look at some of the biggest sources of greenhouse pollution when it comes to fresh vs. faux so you can make an informed decision about the carbon footprint of your event. Although this analysis is not intended to be all-encompassing, it is a good place to start for basic information on the environmental impact of fresh and faux flowers. Production Manufacturing accounts for over 90% of total greenhouse gas pollution during the lifetime of a faux flower bouquet. (2) Although some faux flowers are manufactured from genuine silk, most are created from oil-based plastics, polyester fabric, and latex. (3) Plastic is an energy-intensive material. It is a fossil fuel in another form, so it is no surprise the production phase results in significant pollution.    (Note: Because faux flowers are rarely manufactured from actual silk, this material was not included in this analysis.) Although it depends on the specific manufacturing processes, facility, and materials used, the manufacturing

The Fresh Flower Shortage in the US What the fresh flower shortage Means for Your Wedding The pandemic caused a disruption for many industries and supply chains. In the last year we’ve seen shortages of the most unexpected items ranging from toilet paper to aluminum to semiconductor chips. And now we are seeing a shortage in the floral industry that could have an impact on couples planning weddings in 2021. What is the cut flower shortage? Like other industries, the supply of flowers relies on numerous steps and paths of distribution that are fragile to upset. Due to the stress on the industry caused by COVID, poor weather, and other factors, the demand around the world for cut flowers is much higher than the supply resulting in a shortage. (1) Why do we have a flower shortage? At the onset of the pandemic, the global economy came to a halt. Many flower distributors temporarily shut down to cut costs. COVID-19 slowed flower production internationally as many producers and flower farms downsized operations due to health concerns and decreased demand. (2) Now we are dealing with the downstream effects of this long term decreased production. On top of that, many flower producing regions experienced inclement weather last season which further decreased production and reduced growing. Colombia and Ecuador in particular experienced heavy rain and flooding due to hurricane season and the weather phenomenon known as La Niña. (3) Import delays due to COVID, a reduction in international flights, (4) and trucking company staffing shortages have all further exacerbated the supply chain issue. (5) Fresh flowers can’t sit for long and any delay results in unusable flowers. 45% of the flowers managed by the floral industry die before they are even sold. (6) What does that mean for couples planning weddings? The