Buying guide · Wedding work
Preserved flowers for wedding florists, specified to your palette
VivaPetal holds preserved rose stems in three length bands — 28–32 cm, 38–42 cm and 48–52 cm — with head diameters of 2.5–10 cm and wiring done on request, so a studio can fix the piece before a stem is cut. This is written for the studio doing the buying: how to hold a palette across a set, which grade belongs where, and how to line an order up against dates already promised.
Why wedding studios work in preserved material
The case is logistical rather than sentimental. A preserved piece is a finished object, not a perishable one: indoors it holds for 3–5 years, needs no water or cooler, and does not change between the day it is made and the day it is handed over. That removes a category of risk for a studio building weeks ahead of a date.
Transport is the second reason. Preserved material can be boxed, carried and set down without collapsing, which is why studios that deliver or ship move part of their brief into it. The piece that arrives is the piece that was built.
The caveat belongs here: direct sun fades any dye and a damp room softens the material, so a piece in a bright window moves faster than one in indirect light. Preserved is durable, not indestructible, and it differs from fresh in weight, texture and scent. Our material is selected in Kunming; the sourcing guide covers what that means in the trade.
Specifying stems for bouquets and buttonholes
Stemmed material is bought by length band, measured on the finished stem, with head diameters running 2.5–10 cm. The finished piece decides which band you need.
| Band | Where it earns its place | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| 28–32 cm | Buttonholes, corsages, small posies, box work | Pair with smaller heads |
| 38–42 cm | Hand-tied bouquets, bridesmaid pieces, table work | Most orders sit here — specify early |
| 48–52 cm | Tall arrangements, arch and arbour work | Fewer pieces per bunch |
Work backwards from the piece: finished height, minus the container or foam depth that will not be seen, minus the head, then round up to the nearest band. Rounding up matters because a cut stem cannot be re-sealed — the stabilisation runs through it and a fresh cut leaves raw tissue. The rose stem page carries the full reference table, including bunch counts by length.
Wiring is the other decision, made at order because it happens before packing. A head that must hold a fixed angle — a bouquet photographed from one side, a buttonhole lying flat, a piece that travels — needs a rigid element through the head and into the stem. Wiring is done on request; say which references need it and how the piece will be oriented. Where the piece is boxed, rose heads without stems are the cheaper line.
Matching a wedding palette
The stock range runs to 36+ rose shades and 30+ hydrangea shades, and most studio palettes sit inside it: a collection usually needs six to twelve tones to look like itself.
Two rules save most of the trouble. Sample per family, not per palette — a reference lands differently on a rose head and on a hydrangea floret, so approve each material. And keep the approved sample: it is the physical target every re-order is checked against, and a screen colour is not a reference.
The filler is where palettes fall apart. Gypsophila comes as natural white or tinted: white is the brightness reference beside a pale palette, while tinted sprays are matched to the rose shade so the filler belongs to the scheme rather than interrupting it. Specify it against the flower — the gypsophila page sets out that decision. A shade outside the range becomes a dye development, and the custom dyeing guide walks through the sequence.
One discipline: a season's bookings should hang off one reference, not one per event. Four slightly different shades of one colour across four weddings is a problem nobody notices until the photographs sit side by side.
Grade choice, piece by piece
There are two grades, A and B, and the useful way to allocate them is by how closely a piece will be examined. A bouquet is held at conversation distance and photographed close; a buttonhole sits at lapel height under direct attention. Those are Grade A positions. Material inside a box, under a dome or behind another layer is not seen the same way, and Grade B is honest there.
Splitting an order this way is not a shortcut on quality — it is how the budget lands where the client will look. One grade across a whole set means paying for Grade A where it cannot be seen, or accepting Grade B where it will be. The definitions are in the guide to choosing grades.
Allocations are confirmed at enquiry rather than assumed from a reference, because availability moves with the harvest and both grades come from the same crop. Ask for the split in writing and check it against your piece list. A rose focal with hydrangea behind it for volume is really a question about the visible layer.
Working around a florist's calendar
Lead time is confirmed per reference and per order, and moves with the season and with the production slot. That is not evasion; it is the accurate answer for material produced to a specification rather than pulled from a shelf.
So confirm the reference and the quantity before you confirm a date to your client. Studios that work the other way round end up asking a supplier to rescue a date already promised. Custom colour adds a dye sample and an approval step, and peak months draw on the same slots as everything else.
If a date is tight, say so with the enquiry and give the date itself. You get a plain answer on whether it is workable, rather than an order accepted and then regretted.
Small first orders and a sample box
A first order is usually a trial with a real brief behind it, which is the right way to start. Trial quantities are confirmed per reference rather than set by a blanket minimum, so begin with the two or three lines that carry most of your work and judge them on the bench.
Non-custom samples are dispatched within 2–3 working days (as of October 2026). A custom shade takes longer, because the dye sample has to be produced and approved first; the sample page covers what a trial contains. Delivery is quoted EXW (Kunming) as the default, with FOB and DAP available.
Take one band per length you use rather than all three; take the filler alongside the focal flower so you can see whether the tint sits with the rose; take the grade you intend to specify. Judge it under your own studio light. If the studio also builds display work, the retail display guide explains the batch rule.
Common questions
Questions studios ask before a first wedding order
Usually 38–42 cm, where most bouquet work sits. Confirm it by working back from the piece: height, minus the stem inside the binding, minus the head. Round up rather than down, because a cut stem cannot be re-sealed or extended.
Yes. Tinted sprays are matched against an approved sample rather than picked from a chart, so send the rose reference with the filler request and the two are judged together. If the requirement is brightness rather than a colour match, natural white does that job better.
They are done on request, and the request has to come with the order because wiring happens before packing. Tell us which references need it and how the piece will be oriented — a head that must face one direction needs different treatment from one only being kept from turning in a carton.
Lead time is confirmed per reference and moves with the season, so no single figure belongs here. Confirm the reference and quantity before you commit a date to your client, and start a custom shade earlier still, since it carries a sample and an approval step.
Next step
Send the piece list and the dates — we will confirm what is workable
Bouquets, buttonholes and table pieces with a stem band and head size per line, the palette references, and the dates you are working to. You get confirmation per reference, including which lines can hold your calendar.