Echinaceas and Shasta Daisies you should not need to worry about; they are next to being weeds! Roses you seem to have, and they do well in summer; as for gypsophila, you will have to decide how large you want the filler flowers to be. Covent Garden is a good one; also people are growing Queen Anne's Lace a lot. It is effective and very pretty.

You must have day lilies. If you want lilies, plant some orientals and asiatics this spring in the colors you want, by next summer they will be wonderful cuts, and they last 10 days. If you don't want fragrance, pick asiatics that bloom near the wedding date. You can hold them in a fridge if they start opening too soon before the big day. Find out how much you can get a couple bunches of babies breath from a florist for. If it's really reasonable, then just grow the expensive stuff and order the small filler. That way it won't be so overwheling for you.
Cheryl

I think Baby's breath takes a while to get established, doesn't it?
Growing flowers for a set time can be very tricky. I bought hundreds of orange and white calla bulbs for my niece's wedding and they all bloomed the week after the wedding! I spent hundreds buying from wholesalers to get enough for the bouquets and arrangements. It was pretty much a disaster. I didn't have much experiences making bouquets and arrangements and it was so stressful and upsetting I thought "it would be worth it to pay a florist!"
Also, like an idiot I bought some Eucharis (Amazon Lily) plants too because her fiance liked them. Four years later I'm still waiting for them to bloom, lol!
And, don't forget the fillers- the greens and ferns or whatever. Sometimes that's the hardest to come up with.
On the other hand, for my own wedding, which was really small, I carried 3 long Callas from my garden, and each of my 2 attendants had a small (tiny) bouquet of 3 callas, with baby's breath and fern from the grocery store.
We had the wedding under a tent and put potted plants (elephant ears looked great) around and hanging baskets.
But that was for a less than 50 people wedding, which it sounds like you aren't going to have.
My biggest recommendation is to find a flower arranging class, if you have a community college around they have some and they are quite reasonable, you will learn how to arrange fast and efficient. I didn't think making a couple arrangements for my niece would be so hard until I did it- 3 hrs sleep a night for a week!
I guess this is more than my 2 cents worth- maybe 10 cents!

honeybunny is right. Trying to get all your flowers to bloom at once will be a great challenge that even most experienced growers can't do. Even some lillies take different amount of weeks to bloom. You could hold them over in a cooler for some amount of time. 30 hours? in or out of water? I do not know of any that look good after being out for 30 hours. Bouquets in vases would look good after 30, but not out. My baby breath blooms in June, lillies from end June to July, Echinacea end of July to September. You did not put where you where from, but I would suggest going to local harvest .com and looking for a local grower at a farmers market or plan on buying them from a wholesaler if possible.

I would buy the flowers from a local cut flower farmer. Call them in advance they should know from experience what will be blooming, they usually have things staggered. Yes, Queen Ann's Lace is nice for weddings I sell a lot. But you want to start early with the seeds, where are you at? I start mine in April for late July blooms. As suggested above go to Local Harvest and search for local growers. Best wishes

Thelwig,

You've received much good advice from actual cutflower growers.

Regarding lilies. They can be held in your cooler/spare refrigerator for up to 90 days. They key is you have to cut them before they open, wrap them in newspaper, and lay them on their sides out of water -- just like tulips.

You can start your dahlias early, and have them available for your wedding. The color choices are exquisite. Your heart's desire -- except blue. If you breed a blue dahlia, you will be a very rich lady indeed! Karma dahlias are wonderful for weddings and bloom a bit earlier -- as in about a month if forced from cuttings. Steve Nowartarski in New York has a wonderful choice of Karma and Gallery dahlias. He also has a great DVD on Growing Dahlias in Containers. Lots of great tips even if you don't intend to grow in containers.

Here are a couple of other suggestions: If you find that you are not going to have enough baby's breath, celosia, dahlias, lilies, etcetera, contact Judy Laushman, the director of the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers. She can send you a phone book, give you direct access to a specialty grower in your area, or one who ships. Some growers specialize in many different cut flowers; and, some specialize in one area. They are accustomed to the timing for weddings and special events. Try to get your hands on this years phone book. It has just gone to press. The 2008 book is bright green. Judy's contact information is: (440) 774-2887. Address is MPO Box 268, Oberlin, OH, 44074.

As Bryan mentioned, you are in zone 5; however, we don't know in which state you reside.

This year (January 10-12) we were asked to be guest speakers at the Great Plains Vegetable Growers Conference in St Joseph, Missouri. This conference is the brainchild of the Kansas State University Research Extension. We were going to be speaking on growing dahlias and sunflowers for the market gardener. Unfortunately, we had to cancel in November since I am currently undergoing chemotherapy for cancer diagnosed September 21, 2007. You never forget the date. Ever. But, the good Lord willing, and the creek doesn't rise, we will be there next January 2009. This was quite an honor for us to be asked to be key speakers along with Lynn Byczynski of Growing for Market. Perhaps if you are in the area, you can attend.

Warmest Regards,

Trish

PS Here's a quote for you: "If you think you can, or you think you can't, you are right"
Henry Ford

Here is a link that might be useful: Steve's Website Link

Some good info here. Thanks all.

God bless you, Trish, and best of luck. One of my favorite quotes by the way. You can.

:)
Dee

I agree, good advise. Trish, congratulations on being asked to be guest speaker, that is quite an honor indeed. You'll be in our prayers, good luck to you on your treatment.
Cheryl

Hang in there, Trish! Good luck with your chemo. We'll keep you in our thoughts.
susan