My brother is getting married in early October and they are on a very limited budget (they are paying for it all themselves), and I was trying to think of something for their center pieces for the tables at the reception. I thought about maybe doing topiaries, but how hard is it and if I started them reasonably soon would they be "ready" by the time the wedding rolls around? I would appreciate any help and counseling as I have never done anything like this before..thanks in advance.

We did a wedding on a budget and used fake flowers - I hope that's not a bad word here! Let me know if you would like to know more - Joyce

FAKE FLOWERS?!?!? Sacrilege! Sacril.....

Just kidding. Actually, I just saw a silk flower topiary in a catalog last night. It was the kind where the top is a "ball" of flowers, made up of silk rosebuds. It might also look pretty to use topiary forms like circles? and wrap the flowers on with florists tape or glue them on.

You might be able to do real ones out of some kind of little ivy? or herbs? if you started soon.

Certainly, you can do this! Decide what you want to use for the pot. Regular clay pots could work fine if the reception is not formal. You can pick these up at second hand stores or Walmart. Use plaster of paris to secure the stem (dowel) in the pot. Use a styrofoam ball on the top of the dowel. You probably will want to use white glue to secure the ball to the dowel. Then decorate the styrofoam ball with silk flowers in the wedding colors. Add greenery for a fuller look. And wrap the dowel with florist tape - or you could paint the dowels before you assemble the pot.

Hi, I have a small Topiary Business. I make them using all natural dried flowers and debris from the woods. I use cool branches for the stem and cover the styrofoam ball with moss to be sure the white surface can't be seen. You do begin with the base, making sure that it is a decent size so that it will be stable for the height. Insert floral foam in the container and then insert the stem. The plaster adds weight and keeps the stem in place. I just want to give you this heads up.... the plaster after it is mixed with water, you will need to work fast to get it into the container. It does dry hot and depending upon the container, it could crack it if you put in too much, too dence, too thick. So what I do is always leave alittle air space and just use enough plaster to get into the bottom and then securing the stem. let it dry overnight and your ready to cover the plaster with moss and then place the ball onto the stem and get started creating. Decide how many you want to make and make them all at the same time if you want them identical. But the cool part for me is going out into the woods and collecting gifts from nature, I call it. I then intigrate the dried flowers in a color scheme. Maybe place a bow ontop or at the bass and your done and have saved alot of molla collecting what your using from nature. Judy

Hi,
I have instructions for making a Live Ivy Topiary. I have a method that I call the Quick Start Method. Basically you are propagating ivy on the sphere of moss. It is a more expensive but quicker method than the standard method.

Here is a link that might be useful: Live Ivy Topiary