Hydrangea question

JScottScott

During my first (and only, so far) consultation with my florist, I told her that I want blue hydrangeas to be the primary flower at my wedding. She told me that blue hydrangeas are really purple in color, so my bouquets and centerpieces would be purple. I was overwhelmed and intimidated by the whole consultation process, so I just let it go, thinking she knew more than I did. 

I have seen blue hydrangeas my whole life, though, so I am confused. Am I just using the wrong terminology? Are "blue hydrangeas" what you call purple hydrangeas, and hydrangeas that are actually blue in color just have a different name? I am a little confused as to why she told me that, and I'd like to have a little more info before I go in for the second consultation and let her know (more firmly, this time) what I do and do not want for my flowers. Any help you guys could give me would be much appreciated. 

Catwoman708

There are different shades of pale blue hydrangeas, or darker purplish blue.  Kind of like "periwinkle", not really blue, not really purple.

If you want blue, the lighter blue ones look more "blue" to me than some of the darker ones.

lindsayfall

Hey JScottScott,
You can ABSOLUTELY get blue hydrangea. Just look here for example,

http://www.enflower.org/entry/change-hydrangea-color-by-modifying-soil-ph/

or here,

http://bloomeryweddings.com/blog/images/may06-2.jpg

The florist is correct abo there being purpley-blue hydrangea, as seen here,

http://www.wedding-flowers-guide.com/blue-wedding-flowers.html

I would go to her with a picture of what you want, tell her that you want the lighter blue as opposed to the purple, and if she still insists that the blue hydrangea are actually 'purple', I would find another florist asap. It sounds like she's not trying very to make your wedding flower ideas a reality, and, coming from a florist myself, that is the most important thing.

Good luck, and remember, don't settle.

suz62984

It is absolutely important to find someone you connect with. Yes, price is important too; however, if their ideas clash with yours than you are at the point where you need to decide whether you can live with their idea for your wedding or not. As lindsay said, make sure to take pictures with you. Some people just need to see visual aids.

NillaWafer10

The hydrangeas she gets from her wholesaler are probably purple.  Sam's Club has blue ones, so she might be able to order them through their bulk floral online site. They are also only $2 a stem, so that can give you a bargaining tool. Many florists charge upwards of $5-7 a stem.  It's just a huge markup.

angela144

That's excellent to know. I, too would like to base my bouquet around blue hydrangeas. What advice or cautionary tales do people have about doing your own flowers?

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AStep2432

Love the hydrangeas

..My friend got married in June and our BM flowers were blue hydrangeas. Just know that they wilt pretty quickly. We took ours out of the water about 2 minutes before we walked down the aisle. By the time the reception came around they started to wilt and turn brownish at the tips- it was also about 90 degrees.

My soon to be sister in law used them as well for the tables and they looked amazing (and were in water the whole time)


No matter what they looked amazing! Good choice!

JScottScott

Thanks so much to everyone for the advice! I really liked this florist, actually, and besides a couple of minor color issues, I felt really comfortable with her and felt like she knew what kind of wedding flowers I wanted. I am hoping that if I just take some pictures of exactly what I want that she will get a better idea of what we're going for, color-wise. I think she'll work with me on it. If it's still not working, though, I'll just find someone else as quickly as I can. Again, thanks for the help, I really appreciate it. 

twilight.rose

I used blue hydrangeas at our reception, and the florist actually opted to use white hydrangeas and spray them the exact shade of blue I wanted...just another option if you have a very specific hue in mind.