TARA NICOLE 

WEDDINGS AND EVENTS

Foraging with Old Forest Farm

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I'm Tara, and this blog features stories of our events, planning advice, and business education. I particularly enjoy building personal connections with others. Stay a while and say hello!

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Today, I am so excited to share an inside look at the ever-increasing organic wedding flower trend that has swept every Pinterest board.  Another word for this trend is called “foraging”.  We partnered with our sweet friends at Old Forest Farm to learn a little more about how to achieve this look!  

Foraging is one of our favorite things to do.  Adding a few wild elements to arrangements gives them a sort of raw beauty you can’t always get when ordering flowers from the usual places.  It also adds the energy and spirit of the seasons to arrangements and there is something to be said for that.  Nature is constantly changing and evolving and because we are working with a product with a limited lifespan, it reminds us that beauty and meaning are always in the present moment, in this season of life, and to enjoy them fully while we can.  The next time you buy flowers from the grocery or cut some from your garden and you want to add a little more wildness to your bouquet, try foraging for a few branches of something new. You don’t have to be a professional to know how to properly forage and we’ve got a few tips for you today.

organic wedding flowers

One of the main reasons we love to hunt for beautiful branches and blooms is truly to just be outside in the quiet with Mother Nature. In this technologically driven and fast paced society we live in today we are depleted of time spent with the earth and missing out on so many of the healthful benefits of slowing down. Plants have been around longer than we have and their ancient wisdom can really teach us if we are open to it.  So without further ado, here are some things to remember:

 

  • Bring some basic tools: A lightweight basket, clippers or pruners, gloves, a hat if you are going into the woods, and bug spray (we make our own natural, DEET-free blend, coming soon to the Old Forest web shop).
  • Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty.  So many beneficial micro-organisms are in our soils and on our local plants, and you can always wash up when you are done.
  • Know common poisonous plants in your bio-region.  For us, we mostly worry about three particular varieties: poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac. With a little online research, you may find that there are many antidotes to these toxic plants and they’re almost always growing close by.
  • Be Considerate. Don’t take more than you need or cut an entire plant.
  • Remember that foraging can be in your own garden or yard, a friend or neighbors, a quiet spot along the road, or deep in the woods. We’ve found ourselves collecting stems from all of these places at different times.  There’s no wrong or right.

 

We often cut tiny weedy wildflowers along our path to the woods as well as twisty branches of trees. We love to use flowering spirea from friend’s yards in the spring, sweet honeysuckle sprigs and Queen Anne’s lace in the summer, red oak leaves in fall, and dried beech branches in winter.  We cut massive amounts of invasive wild grape vine from the woods for winter wreathes as well as collecting pine cones and branches. But not everything lasts long once it is cut so if you’re planning to use it in an arrangement or installation you may want to test it a day in advance to make sure it doesn’t wilt easily.

 

So try to get outside, listen to the subtle wind in the grass, smell the rich earth and the sweet blossoms, and enjoy a moment of gentle wildness. And don’t be afraid to add natural elements to your florals, it’ll make them all the more magical and unique.

 

To see how some of our brides have incorporated this trend, take a look at our portfolio!
organic wedding flowers
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I'm Tara and I'm so happy you're here. This blog is a journal featuring our weddings & events, planning advice, and business education.  Stay a while and say hello!

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