Wanting Plumeria Cake Flowers? Choose Clay Plumerias!

Plumerias are one of my all-time favorite tropical flowers. I remember my cousins and I used to pick them off the tree in Hawaii and make leis for one another for birthdays and special occasions. Their fragrance is mild but intoxicating. My favorite perfume that I wear is a plumeria scent and I love it. :)
Plumerias are such a fragile flower. Once picked, they become easily bruised and the petals turn brown rather quickly. However, there are many brides out there who love plumerias probably as much as I do and want to have them for bouquets or even cake flowers. Florists or hotels could charge as much as $15/flower because they have to remove all the milky sap that's inside the base of the flower once it's picked. It's highly toxic and must be thoroughly washed out. Because they have to go through this long process, this is the reason why they charge so much for a flower that grows everywhere in Hawaii.
Alas, you can have plumerias on your cake, pay a little less per flower and have plumerias that will be "fresh" looking the entire wedding day and enjoy them even after your most magical and memorable day has passed. These flowers can also be scented with plumeria perfume or oils as long as it's on the top surface of the flower and not the bottom so that it doesn't come into contact with the cake itself.

These are some images I photographed this evening of cake flowers I did for my client who is getting married on February 15th at the Hilton Waikoloa Village. Favor pictures to follow on Thursday and centerpieces to follow hopefully this weekend! I'm really excited about this wedding because it's my first centerpiece order for 2009! Carol ordered 10 centerpieces. We're doing plumerias with green cymbidiums and "monkey tail" fern curls and some tropical grasses in a 6x4x4 inch glass vase.

So, considering plumerias for your wedding? My honest suggestion is that you can have them in clay form and no one will be able to tell the difference. I've done several clay plumeria bouquets and all my clients said how everyone thought they were real!

One word of advice to brides ... BEWARE... If you wish to take these clay plumeria cake flowers home as a keepsake, assign someone to take care of cleaning and packaging them away before your guests start taking them home with them. Believe it or not, I have had several brides tell me that their guests took them and were so disappointed they didn't have any left to keep as a keepsake.