Sunflower Season
““How much I would like to spend these days in Pont-Aven; however, I find comfort in contemplating the sunflowers.””
Sunflowers continue to resonate for both retail and wedding customers. Many continue to ask for and seek out sunflowers. Right now in August, we are in this glorious time of year where all our sunflowers are locally grown and abundantly available.
This summer, we had the opportunity to design the flowers for a wedding that took place at Founders Brewing Co. in Grand Rapids, MI. The bride wanted a combination of sunflowers and hops. All the sunflowers were sourced from Ottawa Glad Growers in Holland, MI and the hops were fresh-cut from Pure Mitten Hops in Coopersville, MI.
Bar-side flowers with hops vines and cones, lime light hydrangea, Michigan sunflowers, dahlias, foxtail millet, and oatgrass. Perfect for a wedding at a brewery. The hops variety is Cascade by Pure Mitten Hops.
Hand-tied wedding bouquet with Michigan sunflowers and fresh-cut hops cones.
Viking pompons used for the wrist corsages and boutonnieres to coordinate with the sunflowers but on a smaller scale. The hops cones were used in both the wrist corsages and boutonnieres.
We of course love Michigan sunflowers. I can’t emphasize enough how magical it is to design with fresh-cut flowers that never see the inside of a box: planted, watered, tended, field-cut straight to water, and trucked to our back door, all within a 30-mile radius.
Two variations on wedding bouquets using sunflowers. The first is a cascade-style wedding bouquet that evokes a definite summer mood with the use of white daisies, aster, and buplerum. The second wedding bouquet has a real loose structure and is autumn-inspired with the use of wheat, bittersweet, broom corn, and High and Magic roses. The draping seeded eucalyptus finishes off the casual style of this sunflower-centric wedding bouquet.
There’s nothing like the local variety, but the Michigan sunflower season is about four months long. During the off-season, we still have a consistent supply of sunflowers that are shipped from California or South America (usually Columbia).
Wedding in the month of May, off-season for Michigan sunflowers, designed with South American sunflowers. The arch was on-site at the venue. We designed the bulk of the floral structure in-studio and added the curly willow and additional greenery on location. Photo Credit: Estelle Schiek Photography
Sally and Jennifer assembling the arch for this sunflower-themed wedding in May.
Sweet burlap and lace mason jars on our aisle stands. The mason jars were easily moved to the on-site reception after the ceremony.
Traditional hand-tied bouquets with sunflowers and aster. The bridesmaids bouquets had the addition of wheat. Photo Credit: Estelle Schiek Photography
Each sunflower on this wedding cake was hand placed to create a cascade of sunflowers. The sunflowers are accented by springri and white aster. Photo Credit: Estelle Schiek Photography
This sunflower-styled wedding made a big statement with its striking green dresses and the pop of yellow.
Basil green dresses were the perfect backdrop for these sunflower bouquets with green button mums, solidago, Israeli ruscus, and a touch of tree fern.
This large vase arrangement is a compilation of summer blooms, but one can see how the sunflowers provide the vibrancy to the palette.
Jennifer Schuitema
Co-Owner of Wyoming Stuyvesant Floral, Wyoming, Michigan
Third-generation florist working in the same location established by her grandparents. She’s worked in flower shops most of her life but only in earnest since 1998, when she graduated from Western Michigan University with a BBA. She lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
