Silk Flowers, An Alternative to Fresh Flowers

The first large scale manufacture of silk flowers begun in Paris in 1738, and was carried out by Seguin de Merde-en-Gevaidan, a chemist and botanist. These tinted leaves and flowers were used for table decorations and for women's clothing. In a grand gesture, he created gardens with these cloth flowers and decorated trees with fruits and flowers.

During the nineteenth century in America, cloth flowers were crafted by workers who cut out petals and leaves using specially designed cutting irons and tweezers, never touching the flowers their fingers.

By the twentieth century, artificual flower blooms on rubbery green awkward stems were described as good imitations. It was not until the late 1960's that manufacturers expereimented with polyster fabric and plastic-covered wire, when flkowers that actually imitated their natural counterparts were created. Silk fabric is rarely used today. However, the name is still used, evoking their earlier beginnings.

The majority of our modern day high-quality silk flowers come from Asia. They are designed with exquisite botanical accuracy. Inspite of them being called "silk", each flower is cut from synthetic fibres. They are scalped from professionally shaped moulds and are superior in every way to the earlier fabric flowers.

Blooms are so real, florists today recommend them to brides in place of out of season natural flowers. Silk flowers are also very budget friendly. Once the wedding is over, they do not need to be thrown away and many brides keep them as a keepsake, as they last forever.