Flowers near fabric: pollen, dye, berries, and what stains

Lily anthers, dyed stems, soft berries and wet ends stain dresses, suits and rented linen. Plan the flowers that touch fabric before they arrive.

Most wedding flowers never touch anything but a vase. The ones that do, a bouquet against a dress, a boutonniere on a lapel, a centerpiece on a rented cloth, petals on a carpet, are the ones that stain. The four usual causes are known, and each has a fix that costs nothing if it is planned.

Lily pollen

• Chrysal’s care guidance for lilies: remove the anthers as soon as the flowers arrive, and again for every bud that opens afterwards. A bud that opens in the suite after the florist has left carries fresh pollen nobody plucked.
• Ask the florist to pluck on arrival, and tell whoever carries the bouquets that buds keep opening. Boutonnieres sit at chest height, where everyone hugs.
• If pollen lands on fabric, do not rub it and do not wet it; both push it into the fibre. Lift it with sticky tape or a dry brush, then hand the garment to a cleaner who is told it is lily pollen.

Dyed and tinted stems

• Blue carnations, tinted roses, dyed pampas and painted baby’s breath start white and drink dye. FloraLife’s guide to dyed flowers warns that dye can seep through the leaves and stain clothes and linens; Blooms By The Box, which sells dyed stems, says to keep them off clothing and tablecloths.
• Ask whether a colour is grown or made. Grown blues include delphinium, hydrangea, tweedia, nigella and cornflower. If a made colour is the only way to the palette: stems dried and wrapped before they touch fabric, their own water so white flowers do not tint, the deepest heads angled away from the dress, and one stem left overnight on a scrap of the rented cloth before you decide.

Berries, sap and wet ends

• Soft berries such as hypericum, privet and viburnum burst when crushed and mark pale fabric; euphorbia and some greenery weep sap. Ask the florist to keep soft fruit out of pieces that touch fabric, or to use firm berries.
• A bouquet lifted straight from water drips down the front of a dress. Someone carries a towel, and stems are blotted before every handoff and every set of photographs.

Petals on floors and carpets

Dark petals, deep red roses and dahlias among them, can mark light carpet once they are walked on. Ask the venue what it allows on the aisle and in the ballroom, and whether silk petals are required indoors.

Handoff

The florist plucks, dries, wraps and warns; the person receiving the personal flowers checks stems before they touch anyone; the emergency kit holds tape, a dry brush and a white cloth. The rented-linen contract names the damage charge, so the test stem on a scrap of cloth is worth the evening it takes.

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