Our Policy & Opinions On Artificial Real Touch Flowers | Bulk, DIY, Cost Of Arrangements, Etc. 

We do not sell our top quality artificial real touch flowers by the stem, a dozen or in bulk and cannot provide them for DIY (do-it-yourself) projects and to other florists - no exceptions. We are a floral design studio, not a wholesaler or a reseller. Moreover, it would be not fair if our talented, very busy and well compensated designers diverted their precious time (from creating pieces of bridal floral art in high demand) to re-packing and dispatching boxes with single stem/branches of flowers, greenery and accessories. But there are even more important reasons why we cannot offer any ultra realistic flowers from our stock in bulk, especially when no one else has certain kinds available.

We keep good inventory and steadily re-supply it, as we ship completed arrangements' orders all year round, except during two last weeks in December. We have been in business of creating wedding real touch flowers arrangements years longer than any other online 'silk' florist. So we spent a great deal of time, effort and money to source and develop relationships with numerous providers of the best quality real touch flowers. But since the end of 2008 we cannot count on uninterrupted supply stream of many flower kinds, in selection and quality we had been accustomed to before and from the same as before channels. 2009 and 2010 were the years where not only tens od factories making excellent quality real/ fresh/ natural touch flowers irrevocably closed but many large wholesale operations on four continents went out of business. And the currently existing and new manufacturing enterprises  offer the replacement and/ or new flower products that are often inferior in appearance, material composition and quality. In addition, prices of artificial flowers in general doubled and tripled since 2007. Furthermore, production outputs for 2011 are less than half what they were in 2007.

Therefore, you can now understand that it would not make any business sense to us to part with what we need everyday in our work. So we can only wish 'good luck' to florists, unaware of current supply situation, willing to sell stems and hoping to 'make money' doing so.

Do Cheap Real Touch Flowers Exist?

We appreciate your admiration of the quality and variety of our genuine real (natural, fresh) touch and Floramatique® flowers in a vast range of our original wedding floral designs. But abandon the thought that you can purchase the kinds of highest quality artificial/ 'silk' flowers you see on this site at your local craft store in bulk, individually/ by the stem, for a DIY project of making your own wedding floral arrangements. A growing problem in the blogosphere is a misleading advice about where you can find/ buy real touch flowers. The advice goes as follows:"Go to a craft store of chain X, Y or Z and you will find them there and, if you have a 40% or 50% off coupon you can buy them cheap/ at a discount". So, acting on a recommendation of your peers (who base their opinion on a repeated ad nauseum advice of others), in your search of highest quality but cheap artificial flowers you may visit one/ some of these stores and look at their selection of synthetic, man-made flowers. You can assess some of them as "real enough" or "fairly real" but, not fully satisfied, you may still question: "Can these be undoubtedly considered as true real touch flowers?" "Are these the best fake flowers available?" The answer is a resounding: No! Would you really expect to find there excellent quality, realistic, authentic and cheap real touch flowers?

What Is Available In Craft Stores?

Almost all artificial flowers you can see at craft store chains are still your traditional, basic 'silks', varying from 2 to 4 (rarely 5) quality grade. And although you can find in some of them a very limited choice (in kinds and colors) of permanent botanicals displayed as true or soft touch flowers, they are in fact mainly the cheaper versions and/ or second rate real touch flowers. You will see there predominantly real touch knockoffs, which are made with ordinary (industrial grade) soft or hard, either latex, rubber, vinyl or foam. Craft store chains cater to the mass market, for DIY customers but not specializing in artificial flowers in particular, less in the top of the line permanent botanicals sought by high-end professional "silk" florists. So their prices also reflect the mass market needs. Retail value of genuinly lifelike, authentic grade 6/ real touch 'silk' flowers would not fit well within these stores' price structures and could be not perceived as 'affordable' by great majority of their customers.

For artificial flowers to be classified as of the ultimate highest, genuine grade 6/ real touch quality , they have to have not only real, natural feel to the touch (imitating that of the fresh cut flowers) but they have to be almost perfectly botanically correct in their smallest components. Beacuse of their ultra realistic and lifelike appearance you will (and should) be uncertain if they are fresh cut or 'fake' flowers, even looking at them in person and up-close. To better understand what we talk about here, please read the most informative anywhere material on the subject of contemporary artificial flowers, grouped in a series of short articles on Silk Flowers 101 page: http://www.hibiscusflorals.com/articles

You can enjoy the look of selected state-of-the-art artificial bridal floral arrangements in brilliant designs and created with the highest craftsmanship in our online Catalog of our own, unique 'standard' designs. You can also see examples of our diverse clientele (with photographs of our both standard and custom work) at our Testimonials page and thus appreciate why we wish to ensure that our customers' special days are as special as possible. Over the years, we invented, developed and perfected never existed before, proprietary assembly/arranging techniques (very different than for fresh cut flowers), applied only with the ultimate top quality real touch, Floramatique® and higher grades of traditional silk flowers. As a result (of the accumulated theoretical and practical knowledge of all kinds of artificial/silk flowers, floral materials and accessories, and long-term experience in the field of artificial floral artistry) we can offer you superior finished products, truly worthy of your special day.

How About DIY?

Some people, to our astonishment, think that there is not much to it - just putting flowers together and tying ribbon around the stems :). That peculiar "method" may work if you decide to make yourself a simple bouquet by wrapping a dozen of roses together, or a plain centerpiece by putting stems into a vase. Some florists, eager to re-sell you stems and forgetting that they should be paid for flower arranging, may tell you that it is not too difficult to make great designs once you have good quality artificial flowers. Nothing can be further from the truth. Would you attempt to cut and style someone's hair just because you have scissors and a comb? Floral design is a skilled profession. And like any skilled professionals, experienced florists who call themselves designers have a right to charge for their labor, at fair market value. The cost of flowers and materials for your wedding floral arrangements is but one element of a finished product's price. And if you are a 'diva', wanting a variety of (often rare and expensive, as seen often in bridal magazines) flowers in elaborate and time-consuming designs, do not expect that a florist would make your arrangements 'on a cheap'.

Nevertheless, some of brides-to-be believe that they can rely on online tutorials or in-print instructions on how to make a bridal bouquet with artificial flowers and easily create one themselves, or count on their 'crafty' relatives or friends to do so. That's fine, but do not expect great results, as you may be easily disappointed by the final outcome if you choose a too 'ambitious', elaborate DIY project. All we know is that if you want your precious bride's bouquet and your wedding party's flowers be well-constructed, color- and flower-balanced, content-diverse and looking as aesthetically pleasing as ours, a great deal of talent/ creativity, floral expertise, experience and a fair amount of time to craft them are needed. All backed by the superior selection and plentiful stock of and an access to credible sources of the highest grade 6 quality,  real touch and Floramatique® artificial flowers, best ribbons, accessories and materials, of course.