Good Afternoon all,
I am getting Married next October, and we would like to use seasonal flowers and colours as much as we can. And what more seasonal can you get than the lovely oranges of Pumpkins!
We were thinking of using the pumpkins as the focal points of the centre peices on the tables. We will provide the pumpkins to our florist who will use them and decorate them with an assortment of flowers and berries.
I have never grown Pumpkins though, so any advice would be much appreciated. We will have 10 guest tables, so 10 nice sized pumpkins for them. We were also thinking of maybe having a few pumpkins placed around the venue to give it all a nice theme throughout the day and evening.
I have a few questions on them:
What variety would be best?
How much space is needed to grow them?
When should I start preparing the plot space for them?
Is there any special tricks to growing them and getting them a really nice orange colour and good round shape?
Sorry for all the questions, but I want to grow the best pumpkins for it.
Cheers,
Ian.
hi ian,what a lovely lovely idea! ive only been at this for just over a year,im sure someone more knowledgeable will be along very soon,also there is a dedicated pupmkin thread here.
i grew,am growing,pumpkins,jack o lantern variety. i planted 3 seeds,they all germinated,and i know have 4 MASSIVE pumpkins,and around 6 smaller,and more babies growing,the plants are huge and sprawly,if that is indeed a word?
think i started them april ish time,in the greenhouse,and put them outside after a month or so.
there is important pollenating stuff to do involving the flowers,not too sure about that but as i say,someone will have more and better info soon,hope ive helped a little,and if you would like a couple of these seeds,id be pleased to send you some for your special day.good luck and have a wonderful time
rach
x
Turks Turban would make great table decs. :)
Or a bowl full of 'Jack Be Little' pumpkins would be very decorative, or you could have one by each place setting?
Hi istanley24, :D
Great idea, I have been very impressed with red kuri this year. I grew 4 plants, seed sown in early May, planted out early June, these have provided 12 pumpkins, various sizes but between 2 & 4 lbs each. They start off yellow, but turn a lovely red/ orange colour. I took mine off the vines 2nd September, they will store all winter so no probs for your October wedding.
They need a fair bit of room, mine were in a bed 12 feet by 4 feet. Planted in the ground enriched with a bucket full of rotted manure for each plant.
Hope this helps, but bear in mind, there are NO guarantees where growing plants are concerned, & have a plan B at the ready.
Adrian.
If you want large pumpkins we grew a variety called Fester which produced lots of large pumpkins early in the season... very watery flesh tho' which is why we don't grow it still. Not huge but certainly large.... :-\
I would go with Jack be Littles that you can use as small table decorations, they grow to the size of an orange. After that I would grow a few different ones and decide which ones by shape. The difference would make an interesting grouping. You could add Baby Boos to Jack be Littles by the way, the same size but white.
Don't stop at true pumpkins, many of the winter squash are bright orange.
Specifically for the big pumpkins I would go for a flattened one, a tall narrow one and a typical round one
The best flat one would be Rouge Vif d'Etampes AKA Cinderella, flat. fluted and very attractive.
The best tall one would be a Howden, taller than wide.
And then something like a Conneticut Field which is quite round.
Also you could consider some white large pumkins to match the little ones.
Another tip, try to leave some foliage on, even when it starts to dry it looks good.
You can see all these one the net.
Good luck with your lovely idea.
XX Jeannine
What color will the dresses be, asks nosey me.
Thanks for all the excellent posts.
We are going to use the pumpkins as a kind of Vase / candle holder (the candle will sit on top of the pumpkin and have flowers around it and draping over the pumpkin) so we're not sure the smaller ones will work for the tables, but we could have them placed around the venue, that would be really nice.
In replay to the last post, the dresses will be gold, with maybe a chocolate one for the chief bridesmaid (so I'm told - It's not really my department lol).
hiya , im a florist and a good magazine to get is called wedding flowers, its available in whsmiths and this months issue has a autumn wedding where they have used pumpkins, they work well hollowed out and put the oasis in the hollow pumpkin to place candle flowers etc in, it works very well, gerberas work well especailly contrasting coloures ie purple and orange, chocolate and orange would work well also. chocolate anthuriums works very well with pumpkins, we do halloween displays at work and they are a good seller!!! hope of some help c x ;)
Hi Ian,
What a wonderful idea to use pumpkins. I'll be saving that idea for any future events that need that *something different* effect.
You didn't say if you were growing them on a lottie or at home.
If you only have your garden (unless on a country estate ;)) you could maybe ask your local friendly farmer if he wouldn't mind you growing your pumpkins around the borders of a field.
If you're growing on a lottie, perhaps you could ask your lottie neighbours if they had some space to grow a plant or two for you.
Lauren
Hi Lauren,
We're going to be growing them at my Dad's allotment. He's got quite a big plot, but is only using half of it so far, and I think he'll really enjoy growing them on the other half, especially as they will be a main item in my wedding.
Try growing some ornamental gourds too.
These come in all sorts of shapes and have a variety of shades from lemon to green with white spots.
The seeds are quite cheap at lidl .
Piled high they look like exotic fruits.
Whatever you decide, please ket me know, I would love you to accept seeds as a wedding gift. I have a very big collection and am confident I will have what you need. Good Luck. XX Jeannine
Hi Jeannine,
That would be a lovely gesture, and set me on the way to pull this off! You have been recomended as the Pumpkin Guru, so any advice and help would be very much appreciated. I have never grown pumpkins so am a complete novice, my dad is a handy gardener, but he also hasn't grown any before.
I have a few pictures of what we're aiming for, I could email them over to you so you could make an informed reccomendation onto what variety would be best? my email address is istanley24@hotmail.com, if you would like to help out please drop me an email and i will send the pics in the reply.
Should I be thinking of doing anything to the ground at this stage, preparations for next year???
Kind Regards,
Ian Stanley.
Hi Ian.. I am so sorry but I can't send you the seeds now. I had not heard from you and presumed you didn't need them. As you may be aware from the forum we are returning to Canada and are currently packing..my seed stash is already in a packing crate now and it would be impossible for me to find them..however all is not lost I hope.
When is the wedding, I may be able to get the seeds back to you in time to plant as we should be arriving in Canada before Easter and the stuff is going 14 weeks ahead of us.
Alternatively if you wish to buy them from a UK company I can help you with your choices, also a comany I use in the States is very quick and cheap..many folks on here have bought from them since I put the comany name on and everyone has been happy.
I feel bad and would have kept them out if I had heard from you earlier.
PM me and I can get your message into my system so I don't lose it.
XX Jeannine
XX Jeannine
perhaps if you let people know what area you are in some a4aers could donate some pumpkins for the wedding if you dont have enough or something
That's a good idea, just incase mine go completely pear shaped, there would be a backup plan. We are intending to use pumpkins as quite a main feature in the decorations, maybe placing a few outside where guests arrive, some on the bar or placed in certain locations inside the hotel etc. Obviously, the main ones that are most important would be the centre peices for the tables.
I live in Abingdon in Oxfordshire, and will be using part of my dad's allotment (on the outskirts of Abingdon) to try to grow some.
I really do appreciate all the help and advice i am getting on the board, it is soooo useful.
Cheers,
Ian.
Have seen but never tried growing miniture white pumpkins (Baby Boo) which would make a great contrast with the Orange.
Peter
From your description of what you want I would have thought that the flat and deep orange cinderella types (Vif d'etampes) as prevously suggested would be best for main decorations.
But some of the steel blue ones (Crown Prince) look good as well, maybe to alternate colours - autumnal with the cinderellas and frosts of winter with the steels?
As you definitely want ten large fruit and they are not predictable I would double up to be on the safe side. If you get lots of fruit you good always give away squash segments along with the Wedding cake - that would be truly novel.
Agree with Jack be little they are so cute in bowls.
Be careful if you use Turks Turban, it could end up looking like a baboons rear end on your table.
;) ;D
Quote from: peter H on October 09, 2008, 21:06:46
Have seen but never tried growing miniture white pumpkins (Baby Boo) which would make a great contrast with the Orange.
Peter
Where's the best place to get seeds for Baby Boo?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MINIATURE-WHITE-PUMPKIN-BABY-BOO-10-SEEDS_W0QQitemZ270282918798QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item270282918798&_trkparms=72%3A1301%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
;D
Quote from: Deb P on October 10, 2008, 22:24:30
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MINIATURE-WHITE-PUMPKIN-BABY-BOO-10-SEEDS_W0QQitemZ270282918798QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item270282918798&_trkparms=72%3A1301%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
;D
Ooh they look good, and I hear they're only 99p a packet and 70p for postage no matter how big my order is. ;D
See now you've gone and done it, I've had to place an order myself this morning... ::) ;D
Quote from: Deb P on October 11, 2008, 11:40:54
See now you've gone and done it, I've had to place an order myself this morning... ::) ;D
yeah me too, but please dont tell anyone on the sas thread lol
We got all our seeds from them this year, and they were the best we have bought anywhere. Cut our Rouge D'Etampes & Galeaux D'Eysines for curing today, best harvest we have ever had. Best find some recipes fast.
Peter
I agree ornamental gourds look lovely I let mine ramble over my boundery fence. We went to a wedding two weeks ago and the brides bouquet was red roses red berries and millet and it looked lovely and the table decoratinos had apples in and ears of corn
Quote from: istanley24 on September 12, 2008, 16:44:46
Good Afternoon all,
I am getting Married next October, and we would like to use seasonal flowers and colours as much as we can. And what more seasonal can you get than the lovely oranges of Pumpkins!
We were thinking of using the pumpkins as the focal points of the centre peices on the tables. We will provide the pumpkins to our florist who will use them and decorate them with an assortment of flowers and berries.
I have never grown Pumpkins though, so any advice would be much appreciated. We will have 10 guest tables, so 10 nice sized pumpkins for them. We were also thinking of maybe having a few pumpkins placed around the venue to give it all a nice theme throughout the day and evening.
I have a few questions on them:
What variety would be best?
How much space is needed to grow them?
When should I start preparing the plot space for them?
Is there any special tricks to growing them and getting them a really nice orange colour and good round shape?
Sorry for all the questions, but I want to grow the best pumpkins for it.
Cheers,
Ian.
sorry to hear that lol,only messing lol
lol anyone getting married more local to me i do a nice white dove release for weddings and anyother ocassions, take a look at my website www.markswhitedoverelease.co.uk
good luck have a grate day if you and your partner will be half as happy as my wife and i you will be ok,have a wonderfull day.
mark