If I make a rose bouquet and put it on the top of the cake (no water) at about 5:00 will the flowers still look okay about 3 hours later. The wedding is at 6:00 with the reception following and they are both at the same place. I just don't want the flowers to be dead before they cut the cake.

Do you think it might be possible to tuck the conditioned roses into a small amount of soaked oasis (floral foam), and put it on a tiny food-safe plastic plate? (You can cut 1/4" off the bottom of a sanitized water bottle, to make a very small plate).

I imagine you have excellent AC in Florida, but if the wedding was outdoors, the roses will not last. Another advantage of using plates and oasis is that you won't have pesticde-treated flowers touch a cake.

Hope this helps!

I have made the arrangements the night before (kept chilled) and they were fine several hours later.

As long as the flowers are fresh and it isn't outside in the heat, they should hold up.

There are options that provide moisture-floral picks and oasis.

Where can I get oasis foam? I have to have it for Sunday. Would a craft store like AC Moore have it or could I get it at Walmart? Thanks for the help. I really don't know anything about flowers except they shouldn't get stuck in the cake and this bride kind of sprung this on me last minute.

Walmart has it- make sure it is the type you can soak -- it will hold an amazing amount of water, and really, you won't have to worry about the roses at all (can do them the night before, and keep them in a cool location). Crafts store are good places to find it too -- a block lasts a long time for us cake folks.

It can be cut with dental floss. You'd only need a small amount, maybe 1 inch by 2 inches. You can hide it with the leaves. And of course, it goes on a small plate, since it will make the icing soggy....

Here's some links...

http://www.thegardener.btinter.....oning.html

http://www.thegardener.btinternet.co.uk/tips.html

http://www.cakecentral.com/art.....-Cake.html

Hope this helps!

Thank you the information was very helpful. So if I use the floral foam I don't have to wrap the stems with tape? Do I cut the stems about an inch or two long and just stick them in the wet foam?

Yes, cut them and stick them in the wet foam. You can even put the arrangement in fridge overnight till you're ready to put it on the cake.

Thank you all for saving my flower illiterate behind.

Rose will last a LONG time. My ever-famous story about my icing that sat outside in 90 degree heat in August for 5 hours? Well that same cake had a ton of roses arranged at the base of the cake. They held up just fine.

Here's the pic ... the flowers at the base of the cake were not in water picks or anything. THey were set out at 2:00 in the afternoon and I cut and served the cake about 7:00 pm.

http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=93755