FEBRUARY 2017

ECONOMICS and enterprise
Something borrowed, something blue, something bling
BY LISA CIPRIANO
As the old tradition goes, a
bride will need something
old, something new, something
borrowed and something blue
as she walks down the aisle on her
big day. Now, thanks to one crafty
entrepreneur, a bride can have something
bling that includes all of these
things and more.
Rita’s Bejeweled Bridal Bouquets
are also something forever. They are
beautiful, blinged-out bridal bouquets
that are customized by and
for the bride and can be adored as a
forever reminder of that special day.
Any newlywed bride knows the sad
feeling when her once beautiful bridal
bouquet of fresh flowers wilts away
only to be eventually tossed in the
trash or pressed as a brown memory
of its former glory.
Rita Salem-Pappadakis from Farmington
Hills offers brides a forever alternative
— a big bridal bouquet that
can include family keepsakes and can
be handed down for generations. “I can
create anything the bride can dream-up
from simple and elegant, to completely
blinged-out or something in between,”
she said. “I use an array of different
materials, all types of flowers, silk, satin
fabric, drapery pieces or anything else
the bride might have in mind,” added
Salem-Pappadakis. The bouquets are
customized right down to their handles
and they stay exactly the way they were
on the couple’s special day.
The idea for Rita’s Bejeweled
Bridal Bouquets was conceived when
Salem-Pappadakis’ cousin asked for
help choosing her bridal bouquets
and centerpieces. “We were looking
at fresh flower bouquets to order online
and I realized that can I make
these for her,” said Salem-Pappadakis.
Her cousin gave her the job and
she immediately went to work creating
her bouquet, her bridesmaid’s
bouquets and the bridal table centerpiece
with fresh flowers. “They were
gorgeous. She absolutely loved them
and so did everyone else,” Salem-
Pappadakis added.
Those online searches for ideas
got her creative juices flowing and
gave Salem-Pappadakis more inspiration
for future projects that were
a little bit different than traditional
fresh flower bouquets and centerpieces.
“As I was searching for designs
1. Rita Salem-Pappadakis
holding one of her pieces
2. A bejeweled bouquet
3. Embellished pieces
4. A bejeweled bouquet
to make her bouquet, I was coming
across all of these other ideas that
were bejeweled bouquets,” she said.
Ideas for those blinged-out bouquet
creations that she saw online,
danced around in her head
for months. “I kept thinking about
them, day after day, until I finally said
to myself that I can do this.” Salem-
Pappadakis added. So in February
of 2016, she decided to order lots of
brooches, headpieces, draping necklaces
(anything that sparkled) and all
of the other items needed to make a
bouquet such as fabric, flowers, foam
balls, handles, ribbon and off she
went. “It was a lot of fun learning
to make them and each piece turned
out better than the first,” continued
Salem-Pappadakis. And, as they say,
the rest is history.
She now creates her blingedout,
beautiful, one-of-a-kind, bridal
works of art for brides at a dedicated
workspace in her home. She’s already
done three weddings in less than one
year with at least one more on the
horizon.
Salem-Pappadakis is always looking
for items to make her wedding
creations even more unique. “I love
to look for older pieces and antique
pieces,” she explained. “Whatever
catches my eye. I look everywhere.”
Rita’s Bejeweled Bridal Bouquets
can include anything the bride wants
such as a grandmother’s antique
broach, the promise ring that came
before the engagement ring or that
something special made especially for
the bride by her groom to be. She can
add a family rosary, a special photo or
even an engraved piece with the couple’s
wedding date and their names on
it. “Whatever the bride has in mind, I
can certainly incorporate it with the
piece,” Salem-Pappadakis said.
The cost of Rita’s Bridal Bouquets
can be just as customized as the bouquets
themselves. They start in the
$250 to $300 range, but the sky’s the
limit depending on how elaborate the
bride wants the piece. “It all depends
on the material, how fully loaded
they want it, how big they want it
and the type of handle they choose,”
she explained. “It totally varies.”
Salem-Pappadakis also makes coordinating
groom’s and groomsmen’s
corsages, bridesmaid’s bouquets,
mothers and fathers of the bride and
groom corsages and the even the table
centerpieces just as eye-catching
and unique as the bride’s customized,
forever bouquet.
More information on Rita’s Bejeweled
Bridal Bouquets can be found at:
www.Facebook.com/
RitasBejeweledBridalBouquets
www.Instagram.com/
RitasBejeweledBridalBouquet/
42 CHALDEAN NEWS FEBRUARY 2017