We don't have a big field of lavender, in fact our patch is quite small but we started harvesting last fall and continued this year.  We had bunches of lavender hanging here and there, pinned on the walls, draped on coat racks, and hanging on the light fixtures in the bathroom.  crazy.  Anyways, it dried quite nicely.  When it came time to take the flowers from the stems we found it easiest to rub it between our hands and let it fall on newspaper then we picked the stems out of the fallen flowers.  I'm telling you guys, this lavender worked beautifully at the wedding!  There was absolutely no mess and the guests hands smelled of our beautiful lavender!!!  Lavender is such a calming smell. We loved knowing we grew this "piece of gold" for Bethany and Joel's wedding.