Your Wedding Flowers
With so many decisions to make for your wedding day, choosing your flowers can be one of the hardest and will be limited only by your budget and your imagination. Your florist should be able to advise you based on your colour scheme, but bear in mind that it’s within their best interests to get you to buy, buy, buy, so make sure you have a strict budget in mind and stick to it.
Flowers quickly rack up a hefty price and it’s always a good idea to research prices and florists in the area to see if you can match a good deal with a great florist. Always get recommendations where possible, ask if they have previous clients you can contact for endorsements if you don’t know anyone who’s used them personally. Check florist websites as there’s usually a gallery of previous flower arrangements available to browse, the shop may even have a lookbook available in store for you to view before making an appointment.
Wedding flowers are typically broken down in to four categories; bouquets, buttonholes, table decoration and venue decoration. Of them all, table decoration is one you can get away without using and most people probably won’t notice unless your wedding reception is a very formal affair. Good alternatives to flowers would be a balloon arrangement, potted plants or flowers, or candles. Just make sure to keep the height down so people can still converse across the table.
Your wedding flowers should match the tone and feel of your wedding. Very grand, formal weddings will require more elaborate flower arrangements and more of them in general. A smaller wedding can still have an abundance of flowers but consider the flowers you’re using and go for more appropriate arrangements. The amount of flowers you require should be determined by the size of the venue you want to decorate so be ready to increase your flower budget accordingly the bigger your guest list gets.
Alternatives to traditional wedding flowers…
Alternatives to the standard wedding flower arrangements can be surprisingly imaginative. For those against fresh cut flowers, simply use potted plants or flowers. Take a leaf (excuse the pun) out of William and Kate’s wedding and line the aisle with small clay pots of your favourite garden flower. Using potted floral decorations (or trees) that can be replanted or handed out to each of your guests as a keepsake can be a lovely way of sharing your day with your friends and family.
For the wedding bouquet and buttonholes, consider fake flowers. Get creative, love butterflies? Make your bouquet out of paper butterflies and give each gent a single butterfly for their lapel.
Paper flowers are a budget busting way of decorating your entire wedding in a simple but very effective way and can even be made from coffee filters or cupcake liners. Fabric flowers can be used as hair accessories, buttonholes and your bouquet, tying in your bridesmaids and groomsmen.
Folksy and Etsy are online marketplaces that specialise in handmade items for those looking for alternative and unique ideas, so use your imagination and find something amazing for your wedding day.
