How To Choose Your Wedding Flowers

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bride holding bouquet

Wedding flowers are an important part of your big day and unless you’re a pro, choosing the right blooms may seem like a very big task.

After all, there’s lots to think about, from the bridal bouquet and blooms for the bridal party, to reception centrepieces, aisle markers and archways. Not to mention colour palettes.

While choosing your wedding flowers may seem daunting, it’s important to get it right. After all, flowers play a mighty big part in setting the overall look and feel of your big day. Fortunately, we know how to get it right.

Set your budget

Not always the most exciting part of planning, but a crucial element nonetheless. Decide how much you’re willing to spend on wedding flowers. As a guide, most couples dedicate around 3 per cent of their budget to the flowers. One way to cut the cost is to do the flowers yourself. But this isn’t a task you should undertake lightly. There’s a lot of work involved and it may cause a lot of stress. Unless you’re a dab hand, it’s best to leave it to the professionals.

Where possible, you can cut costs by having your wedding flowers do double time. Consider transporting ceremony arrangements to your reception venue to save yourself some cash and give them a second lease of life.

wedding flowers

Get inspired

Ah – the fun part! Getting inspired is crucial so you can suss out what kinds of wedding flowers you like and what you don’t. A good place to start is to scroll through the Wedding Flowers hashtag on Instagram and to create a Pinterest board featuring your favourite blooms. It’s good to familiarise yourself with flowers and get to know their names too. This will make it easier for you when you consult with a florist.

Find a florist

When it comes to finding a florist, you’ll want to start your research a year before the wedding and it’s best to book an appointment after you’ve found your wedding dress and booked your venue. After all, your wedding flowers will need to complement these two things, and will also give you a clearer idea on the kinds of arrangements you’re after. It’s okay to meet with a couple of different florists to see what they can offer you and how they fit with what you’re able to afford.

wedding buttonhole

Be realistic

You want grand floral centrepieces for the table, an ornate floral archway for the ceremony and flower crowns for all of the bridesmaids but you’re only dedicating a tiny fraction of your budget to the wedding flowers? Focus on the wedding flowers you absolutely need to have, for example the bridal bouquet, flowers for your bridesmaids and buttonholes for the bridal party. Once you have those factored in, feel free to put any extra money toward the ‘nice to haves’.

Work with your theme

Certain wedding flowers just aren’t going to work with certain themes. For example, wild flowers and lots of foliage are better suited to a rustic style wedding, while something more elegant, like roses, are more suited to a black tie bash. Consider your theme carefully and do your best to ensure your wedding flowers tie in with the overall vibe you’re going for. Confused? Talk it through with your florist and give them a really good idea of the style of wedding you plan on having. They’ll know what flowers will work.

wedding centrepieces

Consider the season

Your wedding date will largely determine what types of flowers will be available to you on your big day so do bear this in mind. Some flowers will be more difficult and expensive to source at certain times of the year so make sure you chat to your florist about what’s available to you. The good news is, as well as being cheaper, flowers that are in season will generally look better and are of better quality too.

Consider your colour palette

Your colour palette will largely inform the colours of your wedding flowers, but you don’t have to match it completely. Feel free to play around with similar hues and mix and match shades that suit each other. Again, if you don’t have an eye for this sort of thing, have a chat with your florist. They’ll be able to guide you on what colours will work well together. Feel free to bring along swatches and pictures to give them an accurate feel for your day.

bride with a bouquet

Personalise it

Most flowers have a special meaning behind them. Roses for example mean love and passion, Lily of the Valley signifies purity and happiness, daffodils represent new beginnings, and gardenia means joy. When choosing your wedding flowers you might like to consider what they signify. You may also like to include blooms that are special to you and your partner or represent where you are from.

Start with the bridal bouquet

You could argue that it’s the most important floral arrangement of the lot. All eyes and camera lenses will be on it (and you!) for a significant portion of the day, so tackle this first, and centre your other arrangements around it. Once you have a clear idea of how you want your bridal bouquet to look, you’ll have a much better idea of the look and feel of your other arrangements. When choosing a bridal bouquet it’s important to ensure it’s not too heavy (no bride wants to have achy wrists while walking down the aisle), it’s not so elaborate that it detracts from the beauty of the dress and it’s not hiding any important details on your dress, like an embellished sash for example.

wedding floral archway

Don’t forget…

Allergies! You don’t want your bridal party to spend the day sneezing or rocking swollen eyes for the photographs so do a double-check and make sure you’re aware of any allergies before choosing your flowers. It’s better to be safe than sorry!

Psst! Need help finding a florist? Head to our directory of suppliers here.

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