Everyone loves wedding flowers. But with all those bouquets, buttonholes, and table displays to choose (and the chunk of your budget that goes towards them) it can be a little tricky to know what style of stems will be best for your big day.
So we asked Bella Verrechia of Kent based floristry studio Johnny’s Little Sister, for some expert advice on how to work with your florist and choose wedding flowers that will wow your guests and mean something personal to you.
Colour scheme (and that means bridesmaid dresses) is a massive starting point
This is definitely one of the trickier parts of planning your big day. I find that brides always struggle to decide on a definite colour scheme but it can help everything else once you have done. My advice would be to look at the decor and setting of your preferred venue and the bridesmaid dresses (so hard to please everyone!) then once you’ve chosen those two things the colour and style of flowers will flow easily.
A mood-board always helps
Whether it’s something that couples do beforehand and then show me, or whether they come into the studio and we do it together — looking through previous work examples and material samples — creating a mood-board really helps to get lots of ideas flowing. After this we can work out where flowers may be needed within the venues. I always give the couple the chance to adjust their order before the wedding date: ideas change as they progress with their wedding plans.
Ask your florist if they’ve worked at your preferred venue before
If they know it, you can ask them where they would recommend having flowers. If they don’t, it’s a great idea to schedule a viewing together. Then when you walk round you can discuss all the possibilities of where flowers will be best placed. When it comes to the venue as well, it’s always good to know how many rooms are going to be used, the colours of the venue, and how you can create arrangements to complement the decor.
Start with your dream and then strip back to work out how much to spend
At the start, working out a budget is always really hard. I always suggest working backwards in the sense that the couple should ask to know the price of everything they could possibly wish for and deduce the quantity and amounts from there. There is no right or wrong to how much you spend on flowers; you really can go all out or just order the essentials. Each wedding is so different and it really depends on how important flowers are to the particular bride and groom.
There are a few things you will definitely need flowers for
Some weddings can be quite an intimate affair where only bouquets and buttonholes are essentials. However, if you’ve booked a church and a reception venue then the key arrangements you’ll definitely need are: bridal bouquet, bridesmaids’ posies, buttonholes, church flowers, table flowers and entrances.
An arch isn’t essential, but it can add some extra ‘Gram-factor to your entrances
One of the extras I discuss most with my clients is a beautiful floral arch for either the ceremony or reception venue. This is something that, of course, isn’t essential but it does make a really wonderful display for photos. It’s possible to ask your florist for an arch which can be moved — lots of brides can get two uses from one display. Which leads us to…
Don’t be afraid to reuse your arrangements
I always suggest to brides where possible to reuse their arrangements; if they’ve ordered two large arrangements for the church, it’s a good idea to have these moved onto the next venue and perhaps put at the entrance doors. Items like jars and bottles can be used along the aisle as a runner and then perhaps reused on the dining tables to create a beautiful cluster of mixed containers.
Flowers can be the only decoration you need
I really do believe that flowers are very important at a wedding. When else do you get to be surrounded by beautiful flowers, scents and colours for you and all your loved ones to enjoy? I also think that if you get the flowers right, you absolutely don’t need any other accessories and decoration — it’s such a lovely way to decorate in your style, as it really does transform any venue.
Add some personal touches
I always find a good way to bring meaning into your wedding flowers is to look back on memories you and your partner may have shared: perhaps the first bouquet that was brought included a specific rose variety? Or use a colour that means a lot to you both. Also lots of brides have elements incorporated into their bouquet that their mother had in her wedding day flowers.
Think about the seasons
I think that when it comes to your wedding flowers, there is nothing better than using in-season stems. Why? Well, if you had sweet peas in your bouquet in your June wedding, then for the years to come you’ll forever be reminded of your beautiful day when you see them growing in the garden.
I love creating wild meadow flowers for weddings through summer. I try my best to match what you would find growing wild in the garden. It’s also lovely to have spring bulbs for a spring wedding, pines and hellebores for a winter wedding and perhaps adding something a little fun like squashes and oak leaves for autumnal weddings. Of course everyone’s style will be different and no two weddings will be the same.
Spread the love
At the end of the wedding, rather than filling their own homes with a wedding’s worth of flowers that they don’t have real space for, lots of brides give their flowers away to their guests. Wedding guests are always over the moon to receive a snippet of your day to enjoy for the rest of the week at home with them.
If flowers are going to be blooming bright and wide at your wedding, then you might want to leaf through our collection of floral wedding invites?
