Your Wedding Flowers and How To Swing Them
Two pieces of lavender. Simple, and beautiful.
Most of my brides come at the whole wedding flowers thing in one of two ways: They know exactly what they want, or they have no clue. They’re either focused on one particular tree or overwhelmed by the forest. And yes, I made a little botanical metaphor there.
The funny thing is, both end of up changing their minds. Certainty slides into flexibility, while cluelessnes gives way to very firm choices. And it’s the same process – finding out what they don’t want, which leads to deciding what they absolutely do want. Do yourself a favor right now, and #1 – Accept that there is a process. #2 – Don’t be afraid of it!
Start before you even meet with a florist and pull all the basic numbers. How many guests are you having? Divide that by 10 (or 8 or 12 depending on the size of your tables), and that’s how many centerpieces you’re going to have. You need a bouquet, your bridesmaids need bouquets, and all the groomsmen need boutonnieres. Do you want your parents to have bouts or corsages, too? How many of them are there? How about the flower girl or ring bearer? These are the same questions any florist is going to ask you, but writing it down beforehand is going to make you feel a little bit more in control, and it’ll bring up questions that you haven’t thought of, like, what size tables your venue has. Smaller tables = more tables = more centerpieces. But then again, smaller tables can mean smaller centerpieces, too. Something to ask the florist about if your budget is a consideration. And if it is, write down whatever 5% of your budget is. That’s what you want to try and stick to flowers-wise.
Another idea...
If you know what you want right now, collect pictures to bring to your floral consultation. Print them out, bookmark them on your smartphone/tablet/computer, but bring the visuals. If you’re not sure what you want, then ask yourself this: what don’t you want? Do you hate roses, do you hate peonies, does the thought of a cascading bouquet give you hives? What’s your color scheme, or what is it definitely not going to be? Nine times out of ten, going through this exercise is going to give you a little more clarity.
And, now, it’s on to the florist.
The great thing about florists is that they actually know what they’re talking about! If you say you want white flowers, they can point you in the direction of ranunculus, dahlias, tulips, and half a dozen other blooms that you never even thought of. A lot of times, they have examples of each of these flowers in their shop. Ask as many questions as you can, and definitely ask all the questions that you have. Don’t worry about what isn’t possible, just find out what is.
Get a proposal or estimate, if you can. A good rule of thumb is to stick to the basics. Personal flowers and reception flowers. The florist is probably going to ask if you need any arrangements for your ceremony, or for the place card or gift table. A small vase for the bar? Remember, you can always add these later, if you want. But, don’t get sucked into any of it now!
And most of all, enjoy it. Enjoy all the pretty, embrace all the options you have, because there are a lot of them. There is no way you won’t find what you need to have the beautiful wedding that you want.
So, did your wedding flower vision change after you got started? Or, what finally pushed you to realize what you really wanted? Or, are you still stuck and could use some help? This is the place to share – let us know in the comments below!
See you at the end of the aisle,
