Wedding flowers can add so much to your wedding day!

Whether you’re using brightly colored flowers to infuse pops of color, or adding lots of greenery to give a more rustic feel.

The sky’s the limit when it comes to the beautiful things that can be done!

Find out from top wedding pros what you should look for when it comes to elevating your wedding day with florals!

Floral bouquet by Evelyn Cunningham of Letterlyn Studio

Floral bouquet by HollyDays

Wedding Flowers – What the Pros Wish You Knew

Tanya, with Graceful Designs, LLC shares “It is very important for brides during wedding planning to start early when it comes to choosing their florist. Most wedding timelines suggest 4-6 months but I recommend booking much earlier. It’s important to secure your florist earlier so you secure better pricing and there is adequate time for designing your concept.
Mockups are VERY important to ensure your florist nailed your vision. A floral mockup design meeting should include your linens and table decor to ensure you visualize the complete concept. This important step prevents misunderstandings and allows you as the bride to critique likes and dislikes. This is critical to a design process and keeps our brides stress free and overjoyed on their wedding day.”

Brooch bouquet courtesy of the bride

Emily, the lead designer at The Main Event by Emily, has a few thoughts for prospective brides.

1) Step away from Etsy and DIY artificial flowers! Fresh flowers do not have to be more costly than silk.

I have had several clients come in with a bag full of unacceptable online purchases asking me to repair them.

There is value in dealing directly with a local designer as opposed to mail order.

Here at The Main Event by Emily we offer so many services under one roof. We are experts at giving you the look you want in the budget you are comfortable with.

If you can’t find a florist that will work with your budget – go elsewhere.

2)Pictures on pintrest are sometimes colorized, photo shopped and may also have artificial and fresh flowers mixed. Feel free to bring inspirational photos to be considered, but give your designer freedom to make your design one of a kind.

3) Don’t forget to schedule a bouquet for your bridal portraits in enough time for your designer to get the correct selection of flowers.

I can’t tell you how many frantic calls I have had from brides who were having their portraits the following day.

4) Last but not least – your flowers can make or break your whole vision. Make sure you consider them a priority when budgeting.

Bridal bouquet by: Kathy Forrest Design

Karen Roa, the floral artist behind Aleen Floral Design has these things to consider when budgeting for wedding flowers:

Every couple planning a wedding has an overall budget, it may be $15,000, $50,000 or $75,000 plus. 12-15% of this total budget is typically allocated toward the flowers. In whatever range your budget falls, there are ways to plan your floral design decor for a positive impact both aesthetically and economically.

Here are a few ways to approach the floral design aspect of your wedding while keeping your budget in line:

Define your priorities. ask yourself what is the most important aspect of your wedding? What design piece have you dreamt of your whole life?
Develop a give and take mindset. Rather than spreading your flower budget equally over every aspect of your wedding, prioritize a few significant areas.
Repurpose bridal party bouquets as either decor for the head table, centerpieces on guest tables, or as accents on the bar, gift, and guest book tables.

Allie, who runs Blushing Floral Designs by Alexandra stresses really going with your heart!

“One thing I think is huge for brides to know about our industry is real flowers. They not only photograph better, but tend to be cheaper than artificial. I’ve had a few brides who strongly considered artificial over real because they want to save money. But – for example – a good quality artificial rose can range between $5.99-$9.99 per stem and a real rose normally ranges between $2-5 per stem. There are also hundreds of varieties to choose from, giving infinite options to help save on cost.

These days, brides want to save their bouquets as a keepsake, and there are great options for real flowers. Brides can dry the bouquet in silica powder, and some florist even offer this added service. One of my personal favorites is pressing the bouquet and framing it. I love how elegant it looks!”

Bridal bouquet by: Blushing Floral Designs by Alexandra

Todd, the amazing artist behind Black Iris Floral Events has this to say:

“While there are many things that I would love to tell a bride or groom to help them understand our industry, the one thing that sticks out above the others is that as a Artist we thrive on creativity. We love being given inspiration versus “I want this exactly like this picture from Pinterest”. We form more of a connection to the work, and it shows in the end product.

That is true for really any of the vendors in the wedding industry.

If you ask a Chef to create the same menu over and over and over again, they will just go through the motions. If you give them the chance to be creative … the sky is truly the limit!”

A great big thank you to all the awesome vendors for taking the time to share their knowledge with our audience!

Bridal bouquet by Ellasin’s Events Floral and Decor LLC

Love What You See? Want to Have Your Own Session?!

If you’ve finished looking at these tips for wedding flowers and are thinking – I wanna do something like that! Awesome!!! We would LOVE to create a custom portrait session for you and the ones you love! Feel free to message me by hitting the { CONTACT ME } button or by giving me a call at 757-749-5350. I can’t wait to create some magic for you!