Brides often ask me, ‘how can I make the most of my wedding flowers?’
As couples on average spend 10% of their total budget on wedding florals, it’s such a good idea to get the most from your arrangements. Our aim at Old Chapel Flowers is to guide couples to best meet their needs within their budget. Here are some great tips to help you do this.
Tip Number One – Use your Bouquet as a centrepiece
Bouquets that can double as amazing centrepiece decoration.
By using your Bridal bouquet as a gorgeous focal point arrangement after your ceremony and photographs have taken place, you can create an extra floral centrepiece. Your florist can help you with ideas of positioning, most likely in a prime spot at your wedding reception, along with possible vessels to really show off your most important floral arrangement of your wedding day! Possible places to display your bouquet arrangement are, at your top table, on a plinth by your entrance, on the cake table or anywhere prominent that your guests will be able to see it. Whether you’re having a smaller wildflower style bouquet, or a bouquet making more of a statement, and whether it is placed in a cut glass vase or a silver low-footed bowl, you really will be able to add that additional ‘Wow’ factor to your day.
Tip Number Two – Choose Fresh, British Blooms
If you choose to go with British grown flowers then you will be in no doubt that your wedding florals will be truly seasonal and the freshest they possible can be. From tulips and ranunculus in the spring, to cosmos and sunflowers in the summer, to dahlias and rudbeckia in the autumn - there is a huge selection of possibilities during the growing season. This is only a very small selection of stunning blooms that are available throughout the British season!
As all your flowers will be grown and not flown, they will be the freshest possible and in a better condition than wedding flowers transported in from Holland and Africa, resulting in less waste being produced during arranging of your wedding florals and with zero air miles!
So, if you are keen to plan an eco-conscious wedding as well as be clever with your flower budget the best start is to choose British!
Tip Number 3 - Adopt a dual-purpose approach
If you are deciding on a floral installation, such as a flower arch, it really makes sense if you think about a multi-purpose approach, i.e. moving your statement piece flowers from one location to another.
A great example of this are the ever-so-flexible milk churns that can be easily picked up and moved from say the start of the ceremony aisle to the entrance to a reception marquee.
Another popular choice by couples is for end of aisle chair vase decorations to be re-purposed as table centre pieces – this is really effective and so easy for any of the wedding guests to do (and some family members just love having a job to do on the day!)
Meadow boxes are another flexible choice. These two meadow box arrangements seen here as the ceremony backdrop could be moved to the front, or either side of a reception table, creating a real wow factor.
Foliage based swags can be moved from their original hanging position and simply and effectively laid onto a top table or in another prominent place. There really are so many options re-purposing floral arrangements!
These and other options not only make the best use of your blooms but also promotes continuity with your wedding styling throughout your day. However large or small your budget, there will be a dual use arrangement for you.
Tip Number 4 – Make a Statement
If you are aiming to get the most impact from your wedding flowers budget, then concentrating on a real statement installation is one of the best ways to do it.
They can be used in most areas of your venue and possible options can be discussed with your florist.
Whether it’s a floral arch at the entrance to your venue, or a hanging flower curtain, a grand flower statement will capture your guest’s attention and have them remembering your big day for years to come!
Tip Number 5 – Add a gorgeous ribbon to your arrangements
Spending your wedding flower budget isn’t always just about the flowers.
Ribbon and tulle can take your floral arrangements to another level, especialy if they are coordinated with your styling and the venue décor. Ribbons can add a real whimsical feel to a bouquet and a clever choice of fabrics can add just the right feel to your florals.
Ceremony arrangements can be moved to the cake table.
Tulle can create a real fairy-tale feel to the whole look, be it draped around a tubular arch or from a drawer on an antique cake table.
Tip Number 6 – Use Dried Flowers
If you want to go with something a little different from the crowd, and you are thinking of having a fresh bridal bouquet professionally preserved, then you will definitely save money by going straight to the dried bouquet option. Just think, how lovely it would be to admire your bridal bouquet or a collection of buttonholes to look back at years after your wedding day.
A dried flower autumnal bouquet with fresh purple Cotinus foliage
Dried florals can also be combined with fresh green foliage, such as eucalyptus, to create truly textural arrangements, which in turn can be made into bunches for guests to take away to decorate their home – that would really be something different to give as a ‘thank you for coming’ present!
A eucalyptus and dried flower installation can be ‘broken up’ into smaller arrangements to take home.
Hoops are also a classic for decorating with dried florals, whatever their size. This one was created using a combination of all dried ingredients including: bay leaves, hydrangea heads, frothy miscanthus and pampas grass, pale honesty seed heads, and spiky textural echinops. It was great fun to make but I would suggest that you ask your florist to make something on this scale as dried flowers are more tricky to work with than fresh.
A large dried floral decorated rope covered ring
For those who would like to do something creative after their big day there is also the option of drying your own fresh bouquet, buttonholes or other arrangements yourself.
Buttonholes just perfect to dry for mini everlasting bunches.
To dry your bouquet the easiest method is to simply hang it upside down from some string in a dark dry spot in your home. You can hang your bouquet as a whole, but for larger bouquets it may be easier to dry in smaller bunches. You can then combine them back together after they have dried.
I hope that these tips have given you a few ideas of how best to get the most out of your flower budget using the many options available.