Wedding Ideas

Creative Ideas for Wedding Flowers

  • Welcome gifts for out-of-town guests and members of the bridal parties.
  • Thank you gifts for those people who make the bride and groom's day special.
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  • Rehearsal dinner and wedding brunch décor.
  • Decorations for the wedding transportation.
  • Floating arrangements for ponds or pools.
  • Accessories for the bride's hair, in some cases replacing the more traditional veil.

At the Ceremony

  • Adorn the ceremony entrance with flower-filled urns that can later be moved to the reception.
  • Use flowers and candlelight at different levels to give dimension to design.
  • Use a single rose to mark the seats of both the groom's and the bride's mothers.
  • Attach flower petals to a large ribbon for an elegant decoration piece.

At the Reception

  • Garland the center of the head table with flowers, foliage and votive candles.
  • Use the bridesmaids' bouquets to create lavish buffet table decorations or to surround the cake.
  • Have your florist create guest table centerpieces with 4-5 separate clusters of flowers so that each couple can take a part of the centerpiece home.
  • Float large fragrant flowers, such as open roses or gardenias, in crystal containers with votive candles.
  • Sprinkle rose petals on the cake table and walkways.
  • Have the "throw-away" bouquet double as a cake top.
  • Decorate goblets and cake knives with flowers.
  • Use a cake plate with a mound of flowers on it as a centerpiece.
  • Use roses to make a dome at the top of a glass bowl filled with pretty rocks, and place a wreath around the bowl to highlight it.
  • Toss rose petals instead of rice as the bride and groom leave.

Arranging Fresh Flowers

  • Think about the size of the space in which your arrangement will be placed, and choose the size of you container and flowers accordingly. A big vase and lots of flowers will look overcrowded on a small side table. A small vase and few flowers would look lost in a larger display area.
  • When using open flowers, such as roses, daffodils or gerbera daisies, try to turn some of them at different angles to show different shape. Try not to arrange your flowers all facing in the same direction if the arrangement can be viewed from various angles.
  • Try to allow some space between the flowers to prevent a crowded effect.
  • Make sure that your vase is leak proof and that it has a neck which is big enough for the flowers to fit comfortably.
  • If the flowers sometimes don't stand up straight it could be that your vase is too short for the flowers, or that the flowers are too tall for the vase. A good way to check if the vase you would like to use is of an appropriate height, is too see if the vase is at least half as tall as the flowers.
  • If you cut your flowers too short, don't think that it is all for loss! Either put pebbles or marbles at the bottom of your vase for shorter flowers to stand on. You could also simply cut the head off of the flower and float it in a decorative dish, along with candles.
  • You can use filler flowers in a sparse looking arrangement to give it a much fuller appearance. Some good examples of filler flowers include, feverfew, ferns, Queen Anne's lace, baby's breath, heather, statice, and aster.
  • To give your arrangement more dimension cut the flowers at various lengths. Place the longest stems in the center of your bouquet.

 

Cheap Wedding Ideas – Flowers

  • Use only in season and readily available flowers. Be honest with your florist about your budget, and have them recommend the most inexpensive flowers.
  • Give your florist a general style and color scheme, and any “banned” flowers that you hate, but generally allow them flexibility so they can use what is in season and cheapest. There are some times when peonies cost a fortune, and other times when they are so cheap you can fill your hall with them. Make sure this flexibility will be reflected in your final price tag.
  • Hold your wedding during the Christmas season or immediately after Easter when a church will already be decorated.
  • Avoid holding your wedding in February when flower prices are at an annual high due to Valentine's Day.
  • Large arrangements on an altar will only be seen from far away. Use inexpensive flowers such as carnations, or large filling flowers such as snowball mums.
  • Some people think they can save money by moving the ceremony flowers to the reception. However, keep in mind that many churches and houses of worship require you to leave any flowers. Florists also hate to do this because large arrangements are hard to transport, and can become easily bruised or damaged in transit. (It's probably also least partially because it does cut down their bill.) You also will need to coordinate it so that the reception will not be held up by waiting for the ceremony flowers to arrive.
  • Find a venue such as a park or garden that is already lush and beautiful.
  • Talk to your venues and see if any other brides have booked for the same day. If the two of you can coordinate flowers and split the cost, you’ll save a lot of money.
  • Carnations are one of the cheapest flowers out there. A lot of people, myself included, really dislike them. But when they are used in abundance so that the blooms are packed together, they can be quite striking. Consider a low square table centerpiece of 20 carnation blooms with all of their stems and greenery removed.
  • Talk to party rental suppliers about renting large potted plants such as tropical palms or ficus. They visually fill a lot of space, and will help frame your ceremony site or warm up your reception. Best of all, renting a potted plant is far cheaper than buying large flower arrangements. Also, you may consider purchasing these large plants and using them in your home afterwards to get more use out of them.
  • More and more brides these days are arranging their own flowers such as bouquets of simple roses tied with a ribbon. Four or five pillar candles on top of rose petals makes an easy and cheap centerpiece. You can also easily create a centerpiece using wide shallow bowls filled with water and several floating gerber daisy blooms. If making boutonnieres and corsages intimidates you, these are generally inexpensive to order from a florist.
  • Consider ordering flowers from an online wholesaler. Unlike at a florist, you will be responsible for all of the prep work of cleaning and trimming them, and keeping them alive until the wedding.