How to Choose Your Wedding Flowers: Advice from a Non-Traditional Florist
Organising a wedding is super fun. It can also be super stressful, and can be extremely overwhelming. In an online world where you have access to infinite scrolls of picture perfect set-ups, every floral arrangement possibility under the sun & every colour palette in existence, finding what feels like you can feel almost impossible.
In my years as a wedding florist, I have flowered for weddings with infinitely different vibes all across the North West, Yorkshire & beyond, and have guided many couples in the design process. So, I put together 5 tips & tricks for starting your wedding flower planning. These are designed to help you get started before reaching out to your preferred florist and help you feel in control and ready to get to the exciting bits of planning your wedding and securing suppliers!
• Start a couple’s mood board •
This is a step I advise for all my couples. It doesn't have to be exclusively flowers. Tear pictures of interiors/clothing/landscapes from your favorite magazines, collect scraps of fabric, little rocks and natural items that call out to you, lyrics from your favourite songs, photos from special moments in your shared life, your favourite paintings etc. etc. You can do this digitally on platforms like Pinterest, or get yourself a special notebook where you can physically collect and display these items. It can be a really fun and special activity to do together after your engagement!
As you build a collage of all your favourite things, patterns, colours and themes will begin to emerge. From there, you can start to hone in on what resonates with you as a couple and narrow down your choices. Your florist can then help you make sense of your moodboard and translate it into gorgeous, cohesive floral colour palettes and designs.
• Identify which flowers mean something to you •
Think of any flowers that are meaningful to you. For example, what is your birth flower? Is there a particular flower that reminds you of a special person? Do you have a favourite flower?
At Moorland Blooms, we work with the seasons, so consider which flowers will be in bloom during your wedding month (have a look at our seasonal wedding flower guide). This can actually help with deciding on the date of your wedding itself! If you have to have Peonies, a date in January is likely not right for you!
• Think about your wedding flower budget •
This is quite an important one. With the average couple spending between £1,000-£3,000 on their wedding flowers, it’s important to decide what you are comfortable spending on flowers for your big day. Are flowers really important to you and you feel happy to allocate enough to create the dream floral vision you have, or will a few small arrangements here and there suit you more as a couple? Though you don’t need to know exactly how much you want to allocate towards flowers before you meet with a florist, it is a good idea to have a rough estimate so they can provide you with a quote that maximises your budget. Some florists have a minimum spend for wedding flowers, so knowing your budget can help you narrow down your choices to find a florist that works for you.
• Think about your venue •
This step comes a little further down the line when you have secured your date and booked a venue, but is a very important one nonetheless. The architecture, vibe and physical restrictions of your venue can be really helpful in deciding on what wedding flowers are required.
Consider the architecture - is it grand, or intimate? Ornate or minimal?
Consider the vibe - does the venue lend itself to a relaxed atmosphere or a more formal one?
Consider the space that different moments will take place - will the ceremony space look empty without some decor/flowers? When guests arrive, what will greet them? How many tables will there be? Which spaces are non-negotiable when it comes to flowers and are there any that are impactful enough without floral additions?
Though your florist will help you think about how your flowers will work in a space, it can be useful to brainstorm about this yourself to give you clarity on what’s important to you both on the day.
• Remember this is about you! •
Weddings can be a total minefield of traditions and expectations. The most important step in planning your wedding flowers is to step back and ask ‘is this right for us?’. Even if your auntie you haven’t seen for 10+ years is demanding an ornate wrist corsage, doesn’t mean you have to provide one!
Traditional wedding floristry can be very cookie-cutter and prescriptive, but just because other weddings you’ve been to have had certain floral elements doesn’t mean you have to have them too. Wedding flowers are there to enhance your day and celebrate your love in a way that feels authentic to you as a couple. So if you want to ditch the wedding party flowers and just have an arch framing the moment you tie the knot, with all your favourite flowers, go for it! No one is here to tell you what you can and can’t do.
Hopefully these tips can help you feel a bit less overwhelmed by the world of wedding flowers and get you started on what will be an exciting journey!
If you are getting married in Yorkshire or the North West & want to learn more about Moorland Blooms florist, have a browse through our website or get in touch to start your wedding flower journey. We can help guide you through the booking & design process to bring your visions to life.
