“Flowers make the party, I want my party to be memorable! But I don’t want it to cost a fortune”
It can seem overwhelming to begin with, so here are some tips for you, to help on choosing your wedding flowers a little easier.
1.
It will save you time, and make you feel a lot more confident talking to your professional florist, if you do a little bit of homework before your consultation. The Internet, bridal magazines and photos from other weddings are a great source of ideas and inspiration. Take along any pictures of bouquet styles, special flowers or anything else that catches your eye.
2.
Think about if your wedding has a theme, and how you feel flowers will carry that through. I.e. including shells in the bouquet for a Wedding on the beach is perfect! A popular look for Waitakere Weddings is to include Paua or ferns and palms to bring through the Waitakere bush and beach feeling.
3.
Have a swatch of your bridesmaids’ fabric for colour matching of flowers and ribbons.
4. Pick at least one or two types of special flowers that you would like to feature if they are in season. Blooms may be included because of their special meaning or they could hold personal memories to the bride and groom. For more information on the meanings of flowers click here for our meaning of flowers page.
5.
Work within the seasons. Although many popular flowers like roses, lilies, Singapore orchids etc are available all-year round, many other flowers are seasonal, so prices fluctuate depending on which month you are getting married in. Flowers can be imported, however this becomes very costly, so it is better to be in-tune with nature and plan your wedding bouquets around the season you are marrying in.
Remember that Valentines Day, although romantic, is a very expensive time of year for flowers!6. Know your budget. It can be extremely helpful to the florist if you are armed with a budget. This allows you both to discuss the best way for you to get the best value for your money. We have more information on prices for bridal bouquets and wedding flower budgets here.
7.
Don’t skimp on the bride’s bouquet – it is your special day and you are worth it!
But you can certainly be creative with the bridesmaids’ flowers – a popular trend today is 3 or 4 showy large blooms like gorgeous lilies or gerberas, which gives you real bloom-for-your–buck!
8.
You can also consider doing the reception table flowers yourself – armed with a team of willing helpers and some champagne of course! A glass bowl with floating rose heads, or a single Singapore orchid in a bud vase is a lovely effect and certainly achievable for the novice floral artist, however do be aware, that doing their own flowers often takes a lot longer than many brides anticipate, and adds a huge amount of pressure and stress to the last days before the wedding – Think about it -is it really worth it?
To round things up,
A.
Remember to simply and inexpensively thank your VIP’s with a simple flower and note.
B.
Give your florist the creative license to interpret the feeling you want your wedding flowers to convey. Try not to focus on one or two “particular must-have” flowers.
C.
Trust your florist…tell them right off the bat what your estimated budget is, and decide early on whether they’ll be able to give you what you’re expecting.
That's all...
Well, have fun with the flowers
