7 Surprising Floral Design Tips to Choose Your Wedding Flowers
Make choosing your wedding flowers a breeze with beautiful results. Whether you’re planning abundant arrangements flowing with roses or meadow-style freshly picked posies, these floral design secrets will help you choose.
Feature flowers
Many couples have difficulties in deciding which flowers to choose. The absolute array available they may’ve seen in magazines, gardens or in flower markets. A great place to start is to think of your favourite plant or bloom. It may be one with fond memories, a delicious scent or simply sheer beauty. Consider all the senses if you can for wedding flowers that evoke the strongest memories from the past and will for years to come.
Once you’ve worked out which blooms you want to be the stars of the show, weave them throughout your arrangements. Standard roses can be echoed using co-ordinating small spray roses which look so delicate in for example, buttonholes and corsages. This will create a romantic connection to the blooms you carry.
Fillers and spillers
Bouquets bursting at the ribbons with blooms aren’t the only way to create a breath-taking effect. Sometimes, the filler flowers – things like frothy white ammi and colourful achillea – are the accents your blooms need to really stand out.
Spillers come into play to give your arrangements movement and a more relaxed look. Trailing ivy, love lies bleeding and even panicle hydrangeas will create this romantic, floriferous, informal aesthetic.
Size matters
Wedding flowers come in all shapes and sizes, and there’s no one rule that works for everyone. Traditionally, the bridesmaid posies are smaller forms of the bouquet. But, more recently, these have been growing larger and more abundant, adding that whimsical finish.
Likewise, buttonholes were once simple affairs with one flower head, often a rose, and seasonal foliage. Now, blousy blooms prevail, with berries and even feathers featuring.
This is your chance to write the rules. Work with your florist to craft floral designs that are tailored to your vision, whether an oversized bouquet to contrast a sleek, A-line gown or a lighter posy with a fine art feel.
Go green
Just as foliage is the perfect foil for flowers in the garden, if also really sets off the blooms in your bouquet.
Grey/silvery leaves of foliages such as those in a variety of eucalyptuses, are always very popular. When choosing a wild, garden style, take your florist’s advice. Beautiful fronds can be sourced from surprising places, including raspberry and currant leaves. Don’t overlook grasses either. They may not seem as special at first glance, but many add the movement and subtle flowers your bouquet could be missing.
Less can be more
Did you know it’s possible to create an abundant look without using armfuls of flowers?
The trick is in the presentation. Single sprigs of blossom or tulip stems arranged in clusters or rows can create a beautiful effect. The added benefit of lots of little arrangements is that they’ll spread fragrance more evenly round the room too.
The same is true of using a more intimate palette of blooms. Sprigs of lavender tied to pew ends will create a sea of colour and scent with one single variety.
Shape up
One of the most important but often overlooked elements of floral design is shape. This will have an enormous effect on the overall style of your wedding flowers.
Take peonies, for example. Abundant clusters of fragrant blooms arranged with greenery and ivy will add fairy-tale romance to a ceremony arch. But add them to urns with unfurling branches of foliage in asymmetric designs, and your wedding flowers instantly feel more bohemian and relaxed.
Double the fun
If you’ve got big dreams for your blooms, you’ll want to add a floral touch to every part of your celebrations. Make your wedding flowers work hard for you for maximum impact on the day.
Careful floral design planning means an arch created from birch branches and woven with blooms could frame your ceremony. Then with stronger members of the wedding party or with the venue coordinator’s help, it could be moved and become a top table backdrop.
Choosing your perfect wedding flowers will be one of the most exciting elements of your wedding plans. It’s the perfect excuse to pore over Pinterest, visit English gardens for inspiration and discover a whole new world of floral beauty. Be inspired by the garden-style arrangements showcased in my portfolio and get in touch – I’d love to talk flowers with you.
