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Pink, cream, lilac roses display

The Art of Wedding Floristry

Without a doubt flowers are one of the most traditional elements of a wedding. With bouquets, buttonholes, corsages, table centres, etc there are many ways to include flowers in your wedding. With this blog I am pleased to introduce some thoughts from some of my favourite florists and what they offer.

What flowers should you use for your wedding?

First off, the thorny issue of what flowers to use for your wedding day. Florist don't expect you to be an expert in flowers or know what's in season, or what might be tricky to get hold of. Florists are the experts, they can advise you on what's available, what flowers work best with each other, even what to go for to avoid the worst hayfever outbreak. If you have a colour scheme in mind or a Pinterest image of the kind of thing you like, take it with you to your meeting with a florist, it will help them get at picture of what you like, but have an open mind to their suggestions and ideas.

What colours should you chose for your wedding flowers?

If you're trying to match flower colours with bridesmaids dress fabrics you need to be aware that an exact match is unlikely for many colours but florists can close-match or use complimentary colours. When you meet your florist have a sample of the fabric/s or the actual dress with you. Cream/champagne/ivory, whites all work well with other colours so are often used as a base, especially when a bride is wearing a traditional dress colour, but you don't have to be limited by that. You can add drama to an outfit or venue by using bouquets and table displays full of colour, without overwhelming everything.

What type of bouquet to choose?

Cascade, hand-tied, single stem, posy, wand? I have a Pinterest board with some handy graphics on the difference between the style of bouquets that are available, so you can cut right through the jargon. A lot of brides are currently going for hand tied posy-style bouquets for themselves, if you have small hands or get tired easily you might want to go for something small and lightweight (think Kate Middleton or Meghan Markles wedding bouquets) as some of these with lots of big heavy flowers are hard to hold for any length of time. Your florist can advise you on what style would best suit your needs.

So, what can different florists offer and why do prices vary so much?

As with any professional, most have a particular style they like to work in, and different levels of experience or training. And this doesn't come cheap! You also need to bear in mind that some florists work from a home studio space whilst others have a rented space with all the associated costs. The main effect on price remains the flowers themselves; the more unusual or out of season the bloom the higher the price is likely to be. And that's before you even consider the size and numbers of flowers required in some bouquets, especially with the current trend back towards huge bouquets.

And, what do florists really want you to know?

1) some flowers are highly poisonous and shouldn't be put anywhere near a cake and definitely not without stem covers. 2) some blooms are expensive because they are rare or difficult to source so unless your budget is unlimited you might want to look at their suggested alternatives. 3) they will often have to order extra just in case of damage, wonky stems, etc so they're not just buying 10 blooms for a bouquet, which is why they won't usually give quotes based on a specific number of flowers. 4) for fresh flowers to be at their best on your wedding day, florists have to work fast, often 24 hours or less to create all your bouquets and displays. 5) to prevent wilting you may want to keep bouquets in a small amount of water when you can, it's a good idea to have something on standby for this. 6) some flowers work better than others in outdoor displays, especially if rain or extreme heat is likely, so take the advice of your florist. 7) some of the colours you see on those Pinterest boards are not created by nature and may in fact be made of silk, but that's okay because many florists will be able to source and work with quality silk flowers.

What I want you to know about florists?

There are amazing florists out there who will go above and beyond to make your wedding flower dreams come true. Some of my favourites to work with have been established for years and their experience shows in the work they do. Many of their customers write glowing recommendations and I've personally seen their work for myself. First up is the Luton based Tuftys Flowers, whose shop has been the local go-to place for wedding and funeral flowers for years, and their prices are amazing. My next recommendation is for the brilliant Flowers By Suzanne Randell, who is award winning for obvious reasons and preferred supplier at several venues in Herts/Beds. Check out their websites (links below) to see just why they are recommended and if you need any further advice from me go to my contacts page. X