Wedding Flowers

Flowers play a large part in the decorations of your ceremony and reception and there are many options to consider. The first of these is your budget, before you start looking at flowers decide on your budget and stick to it. Flowers can range greatly in price but if your florist knows you have a firm budget, they will direct you to appropriate choices within you price range.

The different areas you will need flowers for are:

The Ceremony:

Where you are having your ceremony will determine the amount and style of flowers you need. This may be a good place to consider silk flowers as a cheaper option. If silk flowers are done well they can look as good as real ones. You may find that some chapels or churches provide these. If you are having a garden wedding, the setting may not require flowers.

The Reception:

You can be creative with flowers for the reception. Rather than having a tall bunch of flowers in the centre of each table, you may choose to have a bowl with jerbra heads and floating candles. This can be cheaper option as well. You could also choose to use to use the same flowers for your reception as for the ceremony. Just ask a trustworthy friend to transport them and set them back up. If your budget is limited, you may choose to only decorate the cake and bridal table with large arrangements and use small vases for the guest tables. Many reception centres provide flowers in their packages. Check into this before flowers are ordered.

Bridal Party:

The brides posie is the most important of all the flowers for the day, and again there are many different options. You will need to choose the flower type, colour and style of the posie. The bridesmaids usually have a smaller version of the bridal bouquet or something that will complement it. The groom and groomsmen will have boutonnieres that are usually fairly simple, a rose or carnation. The flower girl may have a small bouquet or a basket of rose petals to scatter. Last of all, flowers in your hair can be a less expensive option to a tiara.

Parents of the Bride and Groom:

Corsages are ideal for the parents of both the bride and groom and possibly even grandmothers. The other thing to remember is a bunch of flowers for a thank you to both mothers during speeches.

Flowers are not limited by seasonal availability as much as they used to be. They can be grown in hot houses or imported from interstate and overseas. The flowers can cost more if they are out of season though. Some year round flowers are roses, gerberas, lilies, freesias, iris and tulips.

There are various types of posies to choose from:

• Teardrop - A trail that ends in a point
• Round posies
• Cascading trail bouquet - A lot of greenery
• Hand Picked - A mixture of garden flowers
• A few tall long stemmed flowers with greenery e.g. gerbras or tulips

Things your florist should know.

• The date, time, and place of both the ceremony and the reception.
• The type of ceremony.
• The name, address and telephone number of the bride, each attendant, female relatives or guests to whom flowers are to be sent, any hostess who is to be sent flowers for her party, the person at the house of worship or other location who can advise on the rules of floral decorations, and the person who will be in charge at the reception.
• The type and color of the wedding gown, the attendants´ and the mothers´.
• The color, size, and type of all bouquets.
• The color, size, and type of all corsages.
• The color and type of flowers for hair.
• The petals or flowers for the flower girl.
• The type of boutonnieres to be used.
• The type of decorations for the house of worship or other ceremony location.
• The type of decorations for the reception.
• The delivery time and place for all flowers.