By D. Damore

Choosing wedding flowers for your wedding should be a lot of fun. There are plenty of flowers out there for your pick. It's important though to set a budget for your flowers so the florist can have an idea of your limit and work on that. You have to consider flowers for your entourage, the church and the reception. There's an easy way to do this. Stick to your budget and coordinate the flowers according to your color motif.

Bridal and Entourage Flowers

When choosing wedding flowers for the bridal bouquet, make sure you (the bride!) likes the flowers. What good will the beautiful bouquet be if the bride hates the flower? Choose the flower that you like and work on that. After deciding the color and the kind flower, choose the style of arrangement that you like. There's the posy bouquet, cascading bouquet, the sheath bouquet or any combination thereof for your choosing. For the bridesmaids and maid-of-honor, smaller bouquets reminiscent of the bridal bouquet or flower balls will do.  Choosing wedding flowers for the little flower girls is easy. Give them small baskets or bags filled with petals. Corsages for the mothers of the couple, grandmothers and other female sponsors should also be themed. It is usual to pick orchids or roses. You have the option to get wrist corsages instead of the usual one.  It is best to choose boutonnieres that are small and unobstructive as you do not want to overwhelm your male entourage, the groom included with big bushy flowers on their chests.

Church and Reception Flowers

There is nothing more beautiful than walking down the aisles bedecked with fresh flowers. Choose inexpensive flowers to decorate the church. Make sure that the church flowers compliment the whole entourage's theme. Fresh flowers for the altar and at pews' end would look wonderful. It's not really practical to use the flowers in the ceremony used for the reception. How in the world do you expect pews' end flower arrangements become centerpieces for tables? Transporting them to the reception area would be added responsibility and work too. Simple yet elegant centerpieces are ideal for the reception. You do not want big bulky arrangements that would prevent the guests from seeing each other.

Choosing the Flowers

Choosing the flowers for winter weddings will not be flower-less as there is a variety of flowers that are available the whole year. Flowers that are available the whole year through are: Gerberas, Roses, Lilies, Freesia, Tropical flowers like Anthuriums and Orchids. You could also consider the white amaryllis for your bouquet. Spring weddings will have options of tulips, ranunculus, hyacinths, Queen Ann's Lace, roses and gerberas. Mix-matching these flowers would definitely give your arrangements a burst of colors. Summer weddings will have no problem in choosing the flowers for the occasion as many flowers are in bloom. Additional flowers in bloom are columbine, blue delphiniums, irises and gladioli. Fall bring in another set of wonderful flowers to choose from. You can choose dahlias, hydrangeas, chrysanthemums, kniphofia.

If the seasonal flowers are not for you, then choose the old favorites that are available the whole year round.

D. Damore, a 30 year veteran in the retail floral industry, shares his experience on the different aspects of fresh cut flowers, green and flowering plants for all occasions. Whenever in need to for a top notch florist at reasonable prices you might want want to pay a short-online-visit to: http://HeatherFloral.com

By John Francis


Choosing wedding flowers is such an important part of the wedding. There are some things to be aware of when you are ready to decide on your wedding flowers.

Since your flowers are an essential part of the wedding you should begin by preparing a budget. When you have a budget in place you will have a very good idea what the flowers are going to cost. If you don’t have a budget you could easily end up spending far more money than you had planned.

If you haven’t already decided on a florist you may want to ask the advice of family and friends. Pay close attention to the recommendations of those who have recently been married. The newly married will be able to offer you good advice. You can also talk to the people who are in charge of the ceremony and reception sites. These folks often have great ideas for the best florists.

You may want to make a few visits to the florists that you are considering. When you are actually in the business you will see how the customers are treated and if the shop is clean and organized. Take a good look at the flower bouquets and arrangements and notice the design and freshness of the flowers.

Figure out how many arrangements, bouquets, boutonnieres and corsages that you will need. Take this information with you any time you talk to a florist about the wedding flowers.

Before you decide on your wedding flowers, talk to more than one florist. You might want to bring pictures of bouquets and arrangements that you like. Also bring pictures of your dress and the bridesmaid’s dresses. All these things will be instrumental in assuring the most beautiful wedding flowers possible.

Make sure you have samples of the colors you plan to use in the wedding. This will be very helpful in choosing the colors of the flowers.
You might want to ask the florist for some photos of wedding flowers they have designed. Many florists keep a book of wedding flower photos exactly for this purpose.

Talk to your florist about using flowers that match the style of your wedding. If you are having a casual wedding you may want to use different flowers than if you are planning a traditional wedding.

You also might want to consider using wedding flowers that are specific to your region and to the season in which you are getting married. This will not only keep the cost down but you will not have to worry about the flowers being available.

Choose your wedding flowers carefully and they will be a wonderful part of your wedding.