I know that wedding florals are an investment, but they’re so worth it. It’s not just your bridal bouquet that takes center stage! The bridesmaids’ bouquets, the boutonnieres, and the flower girl are all important too! Luckily, there are many ways to incorporate flowers on your wedding day and save money too!

Where to Incorporate Flowers

Let me start off by saying I completely believe in having your bouquet be real florals. While you might think that artificial flowers save you money, that often isn’t the case. Faux flowers can cost just as much as real flowers. Silk-based flowers are the most realistic faux flowers, and they cost much more. They also require you to put them together, which means many hours of prep-work and design! Hiring a florist allows you to get the look you dream of without spending so much time trying to DIY it. This is especially true since you can incorporate flowers into every space in your wedding!

 

Cake

Have your florist drop off some additional blooms for your cake artist to use. They can have them scattered around the base or on top as a cake tower. This can help incorporate your cake into your theme and décor even more. This bride chose to have her flowers cascading, and it looked so beautiful!

Signs

Greenery garlands are the perfect way to dress up the signage at your wedding. You can drape them around the easel or have them attached right to the sign. The best part? These can be reused! Once the ceremony is over, move that sign indoors. If you’re putting the sign away, you can also take the greenery off and drape it over the bar.

Centerpieces

You don’t need extra-large centerpieces to make your reception pop! Greenery-filled vases with a handful of flowers can make a gorgeous display. You can also incorporate flowers with a flower compote. These are low-sitting or wide-mouthed bowls that create lower centerpieces that are wide and spread out. This makes sure guests can talk to each other, especially at round tables! If you have round tables, the last thing you want is for guests to be unable to see each other due to your centerpieces!

Sweetheart Table

For a small sweetheart table, flower and greenery garlands always look the best! This way the photographer and guests can still see your faces! But you still have some great décor with pops of color.

Ceremony

Obviously, the ceremony is one of the best spots for flowers. You can choose to have a large arch covered in flowers or keep the arch simple and have flowers down the aisle. Scattered flowers along the aisle or attaching small bunches of flowers to the aisle chairs are great ways to do this.

Your Flat lay

If I have flowers from your florist, I will also incorporate flowers into your flat lay of the details from your wedding. Flowers and petals always add the perfect touch of color, and really make your invitations and accessories pop!

How to Use Your Flower Budget Wisely

The best way to save money is to multi-use where your florals are located! So, if you have two pillars of flowers at your ceremony, you can relocate them to your reception space when the ceremony is over. These can decorate the head table or even the bar. Another option is to place them next to the DJ to add some flowers to the dance floor. Let your florist know you would like to do this! Then, they can help plan ahead when designing your florals to make sure they are movable.

Another example of this is using the bridesmaids’ bouquets as part of your centerpieces! Their flowers are so beautiful, so why not have them on display at your reception? You can have tall clear vases as part of your centerpieces and have the bridesmaids place their bouquets in them after the ceremony and portraits.

Finally, if you’re using bud vases throughout your cocktail hour, you can have your planner move them to the reception! They can go by the bar, on tables, or clustered together to make a larger centerpiece.

You’ll also want to incorporate flowers that are in season. While you might be dreaming of a bouquet with peonies, if your wedding is in January, they will out be out of season. This means they will need to be imported, mostly from South America. So, they will cost much more than if they were in season! Ask your florist what the best flowers are for your wedding month and focus on using those.

 

What to Do with Your Flowers After the Wedding

After you’re done with your flowers, there are still so many ways to keepsake them forever. You can have a keepsake box created with them! I love art pieces and being able to transition my bouquet into an art piece that I get to keep forever brings me so much joy! My favorite place to use is Designs by Andrea! If you book with her, make sure to let her know that you heard about her through Andrea Cooper! Designs By Andrea create the most incredible press-flower pieces, that are framed or can be placed in resin. This lets you admire your bouquet for years to come!

Finding ways to incorporate flowers into your wedding isn’t difficult. You can use them almost everywhere! Flowers can really add to your décor, making your wedding photos even more beautiful! As a photographer, I love incorporating flowers into your wedding photos. I would encourage you to check out my work and reach out if you’d love to work together!