When deciding what direction you’d like to take with your wedding flowers and styling, it is easy to get swept up in all the beautiful images on Pinterest and Instagram. Suddenly you have screen shot hundreds of images to your phone and designed a wedding that far exceeds your budget. It can be disappointing to receive the first quote from your florist and realise that your dream wedding is going to cost you more than expected.
Here we offer you some advice on areas of your wedding to best spend your flower budget and some tips for repurposing flowers to make the most of them. The key is to focus on the areas and spaces that have your wedding guests’ attention.
Bridal Party
All eyes are on the bridal party from the moment they enter the ceremony, so allocating a portion of your floral budget here makes sense while also adhering to tradition. If only one person in the bridal party carries flowers, it should be the bride as she is the focus as she enters the room. Her beautiful bouquet can be laid on the signing table while the ceremony takes place to save on purchasing extra flowers for this area. It is nice for the groom and his boys to wear a floral buttonhole to differentiate them from the other guests, but team groom could also consider sticking to a simple pocket square instead.
In most cases the bridesmaids also carry bouquets but to cut costs you could also consider alternatives such as hair flowers or flower crowns, or even wrist corsages. The bride and bridesmaids’ bouquets can be repurposed at the reception in a number of ways, such as styled down the bridal table or clustered on the wishing well table or other surfaces in vases of varying heights. If the bride is wanting to do the traditional bouquet toss, she could utilise one of the bridesmaids or flower girls’ bouquets to save purchasing an additional throw posy.
Ceremony
The most important area of the ceremony is quite obviously the front of the space where the bride and groom say their vows. Both the guests’ attention and the photographer’s lens are directed at this area for the majority of the time so it makes sense to create a gorgeous floral backdrop to set the scene. If on a limited spend, it is wise to direct all your ceremony styling budget to this important space, only decorating chairs or pew ends, the entrance end of the aisle and the signing table if budget allows.
The ceremony backdrop is also a wonderful piece of styling to repurpose at the reception. It can be used as a photo backdrop or split on either side of the entrance to the reception space. It can also be used to enhance a long bridal table. Depending on the design, ceremony backdrops can be positioned behind the bride and groom or split and placed at either end of the bridal table. If you are intending on repurposing and relocating anything from your ceremony to the reception, have a chat with your florist as to the best way to make this happen. Depending on the size and logistics, some venues are happy to help with the relocation, otherwise you may need your florists to restyle for you.
Reception
When it comes to your reception styling, we advise to allocate your floral budget to one area for maximum impact rather than diluting your styling by having small bits and pieces placed everywhere. If budget allows, opt for a large and impressive overhead hanging floral arrangement while styling your tables minimally with candles and foliage. Overhead pieces create ambience and give the space the wow factor.
If your floral spend can’t stretch to an overhead piece, allocate your budget to amplifying the table centrepieces instead. Tall canopy style table arrangements can create a similar effect to suspended florals and when combined with candles on the table create a beautiful atmosphere.
Another key area of the reception is the bar which gets a lot of traffic throughout the event. A large striking arrangement on the bar is money well spent as this space will have your guests’ focus for much of the evening.
We hope this gives you some clarity on where to best spend your wedding flower budget for maximum impact. One final piece of advice to always be open and honest about your budget with your florist. Taking into consideration your venue and preferences, they will be able to offer their own guidance as to where your wedding budget is most well spent. Happy planning!
