Flowers will add fragrance, beauty, style and distinction to your wedding day. Here are some inspiring ideas for your wedding blossoms:
- Rentals: Think about renting some of your floral decor. Some florists, greenhouses and display stores rent larger floral items, like live potted trees, oversized fabric-flower arrangements, giant urns filled with fabric flowers, dried-flower garlands, and wedding arches covered in fabric flowers and doves.
- Tray decorations: When placing your order with your florist, order some extra cut flowers that match those in your wedding decorations. Ask your caterer to use them as pretty accents on trays of hors d’oeuvres or drinks.
- Floral accessories: If you’re mad about fresh flowers, try these creative ideas: accent the back line, back bow or bustle of your gown with a corsage; give wrist corsages to the mothers and grandmothers of the bride and groom; order a wreath to crown your flower girl; give a simple boutonnière of a single blossom to every guest; decorate your wedding cake knife with one gorgeous orchid. These simple but elegant touches add luxury and style, and look great in photographs!
- Edible petals: Food is an integral part of your wedding celebration, so why not tie it in with your floral decor? Ask your caterer to use edible flowers to garnish a salad or dessert.
- DIY projects: If you’re handy at crafts and love dried or silk flowers, put your skills to good use by personalizing your floral decor. Cover shoe clips with flowers to decorate plain pumps for your bridesmaids; make flower-covered napkin rings to decorate each place setting and give them to guests as keepsakes; make a ring “pillow” of moss trimmed with flowers; create a garland to trim the head table or cake table.
- "Bud" vase: For a small arrangement that’s big on charm, have your florist fill an oversized blossom, like a calla lily or Casablanca lily, with sprays of tiny flowers, like lily of the valley or baby’s breath. Use one of these miniature beauties to decorate a prayer book, to set off each place setting at the head table or to decorate your wedding cake.
- Autumn arrangement: For a fall wedding, let the incredible colours of the Canadian autumn be your guide. Choose beautiful shades of fall flowers like chrysanthemums and dahlias, and put these inexpensive flowers everywhere. Use leaves as a big part of your decor: scatter them across your dance floor, use them instead of confetti and create beautiful place cards by tying each guest’s name to a waxed leaf with ribbon.
- Pass the petals: Your florist may have suggestions for ways to personalize your wedding through flowers. For instance, you can enact symbolic gestures of love using single blossoms from your bouquet. As you walk down the aisle, stop and give your mother a flower signifying your love and gratitude. When the ceremony is complete, turn and offer a flower to your mother-in-law, symbolizing the uniting of the families. An unusual older tradition is to pin a flower from your bouquet onto your groom's lapel in place of a boutonnière.
- Keepsakes: Think beyond your wedding day when planning your floral arrangements. Many florists offer services for preserving your wedding bouquet. Your florist could use specially preserved flowers (which will last for years after your wedding) to create your bouquet; this unique keepsake could adorn a table or ornament a mantelpiece. Alternatively, consider commissioning a dried arrangement made from your fresh floral bouquet, such as a framed composition or flowers encased in glass. Ask your florist to recommend an artisan who specializes in dried floral arrangements.
- Keep it growing: Ask for living ivy in your bouquet; you can save clippings of it to root and later plant for a verdant reminder of your wedding. If you want to observe the ritual of tossing your bouquet, ask your florist about creating a breakaway portion you can toss, leaving the remainder as a keepsake.
- Give it away: Once the big day is over, give your floral decorations to those special people involved in your wedding as a token of your appreciation. Leave arrangements behind at the church as a thank you to your officiant. If you have many arrangements left over, consider having a member of your wedding party deliver a few bouquets to a hospital or retirement home to lift spirits. Just remember to save two table centrepieces for your parents as a reminder of your special day!
- DIY projects: If you’re handy at crafts and love dried or silk flowers, put your skills to good use by personalizing your floral decor. Cover shoe clips with flowers to decorate plain pumps for your bridesmaids; make flower-covered napkin rings to decorate each place setting and give them to guests as keepsakes; make a ring “pillow” of moss trimmed with flowers; create a garland to trim the head table or cake table.
