The power of flowers: everything you need to know for your wedding blooms

With so many gorgeous flowers and differing styles out there just how do you choose what you want, and what you need?

Plus how do you begin to calculate your flower budget?

We put your questions to the experts…

Q. My fiancé and I are trying to make our wedding as sustainable as possible, but I’m concerned about the effect our flowers have on the environment.

Is there a way we can keep our flowers as sustainable as possible?

And what would you suggest doing with them after the wedding?

A. There is absolutely no reason why you should not have environmentally friendly, sustainable wedding flowers.

The key to this is choosing seasonal flowers, grown as locally as possible and packaged without unnecessary plastics.

These flowers have a beauty and charm that make wedding flowers so special.

It is also important that the wedding florist you choose understands the importance of using these flowers, works with you to select designs that really highlight their beauty, and doesn’t use floristry techniques that are bad for the environment.

It should not be difficult to source local and seasonal wedding flowers.

The last few years have seen a real growth in the availability and use at weddings of local, seasonal flowers grown in Scotland.

The growers are often very small businesses committed to growing and supplying a wide range of high quality, artisan flowers, without the use of chemicals and plastic packaging.

Flowers grown in Scotland tend to be available from early spring to late autumn.

The Scottish Flower Grower Collective is one organisation that has information about local wedding flower growers.

Some of these growers, like myself, are also wedding florists and there is a growing number of wedding florists who work with local flower growers they trust to produce the best flowers.

I’d suggest actively seeking them out.

It is often a good idea to give some of your flowers as presents to guests or arrange for them to be gifted to a local care home, where they can bring so much pleasure.

Some of my brides take their flowers home and enjoy them which I always am really pleased about.

Ask for designs that allow you to do this.
Jill Sutherland
Flora Alba

Q. I have my heart set on having a floral moongate but I’ve heard they can be pretty expensive.

What’s the rough starting point for them pricewise?

A. We offer various styling options from a single high impact accent to more decorative designs such as 1/2, 3/4 or full moon décor.

We also offer the choice of the decorative elements being created in “real look” artificial flowers and foliage, all fresh flowers and foliage or a mix of fresh & faux which allows us to cater for a range of budgets and to create that much desired look.

We also love to feature dried items such as eulalia which has a lovely soft airy texture or pampas grass and coloured palm leaves which are fab for texture and impact.

Our prices range from £150 to £1,500.

Jenni Malcolm-Fraser
Stucio and Waow

Q. I’m obsessed with spring flowers like daffodils and tulips but don’t often see them in bouquets.

I once heard that they don’t tend to suit wedding arrangements because they can droop?

Is there any way I could incorporate them in my bouquet, or can you suggest a pretty alternative?

A. You don’t see them a lot because they aren’t in season for a long length of time.

Daffodils and tulips can droop but it is possible if opting for tulips to tuck them in with other flowers so they are supported.

You do also find they grow in the light so by the end of the day your tulips in your bridal bouquet may be a bit taller than they were at the beginning of the day.

Ranunculus are beautiful spring flowers with their fluffy layers of petals and of course the stunning and popular peony rose – what’s not to like?

Laura Jardine
Cherry Blossom

Q. I want to create a really rich, striking display with lots of reds and earthy tones but I’m useless with flowers.

What would you suggest?

A. These colours draw me more towards autumn and winter where there are stunning high impact flowers available, particularly in red tones.

In the autumn I would suggest large headed chrysanthemum blooms in red, bronze or soft brown, amaranthus – the upright or trailing varieties -which comes in a lovely biscuit colour or a deep burgundy, anthuriums a little more tropical but the range of colour tones is vast with mocha, terracotta, browns and reds available.

Amaryllis is more associated with winter and these high impact blooms have great longevity.

Roses – of which new and exciting varieties keep appearing – the current most sought-after ones are quicksand, which is a nude tone, toffee, as you expect a delicious toffee colour, golden mustard is a lovely mustard yellow, but there are also old time favourites such as Leonidas which is terracotta or café latte which is a vintage pinkish beige shade.

When it comes to red you can go as bright or as dark as you wish with black baccara being one of the darkest shades of red.

Jenni
Stucio and Waow

Q. I’m planning on ordering bouquets for myself and bridesmaids as well as buttonholes for the men but what are the other must-have floral displays I should consider?

A. A pedestal or vase arrangement either side of the altar or either side of the registry table can really set the scene for your wedding.

These can then be moved around throughout the day so you can use them in your ceremony room and then have them moved to the room the meal is in.

Often a long low arrangement can work the same way, a statement piece on your registry table which is then transferred to your top table.

Table arrangements in my option are very important as this is where you spend a lot of time.

Something that brides also forget about and add on last minute is thank you flowers for mums.

Laura
Cherry Blossom

PHOTOS | Simons Studio – Cherry Blossom

Q. I really love the thought of a big blousy bouquet but I have ME and don’t want to have to carry something really heavy.

Are there any flowers you can recommend that would fit the bill?

A. For spring bouquets I would recommend ranunculus, anemones, tulips and blossom.

For summer bouquets, I would choose local roses, nigella, sweet peas and peonies if peonies are still available locally.

In autumn I would say go for a mix of dahlias, heritage crysanths, cosmos and late season roses.

As long as the correct floristry techniques are used for the style of bouquet you want any of these combinations will give you a beautiful blousy bouquet that is not at all heavy.

Jill,
Flora Alba

Keep an eye out for top floral trends from our three experts on the website soon