15 Wedding Flower Mistakes to Avoid
The Knot asked top wedding floral designers from around the country,
for the most common mistakes brides make
-- here's what your floral designer wishes you knew...
Flower Mistake 1: Not Seeing The Big Picture
"Couples tend to see the centerpieces and the table setting, but do not visualize the whole reception room with their guests in it. For example, couples pay for a room with a wonderful view of the ocean or scenic surrounding, keep this in mind for your centerpieces and have them fit the venue and not obstruct the expensive view. -- Faith Cass, Cass the Florist, Inc.
Flower Mistake 2: Not Trusting Your Florist
"Communicate your vision, likes, dislikes, and expectations, but have a little flexibility and be comfortable with substitution of flowers. We want to make your wedding absolutely breathtaking. So relax, put trust in your vendors and remember why you hired that amazing talent!" -- Alana Guillermo, Mixed Greens Event Design
Flower Mistake 3: Not Reusing Ceremony Arrangements
"Aisle flowers from the church, can become centerpieces and altar pieces can be moved to the buffet table. The ceremony usually only lasts about half an hour -- it's a shame to see so many flowers only being used for that amount of time, when they could easily be incorporated into the reception decor!" Also, if you use silk flowers, you will be able to move them around without them falling apart or wilting! ( :
-- Paula Pritchard, Paisley Petals and Tracy Riordan, All My Heart Events
Flower Mistake 4: Booking Your Florist Last
"Couples should begin the process of booking vendors by speaking to one vendor from each category before booking anyone. This way they can get an idea of what things cost and perhaps they could budget better."
-- Douglas Koch, Douglas Koch Designs ltd
Flower Mistake 5: Not Considering Silk Flowers
"The biggest mistake is for a bride to have her heart set on specific flowers, and not be flexible. A floral Designer can do a much better job, if the bride asks for an overall look, feel, and color scheme and lets the floral designer create your arrangements, using beautiful real look silk flowers, which can be bought and color matched to any all all of your flower requests."
-- Tracy Riordan, All My Heart Events
Flower Mistake 6: Ruling Out Pricey Blooms
"Don't be scared of the expensive flowers. Flowers like cattleya orchids and peonies are more expensive, but they also cover more space and have a greater impact. One cattleya orchid can have a greater impact than a bouquet of roses."
-- Erin Drake, Enlighten Events International
Flower Mistake 7: Not Communicating With Your Florist
"Knowing what you like is, just as important as knowing what you don't like. Bring lots of pictures -- it is the best way to help convey what you do and do not want your floral designs to look like."
-- Danielle Childress, McKannix Floral Studio
Flower Mistake 8: Using Only One Color
"A lot of brides try to use only flowers that match the the bridesmaid dresses. A bridesmaid in a lavender gown with lavender flowers will make for very disappointing pictures, if no other colors or greenery is added in to the arrangements. Flowers are a great place to choose an accent color -- for example, a lime green against a lavender gown will bring out the best in both colors and make for fabulous photos."
-- Tracy Riordan, All My Heart Events
Flower Mistake 9: Choosing Strongly Scented Flowers
"Choosing aromatic flowers for centerpieces may sound like a a great idea, but it may really bother your guests, if they are prone to allergies or have issues with scents. Stick to using highly scented flowers, if going real or scenting your flowers to the bridal bouquet and the altar arrangements, or use all Real Look Silk Flower arrangements and blooms, and you will not have this problem at all...No allergies or issues with overpowering scents bothering!"
-- Katie Martin, Elegance & Simplicity and Tracy Riordan, All My Heart Events
Flower Mistake 10: Not Taking Care Of Your Blooms
"Everyone loves hydrangeas, especially in bouquets. However, hydrangeas need to stay hydrated, and the average lifespan out of water in temperate conditions is about three hours. They might not even make it through your ceremony if you're out all day taking pictures." This is when using real look silk Hydrangeas is very advantageous! These blooms will never wilt, are light in weight, and come in a multitude of beautiful shades to coordinate or accent your special day! ( :
-- Esther Galantowicz, Scarlet Petal and Tracy, Riordan, All My Heart Events
Flower Mistake 11: Forgetting To Budget For Flowers
"Most brides find that flowers are an important part of their day, but some brides forget to include them in their planning from the start! When the bride gives me a specific budget and a theme, I am really able to advise them better and gear their flowers and arrangements to coincide with their monetary needs, right from the beginning." In fact, for a typical wedding, brides should expect to commit 10% of their bridal budget for their flowers, centerpieces, and arrangements. - Georgianne Vinicombe,
Monday Morning Flower and Balloon Co and Tracy Riordan, All My Heart Events
Flower Mistake 12: Thinking they can DIY Their Flowers
"Brides [who try to DIY their flowers] will purchase dozens of glass vases for centerpieces, only to become overwhelmed. We receive many frantic calls, asking to take over the stress of these DIY projects, which oftentimes become more expensive than it would have been if they had just hired a professional from the start." -- Natalie E. Willett, Zuzu's Petals and Tracy Riordan, All My Heart Events
Flower Mistake 13: Ordering Your Flowers Too Late
"Flowers come from South America, Holland, and all over the world, real and silk, so it is very hard to contact farms and vendors across the world to order real and/or silk flowers and have them arrive within one or two weeks. This amount of time does not even take into consideration that a typical silk wedding will take several weeks to create and several days for real flowers. Remember to leave at least a six-week window ahead of your wedding week, to be able to line everything up. Your flowers will be cheaper if you can give the time needed to order and prepare the arrangements."
-- Brenda Sterk, J's Fresh Flower Market and Tracy Riordan, All My Heart Events
Flower Mistake 14: Choosing An Oversize Bouquet
"Brides often think: 'The larger the better!' What they don't realize is the larger the bouquet, the more it covers and fights with the design of their dress, and the heavier the bouquet will be to hold throughout a 20 minute service, never mind an hour to hour and a half service! Plus, do you really want to carry something huge and heavy? Think about size and comfort when it comes to your bouquet." Note that real look silk flowers weigh much less than real flowers, because they do not require any water to keep them alive and
they look good the whole wedding and beyond...no wilting! ( :
-- Shawn A. Rabideau, Shawn Rabideau Events and Tracy Riordan, All My Heart Events
Flower Mistake 15: Overlooking The Reception Table Linens
"What's underneath a centerpiece is as important as the arrangement itself. Linens don't just complement the look of your centerpieces; they complete them. From runners to underlays and overlays, the right 'undergarments' can make flowers flourish on a table." So, remember to choose your linens wisely and when considering the size of the centerpieces for your reception, remember there will be wine glasses, water glasses, a bread plate, a dinner plate, silverware, your chosen wedding favors, usually coffee/tea creamers and sugar containers, and several other assorted tableware on the table with your centerpiece. So, keep this in mind when choosing your centerpiece design, as there is often not much room left on the table! Also, how many guests you try to sit at each table will affect the design of your centerpieces :
-- Candice Ryan, La Petite Fleur Flower and Tracy Riordan, All My Heart Events
Engaged? Need Wedding Flowers?
Contact:
All My Heart Events
at
Thank you for your support of All My Heart Events
