Tips On Choosing Your Wedding Flowers & Decor

Published High Country Wedding Guide, Winter 2009

Whether it’s a large round bouquet, a long spray of roses, a small poesy of peonies, or a single stem, the flowers are the accent pieces to the look of your whole event. How to choose the right look color scheme and style will depend on what your personal taste, style and budget. You can be prepared by finding pictures from magazines, photos from weddings you have attended, or even something right out of a garden to help define what your personal taste and style is. This will help the florist know the direction in which to go. “I always ask a bride to bring pictures with her or something from magazines to show me what she would like her ‘look’ to be”, says Carolyn Clement of Millefluers, a leading floral designer in the High Country.
· Budget
Every florist will want to know right off the bat what the budget for flowers will be. This will give the florist and you some parameters in which to work when designing your bouquets and table arrangements. The general rule of thumb is the flowers should be about 8% of the overall wedding budget. You want to factor in an extra 10% for cost overruns (meaning those little added ingredients such as hard to get flowers, trellises, or other accessories.)
Some floral designers will have a minimum price point. There is no sense spending an afternoon with a designer if your budget doesn’t meet their minimum price point requirements. A retail florist can offer a more affordable price, but they may not be able to offer the accent pieces for which you are looking. A floral designer may have a higher cost, but the embellishments, added touches, and unique accessories can make it worth the extra dollars.
· Style
Once you know how much of your money you have to spend and the color options you are choosing, your next step will be to choose the style you would like to have. There is a difference between a florist who has a retail business catering to more than weddings and a floral designer who has a more customized approach to the bride’s tastes. “As a designer, what I am looking for from the bride is to hear her heart. I want to listen to her thoughts and ideas and I want to learn the vision she has for her wedding day. I want to collect all the parts and pieces and give them back to her in that one single moment”, says Sheri Furman of Bless Your Heart located on Hwy 321 between Boone and Blowing Rock. Since tastes are still very subjective, and each floral designer has a signature look , why not request a portfolio of past events to see if that signature style will complement your own vision.
· Other Décor Options
Some added elements that can really create the “Wow” factor to your wedding and reception site include such details as colored linens, chair coverings with colored sashes, or chandeliers utilizing tea candles. For outdoor tents, draping the tent poles in fabric creates a softened look and adding flowers to the tent poles makes the atmosphere pop. How about adding colored swags over the top of the tent for a dramatic and romantic touch? Include lighted floral chandeliers to take the ambience up a notch or two. All these special effects will make for a visual appeal that will mark the event as uniquely yours.
· Important Questions to Ask the Florist
Some questions to ask your florist include asking whether they are familiar with the locations of the ceremony and reception. Are there height restrictions for the table or buffet arrangements? What are the policies that may prevent free reign of design for the florist? What are the cancellation policies, deposit requirements, deadline dates, and additional costs of added accessories? If there is some unforeseen circumstance, how will the contracted work be carried out for the event?
For outdoor weddings the climate can play havoc with keeping flowers fresh looking. Also keep in mind anticipated arrival time of the flowers and where to have them delivered if the wedding site is different from the reception site. Coordinate the arrival of the bridal party flowers so that there is no hold up with the photographer if pictures are taken before the ceremony.
· Additional floral items to consider
Besides the bouquets, table arrangements and boutonnieres, other floral touches can include pew markers, memorial arrangements, door sprays or wreaths, cake flowers, rose petals for the flower girl, rose petals for tossing at the bride and groom upon departure, and the smaller tossing bouquet at the end of the event. These should be added into the overall cost of the flower budget.
It is not uncommon to use the arrangements at the church altar for the centerpiece arrangements on the buffet at the reception. Or the bridesmaid’s bouquets can be dropped into a select vase and become a table arrangement for key tables. The same holds true for the tussie-mussies or poesy bouquets. These can decorate the guest sign-in book and/or cake table.
For late day events candlelight albeit votives, tea candles, pillars or floating candles adds sparkle, elegance and romance to the overall style of your event. The use of candles can help defray some of the cost without losing the beauty of appearance, and everyone looks better in candlelight as well.
(Side bar)
· Boutonnieres, corsages, tussie-mussies, and poesies, who gets what and who pays for which?
Tradition holds that the grandmothers are given a corsage to wear, but today’s grandmothers often prefer to carry a small poesy bouquet for a more fashionable touch.
Tussie-mussies are another small but elegant miniature bouquet given to the honoraries to carry as they are coming down the aisle. Proper etiquette states that the groom or his parents pay for the boutonnieres, corsages, and the bride’s bouquet.