For many brides, an abundance of flowers and candles are key elements on their wedding day. But what do you do if your budget doesn’t afford you the freedom to spend thousands of dollars on flowers. How do you achieve the look you want for less?
Flowers play a big part both in wedding planning and expenses, so give yourself a minimum of six months before the wedding to plan them. It’s good to have some ideas early on, because you want your flowers to complement your dress, the overall color scheme, and the venue.
Here are some budget conscious ideas for the flowers -- ways to have a beautiful visual impact without spending a fortune.
Determine if you want live flowers or silk. Silk flowers are less expensive. They look and feel like the real thing, but are usually about half the cost and often can be rented. That way you don't have to burden your budget any more than necessary and you're also not stuck with arrangements after the ceremony and reception are over. If you choose not to rent, the centerpieces can be given away as a token of thanks to your guests.
If you decide to go with live flowers, it’s important to select flowers that are in season. Remember when choosing your flowers to keep in mind where you live and when you're getting married. If you pick local flowers that are in season they will be more affordable than exotic or imported varieties. If you really must have some exotic type of flower not grown in your area you might want to consider using silk flowers.
Choosing flowers that have a full and open bloom such as spider mums, gerbera daisies, hydrangeas, carnations, peonies, stephanotis, and dahlias will give you the look of more for less.
Carnations are one of the cheapest flowers. A lot of people dislike them. But when they are used in abundance so that the blooms are packed together, they can be quite striking. Consider a low square table centerpiece of 20 carnation blooms with all of their stems and greenery removed.
Tulips, daisies, carnations, and many exotic flowers are less than half the price of roses and add texture and color to otherwise boring and traditional wedding arrangements. If you must have roses, limit the number and add less expensive flowers as filler.
Think about choosing your main focal flower and using fillers such as greenery, baby breath, berries, and branches to fill in the open spaces. Instead of the traditional fillers, accent your bouquets and arrangements with ribbon, crystals, pearls and tulle.
Large arrangements on an altar will only be seen from far away. Use silk or inexpensive flowers such as carnations, or large filling flowers such as snowball mums.
Bridesmaids can carry a large single stem calla lily for a simple and elegant look.
To achieve a stylish look with your centerpieces, incorporate a variety of candles at different heights with your floral arrangement. You can also accent the candles with a single stem and floating candle. Four or five pillar candles on top of rose petals make an elegant and inexpensive centerpiece. You can also easily create a centerpiece using wide shallow bowls filled with water and several floating gerbera daisy blooms.
Fill spaces throughout the ceremony and reception venues, with greenery instead of flowers. Large potted plants can be rented for significantly less than flowers. Ivy and other greenery are also beautiful as an accent. Talk to party rental suppliers about renting large potted plants such as tropical palms or ficus. They visually fill a lot of space, and will help frame your ceremony site or warm up your reception. Best of all, renting a potted plant is far cheaper than buying large arrangements. Also, you may consider purchasing these large plants and using them in your home afterwards to get more use out of them.
Another popular way to save money is to decorate the head table with bridal party bouquets after the ceremony is over. After the Formals have been taken, no one will be carrying around those beautiful bouquets, but they will make your tables look stunning. Another popular cost-cutting measure is to turn to balloons, or lanterns for modern centerpieces. Finally, pew bows and decorations are simple to make, even for brides that “don’t do crafts.”
So when it comes down to it, beautiful floral effects are really all in the planning. Once you’ve figured out your arrangements and décor, you just need to find a florist or designer, you can turn your dreams into reality, or acquire the skills and know-how you need to do it yourself. If you do go with a florist, it’s important to find them early, and even more important to choose one with a great reputation — never, ever go on price alone, or you could be truly disappointed.
When you have decided on the flowers and the complete look, all you’ll be able to do is sit back and be in awe at how closely your wedding décor matches the wedding of your dreams.
