Spring seasonal wedding flowers / Summer seasonal wedding flowers / Autumn seasonal wedding flowers / Winter seasonal wedding flowers - we got you!
Congratulations! You’ve got engaged, you’ve even picked your date and now you are thinking about the best bit (well, for me anyway) - the flowers! You probably also know your colour scheme, but what type of flowers are you going to have?
One of the biggest parts of any floral consultation for me is discussing with brides what flowers they would like and, really importantly, don’t like.
Read on for a few tips about choosing your wedding flowers…
ADVICE ON COLOURS
Lots of people come to me with an idea of what colours they would like but some don’t and this is totally ok. Your florist will be able to guide you on what colours may work well together if you want to mix it up, or what tones will look good if you want something more monochrome or subtle.
There are also other ways of including colour such as the ribbon used to finish the bouquet.
And as a final word on colours - look at the photographer you have hired - what’s their style? A lot of photographer’s edit their photos with certain filters (which is probably why you did or didn’t hire them, because you like the style).
But be aware if you want really bold bright colourful flowers and have a photographer that uses moody or desaturated filters you probably won’t get to see those colours in your forever photos. Again, talk to your florist, they can recommend what colours will work well with not only the photographer’s style but also your venue.
SEASONAL FAVOURITES
If you love certain flowers then absolutely tell your florist - but be aware of what may or may not be seasonally available.
I hate to disappoint brides but if you are getting married in November peonies, daffodils and poppies are just not going to be available, even if you use imported flowers. I do however, always strive to make suggestions for suitable replacements that have the same colour or effect in terms of shape / structure.
For example, don’t be heartbroken about peonies when you can get some widely available gorgeous garden roses (or even some extremely ornamental dahlia’s now) that people often confuse for peonies!
Below I’ve put together a list of my seasonal favourites. This is mostly based on true seasonality but I have allowed for imports to give a broader brush to what types of flowers you may be able to use in the winter months. (And it’s not exhaustive either!)
SPRING : FEB - MAY
Hellebores
Sweet Peas
Ranunculus & Butterfly Ranunculus
Anemones
Tulips
Blossom
Daffodils / Narcissus
Iris
Poppies
SUMMER : JUN - AUG
I always think of the seasons as ‘early’ and ‘late’ so, in early summer you’ll see things like
Foxgloves
Alliums
Peonies
Roses
Iris
Delphiniums
Whilst as we get deeper into summer, flowers like Dahlia’s, Echinacea & Rudbeckia come into their own
AUTUMN - SEPT - NOV
Dahlia’s will still be doing their thing until around October probably
Roses
Carnations
Ranunculus
Chrysanthemums
Amaranthus
Golden / Brown bracken and ferns
Seed heads and wild grasses
WINTER: NOV - JAN
Roses
Narcissus
Hellebores
Winter berries
Chrysanthemums
Carnations
Seedheads
Textural greens
Eucalyptus
Plus lots more!
TOTALLY BRITISH SEASONAL FLOWERS
I love love love using purely seasonal flowers i.e. British seasonal flowers and am more than up for doing this if using 100% British is important to you for sustainability reasons. But I do also use imported flowers as I want to give you the best for your day.
You might think you can’t have any British seasonal flowers in winter - but you can! Commercial growers in the South of England and Isle of Scilly grow all year round and in winter these can include things like Narcissus, Snapdragons, Tulips, Tanacetum, Heather, Alstroemeria, Chrysanthemum and Ranunculus...
Also take a look at Heather & Dan’s lush textural green winter wedding for some winter inspiration.
I hope you found this article helpful - Check back soon, to find a second part on choosing your wedding flowers which covers types the types of flowers you might need in terms of bridal party flowers or venue dressing.
To discuss your own wedding and everything floral you can contact me using my enquiry form.