Wedding Flowers – How to Make Your Choice

Wedding flowers are one of the largest expenses for a wedding. Besides the bouquets and boutonnieres for the wedding party, brides usually want flowers to decorate the church, the reception hall, and for various members of their family. This expense can add up very quickly.

There are several important things to consider when choosing your wedding flowers. The first decision has to be whether you want fresh or fake- either paper or silk- flowers. Fresh flowers will generally cost more, especially if you choose flowers that are not in season. Fake flowers make not have the look and smell of fresh flowers, but are generally much cheaper. A good compromise may be fresh flowers for some items, such as reception centerpieces, and fake flowers for things people won’t be close to, such as bouquets and boutonnieres.

As a bride, you will also want to take into consideration any allergies that members of your bridal party may have. The last thing you want is an attendant sneezing all through the ceremony. No one will probably notice the red eyes- just write that off as emotions.

If you have already chosen your colors, this may dictate what kind of flowers you can choose for your wedding. If you are going with paper or silk flowers, you can choose any color you wish. However, fresh flowers only come in certain colors, unless you want to pay extra to dye their petals.

When choosing your wedding flowers, keep in mind the general style of your wedding (formal, theme, etc), and the colors of your attendants attire. Usually, attendant flowers are similar to the bride’s bouquet, which should make that choice fairly easy. However, you may wish coordinate flowers for the wedding party mothers, grandmothers, siblings, etc. with the color of their dresses.

To make sure no one has to figure out where all the flowers are going after the reception, you may want to mark a plate at each table as a winner. Whoever sits there gets the prize- the beautiful centerpiece!

Chose Your Wedding Colors Early

Perhaps one of the most important decisions you will make when planning your special day is choosing your wedding colors. Everything from the invitations to your jewelry will be affected by what palette you chose. Make your choice of wedding colors early to avoid major headaches down the road.
Tradition may say that your wedding colors should be soft and pastel, but that’s not the case for the modern bride. Throw caution to the wind and start with your favorite color, no matter what it is. This is your day; why not surround yourself with your favorite color? This will act as your base color for your wedding palette.

Once you have your base color, use a color wheel to chose complimentary colors. Using a color wheel will insure that your palette creates a pleasant visual backdrop that isn’t glaringly obvious. Keep in mind, however, that there are a few instances when your wedding colors may need to be adjusted beyond your chosen palette.

Theme weddings may demand particular color palettes in order to create the feel of the theme. If you have a particular theme in mind for your wedding, such as Medieval, Pirate, or beach, then your choice of wedding colors will probably be driven by the theme.

Hiring a professional will make the choice of wedding colors much easier. They are trained in helping brides chose colors that will not only look good together, but will also compliment the bride and her wedding party.

If you can’t afford to hire a professional wedding planner, don’t worry. Comb through bridal magazines for ideas for wedding colors. Cut these pictures out and keep them in your wedding organizer. Make sure to also keep either fabric swatches or pictures of the bridesmaids’ dresses. Take this organizer with you when you chose flowers, invitations, your cake, and your decorations. Having all these ideas in one place will help you see what colors work together and will help you create the wedding and reception of your dreams!

Wedding Cakes

A wedding cake is the main focal point of the reception, after the bride of course . Wedding cakes are as individual as the bride and groom, ranging from simple homemade cakes to extravagant works of at costing thousands of dollars.

When creating a wedding budget, be sure allow for the expensive of a wedding cake. More complicated and intricate decorations tend to drive up the price of the cake. Once a budget is in place, look for wedding cakes that fit into that budget.

Many people feel that an expensive cake is a waste of money that could be spent elsewhere in the wedding. Others may just prefer a basic cake, or even an alternative to cake, such as cupcakes or individual desserts with special meaning to the wedding couple.

The most common wedding cake seen at weddings is done in a traditional style. This cake usually consists of several layers that are decorated according to the theme and colors of the wedding.

To save money on a wedding cake, chose a smaller size wedding cake for the cake table, with simple decorations. Have sheet cakes ready to be served to guests. They are cheaper and taste just as good!

Using real flowers to decorate a cake is a popular choice. It doesn’t take many flowers to decorate the top of a wedding cake. The bridal bouquet, or a bridesmaid bouquet, can be used as well. Real flowers, rather than icing decorations, are often a more cost-effective way to stay within the wedding cake budget.

Keep in mind that if you insist on going over your budget on an elaborate wedding cake, you will either have to cut costs elsewhere or be prepared to spend more overall.

Research several wedding cake designers, and don’t forget to ask friends and family for recommendations. You may be able to find someone with talent that isn’t necessarily professional. These wedding cake hobbiest often produce elegant wedding cakes at a much lower cost.

Before signing on the dotted line for your wedding cake, be sure to see samples of their work, and taste samples if possible. If you aren’t satisfied with the samples, you undoubtedly won’t be happy with the final product. Don’t feel obligated to order from them, just because they provided samples.