Top 5 Things to Know When Choosing Wedding Flowers!

Hey y’all! My name is Hannah Evans and I am the Venue Manager here at White Oak Farms! I am also the owner of Sweet Peas Wedding and Event Florist, which I started in December 2018 while I was a Senior in college. In May 2019 I graduated from Mississippi State University with my Bachelors of Science Degree in Horticulture with a concentration in Floral Management. That is a long title, I know- but basically this means I majored in Floral Design and Business. I took classes in Wedding Floral Design, Event Floral Design, many business courses and more! Through my education and my years working at a local florist in Starkville, I decided to take a leap of faith and start Sweet Peas! With my last 4+ years learning and working in the floral industry, I have put together a list of 5 things your wedding florist wants you know when thinking of your wedding flowers!

1. Hire an Experienced Florist

   This is the most important tip I can give! When you hire an experienced florist, you are going to get a higher quality design, design technique, and flowers. Wedding and Event floral design requires an entirely different skill level and technique than simply popping grocery story flowers in a vase for your kitchen island! An experienced florist is going to know what flowers will live out of water long enough to go in your bouquets and boutonnieres. We know the design techniques and mechanics to hang florals all over your arbor. We have the ability to order those unique florals you may not be able to find at SAMs or Kroger and a cooler/storage to keep them alive and in the best possible shape for your big day. The list goes on and on. Experienced floral designers will make your day all you have ever dreamed and take all the stress off of you.

2. Bring inspiration pictures, but be flexible

As a Floral Designer, I have a love/hate relationship with Pinterest. I absolutely love when bride’s come in with inspiration pictures for all the florals for their big day. Inspo pictures help with knowing what style bouquet a bride wants, what flowers she wants to use, what size centerpieces she wants, etc. While this is great, it sometimes will create unrealistic expectations from the bride. While I try to make all of my designs as closely as possible to the inspiration pictures, sometimes it will vary. I have had girls send me pictures of faux floral arrangements, and they want those exact colors with real flowers. For example- a bright blue rose bouquet. In the real floral world, there aren’t many true blue flowers- meaning they naturally grow blue. While roses can be dyed a blue color, blue dye and a white dress do not mix! An experienced floral designer would know this and suggest adding blue hydrangea in the bouquet to give it some color! Another example is pictured below. The Lisianthus in this arbor were supposed to be light pink. When I got to the wholesaler, they were a little darker than what I wanted. I knew that this bride was just using pink as an accent color and it didn’t have to exactly match a dress or a tie. I made the decision that this color pink would work and the bride loved it! Sometimes you have to make on-the-spot decisions and make it work! Every designer is different. We all have our own design style/techniques and get our flowers from different wholesalers. While we try to make your florals as closely to the inspo pictures you show us, please be open to the differences!

3. Consider Flower Seasons

This is a budget saving tip! When you choose an experienced floral designer, we know what flowers are in season at what times. While in the flower world now, we can get almost any flower in any given season, it can be costly. For example, you absolutely love peonies and want them at your November wedding. Peony growing season is spring and summer. While I have the resources to search for peonies that may be available through greenhouse growth- these flowers could cost anywhere from 2 to 5 times what they would cost in the spring/summer. As an experienced florist, I can suggest other flower options, like garden roses, to substitute the peonies and keep you on budget! Another great example is using Christmas greenery for your November- early January wedding. There are tons of great greenery options around Christmas time! Even if you don’t want your wedding to be too “Christmasy”, this greenery can help cut down cost and give you a different look from any other time in the year. In the bouquet posted below, the bride wanted maroon Dahlias. I was unable to find maroon Dahlias during that season from my local wholesaler, so I substituted with maroon Mum, which gave the same dimension as a Dahlia would! Ask your florist what flowers she would suggest at the time of your wedding and let them help you pick the best florals for your big day!

4. Outdoor Summer flowers can be tricky

I love an outdoor summer wedding! But sometimes, it can be stressful on a floral designer. We have to think about what flowers will hold up in the heat to last through pictures and your ceremony. Again, hiring an experienced floral designer who know what flowers and techniques to use is key! Hydrangea are one of the most commonly used flowers for weddings. They are beautiful and one of my personal favorites, but they are not always best for a hot summer wedding. Hydrangeas wilt very quickly in the heat. As an experienced florist, I know this and will suggest using other flowers, or I will let the couple know that these arrangements featuring hydrangea need to be placed outside closer to ceremony time. I suggest being open to taking suggestions from your florist on what flowers to use for your outdoor summer wedding!

5. Your flower bid includes more than just flowers

So you get your flower bid, and it is a little bit more expensive than you expected. I get it! What most people do not realize is what all goes into making beautiful arrangements. There are the flowers of course, but there is also tape, wire, floral foam, ribbon, pins, glue, flower food, containers and more that we professional florists have to account for in the quote. For example, this bride below wanted floral hoops for her bridesmaids. For these hoops, I had to allocate funds for the hoop, the glue, the tape, the ribbon, the flowers and the time it would take to make these. Making flower arrangements can be a very tedious task that takes tons of time, patience, and supplies! When you consider doing your wedding flowers on your own, consider all of these things before you make that commitment!

I hope y’all will take these tips and suggestions when planning your wedding!

Thanks for reading!

XO- Hannah Evans, White Oak Farms Venue Manager and Owner of Sweet Peas Wedding and Event Florist