The groom's guide to wedding planning
Matthew Shaw is founder and creative director at sauveur. a renowned event planning and management company...
Wedding albums can be a garden of memories with the enchanting presence of flowers seen in every snapshot. Flowers can play an integral part of a wedding narrative, adding a tapestry of texture and colour into photos, bringing out personality and creating an overall feel to a wedding. From bouquets to table centres, pew ends and buttonholes, flowers are incorporated into every wedding memory...
Creating your own wedding floral displays and bouquets can be an easy way to cut the cost, and the perfect way to make your wedding a little more personal - also, super fun and easy to do! You don't have to have a good track record of keeping house plants alive to be able to throw together a show-worthy, eye-catching floral masterpiece, no matter how big or small.
Whether you're wanting to create your own beautiful bridal bouquet, stunning centrepieces or even elaborate floral arches, the floral fanatics at YouFloria have created a step-by-step guide to help you navigate your floral journey. So where to start?
1. Determine your budget and your flower 'vision'
Budget: This is a great place to start as this may help guide the type of flowers and the amount of flowers. However, don't think a small budget means fewer flowers, you'll be amazed at what can be created at a low cost - just be realistic.
Decide where you would like your flowers to feature: Bouquets are an obvious choice; however, you may want decorative table centres, cascading stairwell floral displays or a stunning flower arch to complement a beautiful entrance. Flowers can really change a feel to a venue or complement simple table décor, giving that little bit of 'finesse'. The options of where flowers can be placed and what can be created are endless.
Once budget and your floral vision has been outlined, you can move onto the fun bit!
2. Colour and style
The flowers and foliage you choose can bring a wedding theme to life, capture personality and be meaningful. You may have a clear theme for the wedding; maybe a classic countryfied pastel palette, or even rich dark Gothic twist, which can give a clear idea of the colour and flowers which you want including in your beautiful blooms - or you may not know where to start!
There are a few things to think about when picking your style and colour which may help make things easier – and keep budget low.
Theme or style: Different flowers, colours and foliage can help capture themes, accentuate a venue's beauty or be used to complement a simple dress. Bountiful foliage, everything from small delicate buds to powerful black roses can be easily used to capture and create a feel for a wedding. Don't think there isn't an option, if you've decided to go for a theme or vision that's slightly 'off the wall' YouFloria will have you covered.
Season: This can be a good starting point when deciding colour, seasonal flowers will be cheaper and easier to obtain than those that aren't and can also help determine colour palettes. Rich and warm colours tend to be available around autumn/winter months particularly the red colour spectrum, while the spring/summer boasts bright yellows, pinks as well as gorgeous pastel colours.
Other colours being incorporated in the wedding: Flowers can be used to complement a dress, room, or even hair colour. Paint colour charts can be useful to help pair colours which work best together. Just because you have chosen pink bridesmaids dresses doesn't mean you have to have pink flowers. With YouFloria's eclectic selection of colours and abundance of flower options there'll be something to suit every colour scheme, theme and budget.
3. Delivery and assembly
So, you've chosen your flowers...what next? YouFloria will handle the delivery, ensuring your blooms will arrive with plenty of time for you to arrange, but still be blooming and beautiful on your big day - no droopy petals in sight!
So what do you need to do?
1. Recruit some good friends or family
2. Pick up some nibbles and bubbles
3. Follow the easy videos and 'how-to' guides to put together your flower creations. If you encounter any issues, YouFloria's helpful florists will be on the end of a phone to guide you - it's that easy!
4. Finally... enjoy!
· Have fun putting together your floral creations
· Feel huge satisfaction in producing something amazing
· Enjoy your big day, full of pride that you put together your stunning wedding flowers
Visit www.youfloria.co.uk and check out @youfloria_ltd