Wedding florals can transform any venue. It’s not all bouquets and boutonnieres either. With some artistic inspiration, your flowers can bring vibrance to your wedding day and your photos.
9 Stunning Ideas for Your Wedding Florals
Even though I love the current maximalist trends in wedding decor, there’s no one right way to do your florals. There are so many ways to style wedding florals to reflect your love’s aesthetic. Check out these ideas for creative, memorable florals.
1. Get florals that match your wedding venue’s vibe.
Did you choose a wedding venue that you absolutely love? Wedding florals can enhance the vibe you already love rather than distract from it. If you picked a chic, minimalist venue, for example, artistic, architectural arrangements, like ikebana, can be a perfect approach. On the other hand, if your venue has lots of charming historic details, choosing sweeping, romantic blooms can add to the sense of vintage luxury.
I love this bouquet for a Race and Religious wedding in New Orleans. The venue is full of soft pinks and patina. You can even see a blue and pink rose motif on the wall in one image. The creamy and pink roses and peonies add to the romantic vibe of the venue. It really feels like stepping through time at this venue, especially with these classic florals. Best of all, these wedding florals suited these particular marriers and their vision for their wedding day.
2. Use unconventional plants.
Flowers are magical, but if you want your wedding florals to have a more offbeat vibe, try adding some unexpected plants to the mix. Trailing plants, such as philodendrons, are perfect for setting the atmosphere in a tent or around pillars in a wedding venue. Even the most bare bones venue feels enchanting with greenery everywhere. Ferns and eucalyptus to give movement to bouquets, boutonnieres, and table arrangements. There’s something so charming about little fern fronds on boutonnieres. A more recent trend for dried flowers can get a fresh twist by mixing in fresh flowers with dried fronds.
One of my favorite additions to wedding florals? Mushrooms! These fungi come in such a wide variety of colors, shapes, and sizes. They give arrangements a Through the Looking Glass feeling that will make your guests do a double take. This centerpiece by florists Pistil and Stamen immediately caught people’s attention at a New Orleans wedding reception.
3. Choose colorful blooms!
Weddings are full of joy and life! Colorful wedding florals add vibrance and energy to the celebration. Traditionally, many people like to choose a limited number of colors to emphasize in their wedding decor, including their flowers. This purple and white arch coordinates perfectly with the bride and wedding party’s bouquets. It’s a classic look that still has plenty of personality. Depending on your venue, this may be a good way to avoid clashing aesthetics.
Of course, you can always lean into the maximalist trends in wedding decor. Personally, I love this approach! People get worried about their weddings looking dated, but I say have fun and do what you like. If that means saturated florals in rainbow hues, all the better. Your wedding photography will be as full of life as your wedding day.
4. Wear your flowers.
There are so many ways that you can wear your wedding florals, too. In more recent years, flower crowns have been used to give weddings festival energy. However, floral headpieces have been used by many cultures to celebrate weddings over the centuries. Whether your flower crown feels trendy and cool or timeless depends in part on the plants you choose and how you arrange them. This flower crown is bursting with joyful colors and fun textures.
When it comes to photographing wedding florals, I like to commemorate amazing florals with a double exposure photo. This process essentially layers two images together in one photo. These marriers had a sweet, low-key wedding that reflected them and their relationship. It was still meaningful to capture their love in this cinematic way.
5. Decorate your cake.
Your wedding florals can tie all the pieces of your wedding together – including your cake! I like to do a mx of artistic and classic wedding photos. One of the classic shots that people love is the champagne toast beside their cake. When a cake is overflowing with colorful florals, it adds so much to the atmosphere of your reception and your photos too.
These photos show two different takes on decorating wedding cakes with flowers. One uses more typical roses in fresh spring colors. The other uses super textured flowers in an earthy palette. Both are equally beautiful and fit the marriers’ aesthetics. There’s really no single right look for wedding florals!
6. Make your dance floor a whole moment.
People sometimes think that setting the mood at a reception stops at their tablescape. Why not make your dance floor unforgettable too? After all, if you want to inspire people to get up and dance, you want to make the floor festive. Big floral arrangements can also hide features of the venue you don’t love. For example, if the DJ stand doesn’t fit your aesthetic, it doesn’t really matter if there are incredible flowers everywhere.
This Livaudais Hall wedding was styled with abundant arrangements of white and blush flowers amid tall greenery. With the lighting just right, the DJ looked like she was in a Renaissance painting. The direct flash photo of the marriers in almost the exact same spot has high-end party vibes.
7. Use a seasonal color scheme.
You certainly don’t have to use a seasonal color scheme for your wedding. It can be a nice way to embrace the moment of your wedding. If you’re getting married outdoors, it can make your wedding feel more cohesive with the setting. Red and gold tones are common choices for fall weddings. Even if you go in this direction, your wedding florals don’t have to be confined to conventional blooms. At this wedding, the brides embraced vibrant pops of color combined with unusual shapes for a much more interesting version of the conventional fall bouquet.
Springtime weddings, on the other hand, might embrace pale flowers. Blush and pale purple roses give these bouquets a fresh springtime feel. The greenery gives the bouquets some shape and movement. The colors and flower choices are classically romantic, which suits the overall aesthetic for this wedding.
8. Make your ceremony lush with installations.
No matter what your ceremony venue is, one way you’re sure to make it stand out is to include lush floral installations. You can keep things as simple as you want or get really creative with big arrangements. Flowers and vining plants look amazing artistically draped on chuppahs too. Wedding florals can make you feel transported when you enter a ceremony space, and they can set the tone for your wedding’s aesthetic.
These photos show different but equally magical installations at ceremony venues. In the Felicity Church elopement, the towering arrangements of vibrant flowers bring an element to the venue that’s luxurious and a little wild at the same time. In the Music Box Village wedding, the bunches of flowers set around the platform add subtle but interesting color blocking and whimsy.
9. Dress up your tables!
Whether your reception features a formal seated dinner or passed hors d’oeuvres, flowers level up your reception. They’re a great way to make your venue your own, regardless of how many weddings you’ve attended there. Imagine your people raising a glass amid creative arrangements that feel like you. Peonies piled around candles give a table a more formal feel. Richly-hued zinnias create a cozier, carefree atmosphere.
There are endless ways to use your wedding florals to reflect your love’s aesthetic! Are you interested in having me photograph your flower-filled wedding? Reach out, and let’s chat!
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