Many couples are eliminating the bouquet toss from their celebrations in favor of their own unique spin on this tradition.
Ah, the bouquet toss. It’s been regarded as a time-honored tradition during which fate, luck, or perhaps an intervening deity revealed which single woman would be the next to walk down the aisle. As with many other nuptial customs, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that many couples are eliminating the bouquet toss from their celebrations. If you’re curious about its origins and some possible alternative traditions you can choose for your special day, read on.
A Distraction for Rowdy Wedding Guests
It’s unclear where the bouquet toss tradition came from, but one commonly repeated origin story is that it’s a relic from medieval times. When the happy couple would depart from their wedding to consummate the marriage, so the tale goes, rowdy guests would chase them during their exit. To keep them distracted, the bride would fling her bouquet into the crowd while the groom tossed her garter.
Other versions of the narrative suggest that attendees attempted to rip off pieces of the bride’s dress, believing that even a tiny square of its fabric would bestow good fortune. Over time, women started lofting their bouquets at revelers to avoid the destruction of their lovely frocks. Soon, people began associating the airborne clusters of flowers with a chance for good luck and began waiting patiently for brides to toss them instead of pursuing her and the groom.
Saying Goodbye to the Bouquet Toss
In an April 2017 Brides article, writer Jen Glantz gives three reasons why she thinks the bouquet toss is a custom best left in the past:
It’s awkward and embarrassing for single attendees.
If a guest catches it, single men may avoid her the rest of the night.
You can devise other fun ways to get rid of the bouquet.
The Knot contributor Maggie Seaver also points out that the seemingly innocuous practice can turn dangerous, especially with crowds of attendees who may have been consuming alcohol. Tipsy fumbling and stumbling aside, injuries may result when people dive for the flying flowers, especially while wearing high heels. They could crash into the wedding cake, smack their heads against a wall, or catch an elbow to the face. You’ll avoid mishaps, and perhaps potential litigation, by skipping this tradition entirely.
Cool Alternatives for Your Bouquet
In her write-up for The Knot, Seaver points out that you really don’t have to replace the bouquet toss with anything else. However, there are plenty of alternatives if you still feel called to find a fun way to pass it on to one of your guests. Some common suggestions include the following:
An “anniversary dance” in which the couple who’s been together the longest gets the bouquet
Using a bouquet that breaks apart so you can gift sections to your loved ones
Holding a “dance move” competition and awarding it to the winner
Jezebel writer Jolie Kerrcollected some readers’ stories of unusual ways they gave away their bouquets. One couple held a “cat toss,” launching a cat plushie into the crowd with the lucky catcher supposedly being the next to get a cat. Others threw glitter bombs on their guests, passed their bouquets on to friends who would be marrying soon, or saved them to leave on a loved one’s grave.
Choosing Between Traditions and Custom Details
Weddings are both events with personal meaning and social affairs that allow couples to commit to each other in front of their communities. With that said, you’ll probably end up balancing the traditions you wish to honor with unique details reflecting your personality and values. As the bouquet toss appears to be on its way out, there are many awesome alternatives you can adapt for your own special day.
Examples of longstanding wedding customs would be the throwing of the bouquet, the throwing of the garter belt, and the couple slicing the first piece of cake.
It is no small surprise that Canadians love their country and all of its expansive beauty. Though Canada shares a lot of its culture with countries in Europe and America, there are many wedding customs that exist within the nation that are unique. If you are planning on getting married in the near future, you may be wondering how your fellow citizens go about the process. Recent studies have shown some interesting facts about how modern couples get married.
Long Standing Wedding Customs: The Month of December
Popping the question to your significant other is a big part of the wedding process. Without taking this initial step, you really can’t move forward with a marriage. Engagements are different depending on the culture. This is especially true of when people decide to pop the question to their partners. A study surveying a large number of Canadian men points out an interesting trend in this regard. A vast majority of men have proposed or are planning to propose in the month of December.
Age Is a Number
Wedding customs marriage change as much as the times do. Statistics show that the average age for a woman to get married in Canada in 1950 was 25. This number fluctuated a bit in the subsequent decades, dropping to an average of 23 from the 1970s until more recently. This trend in Canada reflects a larger movement happening among women of all backgrounds. Though this primarily is a shift in Western cultures, women are adopting more professional roles in greater numbers.
Under Pressure
The idea of a wedding has grown a little bit out of control in recent decades. Once, a wedding was simply a union between two people who loved each other. Polls taken of young brides approaching their wedding have shown that a large number of women feel pressured to spend more than they can afford. While you may want to spend a good amount on your wedding, it is important to be sensible with your budget and keep enough cash around to start your life with your partner after the big day.
Making It Your Own
Paying attention to wedding customs and trends can help with planning a wedding that meets your own specific needs. It is important for you to follow your own path. Couples should not caught up in what everyone else is doing.
While you may want to explore popular trends to see what is interesting to you, making your decisions based on what you personally enjoy will help result in the best celebration of your love. Find a way to make your special day a unique experience. This will make it easy to remember fondly for many years to come.
One of the most common wedding traditions practiced to this day is the catching of the bride’s bouquet.
The idea of getting married is nothing new. In fact, weddings are some of the oldest ceremonies to have been documented across all civilizations. There are a lot of traditions that have persisted through the years even if the mentality behind a wedding has changed. In Canada, for example, there are plenty of unique ways of going about the process of marrying your partner.
Common Wedding Traditions
Planning for a wedding requires time and research. Here are a few wedding practices that appear often in Canadian rituals in the current day and age, as well as in other cultures across the world.
Catch the Bouquet
One common tradition found in many weddings is the tossing of the bouquet. Traditionally, this is an act by the bride, who tosses the flowers backwards over her shoulder toward a crowd of single friends and relatives. It is customary for this part of the ceremony to only include women, but shifting attitudes have shown that single men can also get in on the fun if the married couple so wishes. The history behind this act is a bit more interesting than might be first believed.
In older cultures, it was common for single women to tear away a piece of the bride’s dress. This was meant as a gesture of good luck for the women holding the strip of garment. As wedding dresses became more expensive, brides found that it was a bit much to have their families and friends tearing away at their beautiful gowns. The bouquet toss was a custom introduced to ward away women who wanted a piece of luck and provide them with a competitive chance for their wishes.
Eternal Love
Some traditions are so ingrained in the cultural sphere that it’s hard to imagine another way of going about the process. Rings, for example, are the cornerstone of an engagement and subsequent wedding. There have been many different approaches to the exchanging of rings over the years. Essentially, experts have traced the tradition of the ring back to Egypt in its earliest days of civilization.
The Egyptians would trade rings as a sign of eternal love and commitment. Eventually, due to the conquests of the Greeks and Romans, the tradition was adopted. As civilization expanded through Europe, the custom became more widespread until it reached the height that it exists at now. The custom of wearing a wedding ring on a specific finger can also be traced back to the Egyptians. They believed that the third finger on the left hand was the one most closely connected to the human heart.
White Wedding
A common practice in the modern age is for a woman to wear white on her wedding day. This is actually not as old of a tradition as many might believe. In Western culture, the custom of wearing white began as a way of symbolizing the purity of the bride. This started during the Victorian Era in England and has persisted to the modern day in many countries. What’s more fascinating is that brides across the world wore a multitude of colors on their wedding day before this practice began.
White was a rare color to be seen during a ceremony in earlier traditions. It has lively and vibrant colors being more closely associated with the passion and beauty of shared love. Though it seems that most brides wear white in the current age, the trend is being pushed against. More women are wearing dresses that match their personal tastes rather than taking part in a tradition that holds no meaning for them.
As you plan your wedding, consider the meaning behind current customs. You may want to break from tradition or go with the flow – the choice is yours.
Large bouquet of different colored flowers, specifically tulips.
At one of the most prominent weddings of the 21st century, the flowers for the bridal bouquet were carefully chosen. Kate Middleton selected the ones that were important to her family and to the Royal Family. Myrtle was chosen as an emblem of marriage and love, and specifically, the sprigs of myrtle came from a plant grown from the myrtle used in the bouquet of Queen Elizabeth II. Kate chose ivy, the symbolization of fidelity and affection. The hyacinth was representative of “constancy of love.” Sweet William was for gallantry, and the lily of the valley for the return of happiness.
You don’t have to be royal to make a wedding bouquet that’s representative of your partner and yourself. Flowers aren’t only for weddings, either. You may want to use this list when you need to choose a spray for your grandma’s funeral.
The Meaning of Roses
You probably know that red roses are for love. Practically everyone gives these flowers for Valentine’s Day, but roses come in many different colors. Say what you mean by choosing different colors for the bouquet you bring to your loved one:
White – innocence and purity
Yellow – joy and friendship, or a new beginning
Orange – enthusiasm
Dark red – unconscious beauty
Light pink – grace and gentleness
Coral – friendship and modesty
Lavender – love at first sight
Dark pink – gratitude or appreciation
Pale peach – modesty
Yellow with a red tip – falling in love
More Flowers With Meanings
Here are some other popular flowers and greenery that you can choose to say something special:
Bachelor’s button – blessedness
Bay – glory
Chrysanthemum – cheerfulness
Daffodils – regard
Daisy – innocence
Ferns – sincerity
White jasmine – sweet love
Lavender – devotion
Mint – virtue
Red poppy – consolation
Sage – wisdom and mortality
Yellow tulips – hope and cheery thoughts, friendship
White tulips – an apology
Pink tulips – confidence and happiness
Purple tulips – the color of royalty, used to express admiration for someone’s accomplishments
Violets – faithfulness
The white carnation symbolizes pure love. Pink carnations are symbolic of a mother’s undying love. Legend suggests that the pink carnation first appeared from the Virgin Mary’s tears. Purple carnations are for unpredictability. Light red carnations are for admiration; dark red carnations are a sign of deep love and affection.
Another suggestion for symbolic flowers is to host a garden party with your friends and have each one bring a flower or plant that has meaning to the person. Make a pretty flower garden or create a mixed bouquet to remember each other. It would make a nice housewarming gift or a memory for a new bride.
Make a Special Message
Flowers aren’t just for weddings, funerals and special holidays. Take home a bunch of flowers to your loved one anytime to make a special memory. Know the language of flowers to send the right message any time you choose.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, how many words is a flower bouquet worth? Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “the earth laughs in flowers.” Christian Dior believes, “after women, flowers are the most lovely thing God has given the world.” Say something special with flowers.
Correctly choosing flowers for the wedding can be one of the hardest parts of a wedding.
When you’re planning a wedding, there are so many decisions to make to have the perfect day. Choosing flowers is one of the most important elements of the ceremony, as the bridal bouquet will most likely be in 95 percent of the pictures. It’s recommended that brides allot about 10 percent of their overall budget for flowers. This should include the bouquet, the bridesmaid’s bouquets, the boutonnieres, corsages and the reception.
According to The Knot, these are some of the most popular wedding flowers:
Rose
Tulip
Calla lily
Lily of the valley
Hydrangea
Peony
Sweet pea
Gardenia
Many of these popular flowers are only available seasonally, such as the peony and lily of the valley. The price of roses often fluctuates, depending on the season. You will pay much more for roses in the month of February, because demand is so high. Here are some tips for finding the right flowers and florist for your wedding.
Get some ideas about what you like before you go talk to your florist. Know what you’d like to have at the wedding and where you’re willing to compromise.
Meet with two or three florists to compare styles and prices. Talk with the florist about the seasonality of your options for flowers.
The florist will want to know your budget and your style.
When you meet with the florist, bring a photo of your wedding dress and swatches of your colors. You might also want to bring the brochures of your ceremony and reception sites.
Ask to see the florist’s portfolio to get an idea of his or her sense of style.
Ask for suggestions about flowers that won’t wilt over the time of the wedding and reception. Get affordable options that might work more effectively.
Get information about the “warranty.” Will the flowers be fresh and arrive on time? What happens if a specific flower isn’t available on the wedding day?
Find out the payment process for the florist. It’s not uncommon for a 50 percent deposit to be made when you sign the contract. The balance will most likely be due the week of the wedding.
Talk with each prospective florist and get an estimate in writing based on what you’ve discussed. Then go home and consider what really works with your budget.
Correctly Choosing Flowers Doesn’t Mean Breaking the Bank
Keeping your flower budget in check isn’t easy, so here are some tips to help you manage your money.
Reuse bridesmaid bouquets and ceremony arrangements. Have the bridesmaids slip their bouquets into vases in the reception area and ask venue staff to move the arrangements from the ceremony to the reception.
You might skip the ceremony arrangements altogether. There’s no rule that says you have to have flowers at the altar. Greenery, candles or lights might fill the space quite effectively.
Don’t plan on getting married in February when demand for roses and other flowers are quite high.
Use large, inexpensive blossoms to fill in space.
Choose cheaper flowers as the mainstay of the arrangements. Carnations and baby’s breath are two of the most inexpensive stems and have a lot of bang for your buck.
DIY floral arrangements and bouquets. The internet has plenty of how-to guides for those who love to craft by putting together their own wedding arrangements. Consider paying the florist to make the intricate corsages and boutonnieres.
Get your blooms from the grocery store instead of the florist.
Work with a florist who understands your budget and is willing to help you stay within it.
You can get the beautiful flowers you want for your wedding and stay within your budget when you plan for it.
Many couples are eliminating the bouquet toss from their celebrations in favor of their own unique spin on this tradition.
Ah, the bouquet toss. It’s been regarded as a time-honored tradition during which fate, luck, or perhaps an intervening deity revealed which single woman would be the next to walk down the aisle. As with many other nuptial customs, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that many couples are eliminating the bouquet toss from their celebrations. If you’re curious about its origins and some possible alternative traditions you can choose for your special day, read on.
A Distraction for Rowdy Wedding Guests
It’s unclear where the bouquet toss tradition came from, but one commonly repeated origin story is that it’s a relic from medieval times. When the happy couple would depart from their wedding to consummate the marriage, so the tale goes, rowdy guests would chase them during their exit. To keep them distracted, the bride would fling her bouquet into the crowd while the groom tossed her garter.
Other versions of the narrative suggest that attendees attempted to rip off pieces of the bride’s dress, believing that even a tiny square of its fabric would bestow good fortune. Over time, women started lofting their bouquets at revelers to avoid the destruction of their lovely frocks. Soon, people began associating the airborne clusters of flowers with a chance for good luck and began waiting patiently for brides to toss them instead of pursuing her and the groom.
Saying Goodbye to the Bouquet Toss
In an April 2017 Brides article, writer Jen Glantz gives three reasons why she thinks the bouquet toss is a custom best left in the past:
It’s awkward and embarrassing for single attendees.
If a guest catches it, single men may avoid her the rest of the night.
You can devise other fun ways to get rid of the bouquet.
The Knot contributor Maggie Seaver also points out that the seemingly innocuous practice can turn dangerous, especially with crowds of attendees who may have been consuming alcohol. Tipsy fumbling and stumbling aside, injuries may result when people dive for the flying flowers, especially while wearing high heels. They could crash into the wedding cake, smack their heads against a wall, or catch an elbow to the face. You’ll avoid mishaps, and perhaps potential litigation, by skipping this tradition entirely.
Cool Alternatives for Your Bouquet
In her write-up for The Knot, Seaver points out that you really don’t have to replace the bouquet toss with anything else. However, there are plenty of alternatives if you still feel called to find a fun way to pass it on to one of your guests. Some common suggestions include the following:
An “anniversary dance” in which the couple who’s been together the longest gets the bouquet
Using a bouquet that breaks apart so you can gift sections to your loved ones
Holding a “dance move” competition and awarding it to the winner
Jezebel writer Jolie Kerrcollected some readers’ stories of unusual ways they gave away their bouquets. One couple held a “cat toss,” launching a cat plushie into the crowd with the lucky catcher supposedly being the next to get a cat. Others threw glitter bombs on their guests, passed their bouquets on to friends who would be marrying soon, or saved them to leave on a loved one’s grave.
Choosing Between Traditions and Custom Details
Weddings are both events with personal meaning and social affairs that allow couples to commit to each other in front of their communities. With that said, you’ll probably end up balancing the traditions you wish to honor with unique details reflecting your personality and values. As the bouquet toss appears to be on its way out, there are many awesome alternatives you can adapt for your own special day.
Examples of longstanding wedding customs would be the throwing of the bouquet, the throwing of the garter belt, and the couple slicing the first piece of cake.
It is no small surprise that Canadians love their country and all of its expansive beauty. Though Canada shares a lot of its culture with countries in Europe and America, there are many wedding customs that exist within the nation that are unique. If you are planning on getting married in the near future, you may be wondering how your fellow citizens go about the process. Recent studies have shown some interesting facts about how modern couples get married.
Long Standing Wedding Customs: The Month of December
Popping the question to your significant other is a big part of the wedding process. Without taking this initial step, you really can’t move forward with a marriage. Engagements are different depending on the culture. This is especially true of when people decide to pop the question to their partners. A study surveying a large number of Canadian men points out an interesting trend in this regard. A vast majority of men have proposed or are planning to propose in the month of December.
Age Is a Number
Wedding customs marriage change as much as the times do. Statistics show that the average age for a woman to get married in Canada in 1950 was 25. This number fluctuated a bit in the subsequent decades, dropping to an average of 23 from the 1970s until more recently. This trend in Canada reflects a larger movement happening among women of all backgrounds. Though this primarily is a shift in Western cultures, women are adopting more professional roles in greater numbers.
Under Pressure
The idea of a wedding has grown a little bit out of control in recent decades. Once, a wedding was simply a union between two people who loved each other. Polls taken of young brides approaching their wedding have shown that a large number of women feel pressured to spend more than they can afford. While you may want to spend a good amount on your wedding, it is important to be sensible with your budget and keep enough cash around to start your life with your partner after the big day.
Making It Your Own
Paying attention to wedding customs and trends can help with planning a wedding that meets your own specific needs. It is important for you to follow your own path. Couples should not caught up in what everyone else is doing.
While you may want to explore popular trends to see what is interesting to you, making your decisions based on what you personally enjoy will help result in the best celebration of your love. Find a way to make your special day a unique experience. This will make it easy to remember fondly for many years to come.
One of the most common wedding traditions practiced to this day is the catching of the bride’s bouquet.
The idea of getting married is nothing new. In fact, weddings are some of the oldest ceremonies to have been documented across all civilizations. There are a lot of traditions that have persisted through the years even if the mentality behind a wedding has changed. In Canada, for example, there are plenty of unique ways of going about the process of marrying your partner.
Common Wedding Traditions
Planning for a wedding requires time and research. Here are a few wedding practices that appear often in Canadian rituals in the current day and age, as well as in other cultures across the world.
Catch the Bouquet
One common tradition found in many weddings is the tossing of the bouquet. Traditionally, this is an act by the bride, who tosses the flowers backwards over her shoulder toward a crowd of single friends and relatives. It is customary for this part of the ceremony to only include women, but shifting attitudes have shown that single men can also get in on the fun if the married couple so wishes. The history behind this act is a bit more interesting than might be first believed.
In older cultures, it was common for single women to tear away a piece of the bride’s dress. This was meant as a gesture of good luck for the women holding the strip of garment. As wedding dresses became more expensive, brides found that it was a bit much to have their families and friends tearing away at their beautiful gowns. The bouquet toss was a custom introduced to ward away women who wanted a piece of luck and provide them with a competitive chance for their wishes.
Eternal Love
Some traditions are so ingrained in the cultural sphere that it’s hard to imagine another way of going about the process. Rings, for example, are the cornerstone of an engagement and subsequent wedding. There have been many different approaches to the exchanging of rings over the years. Essentially, experts have traced the tradition of the ring back to Egypt in its earliest days of civilization.
The Egyptians would trade rings as a sign of eternal love and commitment. Eventually, due to the conquests of the Greeks and Romans, the tradition was adopted. As civilization expanded through Europe, the custom became more widespread until it reached the height that it exists at now. The custom of wearing a wedding ring on a specific finger can also be traced back to the Egyptians. They believed that the third finger on the left hand was the one most closely connected to the human heart.
White Wedding
A common practice in the modern age is for a woman to wear white on her wedding day. This is actually not as old of a tradition as many might believe. In Western culture, the custom of wearing white began as a way of symbolizing the purity of the bride. This started during the Victorian Era in England and has persisted to the modern day in many countries. What’s more fascinating is that brides across the world wore a multitude of colors on their wedding day before this practice began.
White was a rare color to be seen during a ceremony in earlier traditions. It has lively and vibrant colors being more closely associated with the passion and beauty of shared love. Though it seems that most brides wear white in the current age, the trend is being pushed against. More women are wearing dresses that match their personal tastes rather than taking part in a tradition that holds no meaning for them.
As you plan your wedding, consider the meaning behind current customs. You may want to break from tradition or go with the flow – the choice is yours.
Large bouquet of different colored flowers, specifically tulips.
At one of the most prominent weddings of the 21st century, the flowers for the bridal bouquet were carefully chosen. Kate Middleton selected the ones that were important to her family and to the Royal Family. Myrtle was chosen as an emblem of marriage and love, and specifically, the sprigs of myrtle came from a plant grown from the myrtle used in the bouquet of Queen Elizabeth II. Kate chose ivy, the symbolization of fidelity and affection. The hyacinth was representative of “constancy of love.” Sweet William was for gallantry, and the lily of the valley for the return of happiness.
You don’t have to be royal to make a wedding bouquet that’s representative of your partner and yourself. Flowers aren’t only for weddings, either. You may want to use this list when you need to choose a spray for your grandma’s funeral.
The Meaning of Roses
You probably know that red roses are for love. Practically everyone gives these flowers for Valentine’s Day, but roses come in many different colors. Say what you mean by choosing different colors for the bouquet you bring to your loved one:
White – innocence and purity
Yellow – joy and friendship, or a new beginning
Orange – enthusiasm
Dark red – unconscious beauty
Light pink – grace and gentleness
Coral – friendship and modesty
Lavender – love at first sight
Dark pink – gratitude or appreciation
Pale peach – modesty
Yellow with a red tip – falling in love
More Flowers With Meanings
Here are some other popular flowers and greenery that you can choose to say something special:
Bachelor’s button – blessedness
Bay – glory
Chrysanthemum – cheerfulness
Daffodils – regard
Daisy – innocence
Ferns – sincerity
White jasmine – sweet love
Lavender – devotion
Mint – virtue
Red poppy – consolation
Sage – wisdom and mortality
Yellow tulips – hope and cheery thoughts, friendship
White tulips – an apology
Pink tulips – confidence and happiness
Purple tulips – the color of royalty, used to express admiration for someone’s accomplishments
Violets – faithfulness
The white carnation symbolizes pure love. Pink carnations are symbolic of a mother’s undying love. Legend suggests that the pink carnation first appeared from the Virgin Mary’s tears. Purple carnations are for unpredictability. Light red carnations are for admiration; dark red carnations are a sign of deep love and affection.
Another suggestion for symbolic flowers is to host a garden party with your friends and have each one bring a flower or plant that has meaning to the person. Make a pretty flower garden or create a mixed bouquet to remember each other. It would make a nice housewarming gift or a memory for a new bride.
Make a Special Message
Flowers aren’t just for weddings, funerals and special holidays. Take home a bunch of flowers to your loved one anytime to make a special memory. Know the language of flowers to send the right message any time you choose.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, how many words is a flower bouquet worth? Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “the earth laughs in flowers.” Christian Dior believes, “after women, flowers are the most lovely thing God has given the world.” Say something special with flowers.
Correctly choosing flowers for the wedding can be one of the hardest parts of a wedding.
When you’re planning a wedding, there are so many decisions to make to have the perfect day. Choosing flowers is one of the most important elements of the ceremony, as the bridal bouquet will most likely be in 95 percent of the pictures. It’s recommended that brides allot about 10 percent of their overall budget for flowers. This should include the bouquet, the bridesmaid’s bouquets, the boutonnieres, corsages and the reception.
According to The Knot, these are some of the most popular wedding flowers:
Rose
Tulip
Calla lily
Lily of the valley
Hydrangea
Peony
Sweet pea
Gardenia
Many of these popular flowers are only available seasonally, such as the peony and lily of the valley. The price of roses often fluctuates, depending on the season. You will pay much more for roses in the month of February, because demand is so high. Here are some tips for finding the right flowers and florist for your wedding.
Get some ideas about what you like before you go talk to your florist. Know what you’d like to have at the wedding and where you’re willing to compromise.
Meet with two or three florists to compare styles and prices. Talk with the florist about the seasonality of your options for flowers.
The florist will want to know your budget and your style.
When you meet with the florist, bring a photo of your wedding dress and swatches of your colors. You might also want to bring the brochures of your ceremony and reception sites.
Ask to see the florist’s portfolio to get an idea of his or her sense of style.
Ask for suggestions about flowers that won’t wilt over the time of the wedding and reception. Get affordable options that might work more effectively.
Get information about the “warranty.” Will the flowers be fresh and arrive on time? What happens if a specific flower isn’t available on the wedding day?
Find out the payment process for the florist. It’s not uncommon for a 50 percent deposit to be made when you sign the contract. The balance will most likely be due the week of the wedding.
Talk with each prospective florist and get an estimate in writing based on what you’ve discussed. Then go home and consider what really works with your budget.
Correctly Choosing Flowers Doesn’t Mean Breaking the Bank
Keeping your flower budget in check isn’t easy, so here are some tips to help you manage your money.
Reuse bridesmaid bouquets and ceremony arrangements. Have the bridesmaids slip their bouquets into vases in the reception area and ask venue staff to move the arrangements from the ceremony to the reception.
You might skip the ceremony arrangements altogether. There’s no rule that says you have to have flowers at the altar. Greenery, candles or lights might fill the space quite effectively.
Don’t plan on getting married in February when demand for roses and other flowers are quite high.
Use large, inexpensive blossoms to fill in space.
Choose cheaper flowers as the mainstay of the arrangements. Carnations and baby’s breath are two of the most inexpensive stems and have a lot of bang for your buck.
DIY floral arrangements and bouquets. The internet has plenty of how-to guides for those who love to craft by putting together their own wedding arrangements. Consider paying the florist to make the intricate corsages and boutonnieres.
Get your blooms from the grocery store instead of the florist.
Work with a florist who understands your budget and is willing to help you stay within it.
You can get the beautiful flowers you want for your wedding and stay within your budget when you plan for it.
