Your Wedding Day Flowers

To arrive at a perfect wedding day, where everything goes smoothly, seemingly effortlessly, takes more time and energy than anyone can possibly imagine. Anyone, of course, except the bride who devotes all that time and energy to her perfect day. (And the father of the bride, who devotes all that money towards the perfect day.) Every detail must be planned, checked and rechecked, and there is never a guarantee that something won't go wrong at the last minute.

A big item on the wedding planning list is the flowers for the church, the wedding party and the reception. If that goes wrong, it can be a real disaster. Many problems can arise in this area, such as flowers not being delivered on time, not fresh, or not the flowers the bride ordered. Just imagine if your perfectly orchestrated color scheme is ruined because the wrong colored flowers arrived. Just try sending them back or getting new ones in time. Besides the ambiance of the wedding being ruined, there is now an upset bride. Taking certain precautions may avoid this disaster.

Even before that first meeting with the florist, taking certain steps will prepare you so that the arrangements move along painlessly and easily. The first detail to be attended to is the color scheme you are choosing. This has to be decided in advance, or you will guarantee yourself a headache. Be definite about your colors, usually based on the colors of the bridesmaids' dresses, before you start to look at flowers. Some flowers are available in a wide range of colors, while others are limited. Stick to your color scheme and then pick flowers in that color scheme. If you try to pick a specific type of flower, it may not work with that color scheme, or be available in that color. Bring swatches and be ready to complement rather than match.

Paying heed to the season is, of course, crucial. Certain flowers and/or colors are intrinsic to each season, and your florist will have to work within those limitations. The overall mood, too, must be considered. It's not enough to know that you're having a summer wedding. You need to discuss the type of wedding that you're planning to have, as well. For instance, a formal church wedding will call for statelier flower arrangements, whereas a wedding on the beach will need something far less formal.

When you are planning the budget for your flowers, keep your total wedding budget in mind. A rule of thumb is to spend ten to fifteen percent of your total wedding budget on the flowers. Spending more than that will cause you to skimp on other more important items. Discuss your budget and its limitations honestly with your florist at the very beginning. He can work with you to explore different ideas that will make your day perfect and still keep this lovely part of your wedding in budget.

You also have to consider the size of the bouquets for both you and your bridesmaids, the shade of your gown, if you are going to have an additional bouquet to toss, and the temperature of the season, if you will be outdoors for any length of time. (Many flowers react badly to very cold temperatures.) And as if that is not enough to worry about, you need to worry about pollen that may stain your gown. (For example, lilies should have stamens removed because of this problem.) Be flexible, and make sure you take the advice of your florist. He wants your day to be perfect too.

Peter Carnater runs the website Flowers Niche

which is a site dedicated to providing all the very latest news and views related to flowers. This is a complete