5 things every Bell's bride should know!
Wedding planning can be stressful, obviously! At Bell's Flowers, we are committed to ensuring the floral aspects of your wedding go as smoothly as possible. To help brides-to-be, here are five essential tips for navigating all things flower-related for your big day.
1. Consider designs that can be repurposed for both your ceremony and reception
Bell's Flowers understands that flower costs can quickly escalate, so we recommend designs that can be used for both the ceremony and reception to accommodate tighter budgets. While we love creating floral arches, we know not all arches are movable. Instead, we suggest highlighting aisle meadows that line the chairs and can be repurposed elsewhere after the ceremony.
For the head table or sweetheart table, we also advise placing standard vases filled with water. This allows you and your wedding party to easily transfer your bouquets into the vases after photos, turning them into beautiful decor pieces.
2. Choose seasonal flowers for your wedding day
We always recommend using in-season flowers for your big day, for two key reasons. First, cost - flowers that are available during their natural growing season tend to be more affordable. Second, appearance - flowers at the peak of their freshness and maturity will look their absolute best.
For example, take peonies. We all adore peonies, but their availability is limited to just a few months, typically from May through late June. While it's possible to special order peonies during the off-season by having them shipped in from places like Alaska, the cost skyrockets and the quality often suffers compared to peonies at the height of their season.
Rather than paying more for peonies that may appear tired and lackluster, we recommend either aligning your wedding date with the natural bloom time of your desired flowers, or working with us to find a beautiful in-season alternative. For those set on peonies, garden roses make an excellent substitution - they have a similarly lush, full appearance.
Our team is here to provide floral expertise and creative ideas to ensure your wedding flowers are both cost-effective and visually stunning. We're happy to offer guidance on choosing the perfect blooms for your special day.
3. The bridal bouquet will establish the overall aesthetic and tone for the rest of the wedding flowers and floral designs
When couples share inspiration pictures with us, the majority feature a bridal bouquet, and for good reason! The bridal bouquet is a key element of the wedding flowers and plays a vital role. The flowers and color scheme you choose for the bouquet will often set the tone for the rest of the wedding designs.
When selecting inspiration photos, make sure the bridal bouquet captures exactly what you envision in terms of texture, color, variety, and types of flowers. Your bouquet will likely be one of the most photographed elements, appearing in portraits, detailed shots, and as a backdrop for other photos throughout the day.
4. Remember, flowers in real life are not filtered like they often are in photos
We absolutely love using Pinterest to gather ideas and inspiration for our floral designs. It can be a valuable tool for understanding our personal style preferences. However, it's important to keep in mind that most images on Pinterest are heavily filtered, which can significantly alter the true colors of the flowers.
For example, white flowers often display a range of hues in a single stem - from creams and ivories to yellows and even blush tones. This can be quite different from the stark white appearance often portrayed online. When selecting your color scheme, it's crucial to remember that flowers are natural products that can contain a variety of shades, rather than the one color tone that may be shown in curated images.
By being mindful of these color variations, you can make more informed choices that accurately reflect the true beauty of the flowers you'll be working with!
5. Communicate, communicate, communicate!
At Bell's Flowers, we believe in proactive communication. Once you book us for your wedding, we will reach out and follow up multiple times leading up to your big day. Our goal is to ensure you have no unanswered questions and can easily update your invoice as needed. We encourage you to share your vision by sending us photos. If your photographer requires pictures of the flowers before the ceremony, please let us know. And be sure to inform us of any flower preferences or aversions. We see ourselves as part of your wedding day team, here to support you beyond just designing the florals!