Planning your wedding flowers: when to start and what to bring

Wedding flowers are one of the lovelier parts of planning a wedding, but it helps to know when to start and what to have ready. Here is what we suggest to couples who get in touch.

When to start

As soon as you have your date and your venue, get in touch. Popular dates, especially Saturdays from May to September and the weeks around Christmas, are booked early. You do not need to have decided anything else yet. A first conversation is about whether we are free and what you have in mind.

Smaller weddings and registry office ceremonies can be arranged with less notice, but earlier is always easier.

What to bring to the first chat

• Your date and venue, and where the reception is if it is somewhere else.
• Pictures you like. Screenshots from Instagram or Pinterest are perfect. Pictures of what you do not like help just as much.
• Colours. A swatch of the bridesmaids’ dresses, a photo of the ties, or a paint chart.
• A rough budget. It is the most useful thing you can tell us. We can then suggest where to spend and where to save.
• Numbers. How many bridesmaids, how many buttonholes and corsages, how many tables.

Where the money goes

The bridal bouquet is usually the single biggest piece, followed by the bridesmaids’ bouquets. Table centres can add up quickly because there are so many of them, so that is often where a little creativity saves the most: smaller arrangements, jars of seasonal flowers, or using the ceremony flowers again at the reception.

Choose flowers that are in season

Flowers that are at their best in your month will look better and usually cost less than ones flown in out of season. Peonies in early summer, dahlias in late summer and autumn, and berries, foliage and amaryllis in winter. If you have your heart set on a particular flower, tell us early and we will tell you honestly whether it will be at its best on your date.

Do not forget the little things

• Buttonholes for the groom, best man, ushers and fathers.
• Corsages for mothers and grandmothers.
• Flowers for the cake.
• A small bouquet to throw, so you can keep your own.

Getting in touch

When you are ready, fill in the form on our wedding flowers page with your date and venue. You can add pictures there too. We will be in touch to talk it all through.