Your wedding ceremony flowers will enhance the beauty of the venue. From pedestals to pew ends, here are some fabulous wedding flower ideas to decorate your chosen wedding place.
Flowers for your ceremony venue
You won't be spending much time in your ceremony venue, so it's generally a good idea to spend more money on the decorations for your reception venue. However, this will be the place where you actually tie the knot, so it deserves some carefully thought-out decoration. Depending on the venue, you might consider:
pew ends
chair back decorations
table arrangements
flowers around the entrance
pedestals
fresh petal confetti
Flowers for church
If you're having a church wedding, always speak to the priest or vicar about flowers, as the church might have a florist who always does them. If there is more than one wedding on the same day as yours and you are both happy to use the church florist, you may even be able to share the cost with the other couple. If you’re going to use your own florist, think about using decorations that can be transported and used again in your reception venue. Pew ends, for example, could be used to line pathways or as table decorations and pedestal arrangements could stand in your reception room.
Decorating a large church can put a strain on your budget, particularly if you decide to decorate every pew end and opt for elaborate pedestal decorations. So consider where flowers will be most important. Decorating the entrance is an excellent idea, especially as it's an area where you might choose to take a lot of photographs. It's also a good idea to have some arrangements at the front of the church where all your guests will be focusing their attention. Pew ends are not essential, although they do look beautiful. If you're watching your pennies, stick to something very simple such as a small arrangement of country flowers tied with ribbon.
Flowers at a civil ceremony
If you're having a civil ceremony, your choice of flowers really depends on the décor of the room. A register office room may already be decorated with flowers so you might choose to have those, or ask whether you can bring in some of your own. If you're opting for another licensed venue and having your reception in the same place, you can easily transfer the flowers from one room to another, so think about arrangements that will suit both rooms.
It's a good idea to have a table arrangement or pedestal around the area where you say your vows. You might also choose to have chair back decorations. You're less likely to need flowers around the entrance to the room unless you think it would make a good photo opportunity.
Flower favours
Flowers can make fabulous favours, especially for your female guests. If your favours are presented at table settings, they also add extra decoration to your tables. Here are a few ways they work well:
tiny posies of flowers on the napkin of each female guest
a fresh flower tucked in to a bow on a favour box
a fresh flower in a tiny individual vase (or candle votive) for each guest.
Take the cake
Wedding cakes are often decorated with flowers, and these can be sugar flowers, artificial flowers or fresh flowers -- whichever you prefer. Well-crafted sugar flowers can look so amazing that it’s hard to tell them apart from fresh flowers! They also have the advantage of being made beforehand, so there’s no need to decorate the cake on the day of your wedding.
If you decide on fresh flowers, it's crucial to arrange communication between your cake designer and florist. The cake designer will need to let the florist know the exact dimensions of the cake, and the florist will need to let the cake maker know how he or she plans to decorate it.
Flowers at the reception venue
From table centrepieces to chair back decorations, flowers are a crucial part of your reception venue decoration. Your reception venue is the place where you'll be spending the most time. It's the setting for your wedding breakfast, speeches and the cutting of your cake, and probably for your evening entertainment, so it's wise to spend the most money on decoration here. Depending on your venue, you might consider:
pedestals in the entrance areas
chair back decorations
table arrangements
fresh petal confetti over the tables
floral favours
wedding cake decoration
Pedestal arrangements can look wonderful if you have a large entrance area. They can be expensive though, so an alternative might be to hire topiary trees. Also, if you're having pedestal arrangements in your ceremony venue, consider having them moved to your reception venue so you get full use out of them!
Flowers for chair backs
Adorning your chair backs with floral decorations can look stunning. Keep costs down by opting for simple arrangements, decorating every other chair or just decorating the chairs on the top table. The key is not to have the top table chairs against the wall so this works best with a round top table in the centre of the room.
Flowers for tables
Some kind of table arrangement is a must for your reception tables -- even if you decide to have a bowl of sweets or disposable cameras instead of a floral arrangement. If you opt for flowers, speak to your florist to see what they can suggest to fit in with your budget and reception style. The most successful arrangements are either tall enough to allow your guests to see each other underneath, or short enough to allow them to see each other over the top! Save money by opting for plants instead of flowers and sticking to seasonal flowers and simple arrangements.
Scent is also crucial when it comes to table arrangements. Bear in mind that your guests will be eating at the table so the scent from the flowers shouldn't be too strong. The smell of flowers combined with food can become rather sickly!
Petal power
Another way to incorporate fresh flowers into your reception is to sprinkle fresh rose petals over the tables. It's always worth considering, however, that these petals will gradually grow dull, so freeze-dried rose petals are a good, long-lasting alternative.