Seasonal Designs
We’ve all heard of seasonal cooking, where chefs only cook with what is in season. Even though modern technology allows us to get tomatoes in the middle of winter, they comes at a cost–flavor and money. Flower arrangements are no different. Seasonal designs allows you to have the freshest flowers without breaking the bank.
Pinterest and Instagram are wonderful sources of inspiration for flowers and arrangements, especially for newly engaged couples. We love it when couples share their Pinterest Boards or their Knot’s Wedding Vision. They help us understand the look and feel the couple are striving for, and they help us get to know the couple better. The downside is that sometimes couples fall in love with flowers that won’t be in season for their wedding.
Recently we had a bride show us her Pinterest Board. It was full of peonies, but her wedding was in November. You can imagine her dismay when we told her that we might not even be able to get her peonies, and if we were able, they would be at least $20 per stem. Talk about going over budget!
First Steps
Before you start looking for inspiration, first figure out when your wedding will be, and then find out what flowers will be in season so you can focus on seasonal designs. It also helps if you have a budget for your wedding, including how much you would like to spend on flowers; again, this will ensure that you don’t fall in love with a design that isn’t within your budget.
White roses and baby’s breath courtesy of Fantasy Floral
Gerbera daisies
Dark purple calla lilies courtesy of Fantasy Floral
Year-Round Flowers
There are many flowers that are available year-round, not just for seasonal designs. These are flowers that your florist will be able to get for you without too much trouble or extra cost–even if they are out of the normal growing season.
Year-round flowers include roses, gerbera daisies, and lilies, including calla lilies. You can also get filler flowers such as baby’s breath, purple statice, and alstroemeria, year-round, as well as greens such as eucaplytus or ruscus.
Tulips courtesy of Fantasy Floral
Lilac courtesy of Gardenerdy.com
Pink peonies and white calla lilies courtesy of Fantasy Floral
Irises courtesy of Fantasy Floral
Spring Flowers
In addition to the year-round flowers mentioned above, spring seasonal designs can also include tulips, lilac, daffodil, peonies, pussy willow, forsythia, irises, dahlias, and sweet peas. Some flowers, like irises and dahlias, have longer growing seasons and are also available in the summer.
Gladiola centerpieces courtesy of Fantasy Floral
White hydrangeas
Summer Flowers
Summer seasonal designs, in addition to the flowers already mentioned, can also include delphinium, gladiolas, snapdragons, and hydrangeas.
Liatrus
Red anthurium
Queen Anne’s Lace
Fall Flowers
Fall seasonal designs start to take on fun textures with the flowers that are available. This includes marigolds, liatrus, anthurium, Queen Anne’s lace, solidago, and thistle.
Ranunculus courtesy of fiftyflowers.com
Lisianthus
Lotus seed pods
Winter Flowers
Even though it seems that nothing would grow in winter, there are lots of options for colder weather weddings. Ranunculus, lisianthus, and kangaroo paw are beautiful floral additions. Winter seasonal designs also lend themselves to evergreens such as pine needles or holly leaves, berries such as holly or hypericum, and dried elements such as pine cones or lotus seed pods.
Once you’ve decided on a wedding date, set up a time to talk to your florist. We encourage engaged couples to email us photos and/or links to their vision boards before their appointment so we are prepared with pricing, but it also allows us to come up with creative ideas to share that fit a couple’s vision. Go into your florist appointment with an open mind. We often have ideas that are just perfect for your special day that you haven’t thought of yet…after all, this is what we are passionate about, and we love making your special day as magical as possible!