A Wedding Flowers Guide: Types, Budgets, & More

Ashley Plainos of Ashton Creative weighs in:

I’m a huge fan of using the florals you have in both your ceremony and reception setup. With most ceremonies lasting only 30 to 60 minutes, couples will often forgo florals at the ceremony in an effort to save money. But there are a few ways you can ensure your florals are used twice so you really get your money’s worth.

Altarpieces—those freestanding arrangements that flank your altar space —offer a beautiful focal point and can easily be moved behind your head table at your reception. You can also use your centrepieces as aisle décor, by placing them on pedestals for display, for a marginal rental fee.

For couples that love the look of an arch, ask your florist if they have a frame available that is lightweight in material (copper pipe is a good choice!) so it is easy to move for use as a head table backdrop.

Of course, everyone has their favourite flower. For example, you may love peonies, but including them in your entire floral scheme is not as budget-friendly as you might hope. While you may prefer certain blooms over others, remember that the purpose of wedding florals is to convey a certain colour scheme and arrangement style.

Floral designers have to balance the size and scale of the arrangements with the preferred blooms while trying to make it all fit within the target budget. Ask your florist to make suggestions as to how to best represent your colour scheme and style preferences using flowers that help fill space and, more importantly, are seasonally available (more on this below).

Save the specialty premium blooms for your bouquet and personal flowers since those will be what you spend your day looking at, while your centrepieces can be enjoyed by guests as part of the overall atmosphere of your wedding.

Like fruits and veggies, flowers have growing seasons, so using flowers that are in good season at the time of your wedding means you will get a higher quality bloom for a better price. This will reflect in the arrangement as the flowers will be fuller in size and petal count which will show in the best way possible. No one wants to pay a premium price for a flower that will underwhelm because it’s out of season.

Like us, flowers need water, lots of it. Most florists will deliver your bouquets in a vase of water. Do your best to allow the bouquets to remain in their vase until you absolutely need them. And if there is a chance to give them a break and place them in water throughout the day, do it.

Oils from our fingers can transfer on to delicate petals and may damage the flowers lessening their longevity.

Store your bouquets in a cool dark area if possible, at the very least in the hours leading up to your event. Boutonnières, flower crowns and corsages should be kept in a fridge. Be mindful of keeping all personal flowers away from hot light fixtures, fireplaces, blow dryers and sunshine before the ceremony.

Tellie Hunt, a Toronto wedding and event florist and owner of Hunt & Gather, gave us the scoop on how to work with your wedding florist to ensure you get the exact floral look you'll want for your big day, as well as some tips to ensure the whole process goes smoothly.

"I would say bouquets, centrepieces and something for the ceremony space. Without bouquets, it can be hard to know what to do with your hands in photos and when walking down the aisle. Although it isn’t necessary to do florals for the ceremony, I always find that it is a great way to tie separate spaces together and give the event an overall cohesive look. It is always a great idea to create something for the ceremony that you can re-purpose from the ceremony to the reception."

"We source a lot of our product from local farmers who grow really unique smaller blooms such as Cherry Caramel Phlox and Tobacco Flower," Hunt says. "Sometimes, I find that floral arrangements are focused on larger blooms that give you “more bang for your buck”. I think that the smaller “airy" blooms are integral to giving pieces dimension and shape."

"Because clients have shifted to using more unique containers for their centrepieces, the vessels are usually rentals. This being said, taking home florals can come down to guests pulling out a few blooms from the centrepieces that they would want to take home. We leave some of our flowers (i.e.: roses and spring flowers) out of the fridge so that they open to their largest and most beautiful stage. Because of this, they look perfect for the wedding but would not last much longer afterwards."

Hunt says, "If you would like guests to take home the centrepieces, you can always ask your florist about purchasing the containers which may add $10-20 to each piece."

Calming and charming to look at, lavenders are quite the fragrant bunch.

One of the most popular florals used in the perfume world, Gardenias would be a lovely addition to any bouquet. They're chic, classic and smell quite light.

Honeysuckle vines are not only a gorgeous accent but smell wonderful. If you love the sweet-loving scent of nectar, you'll love these petals.

A red tulip bouquet looks especially fresh for a springtime wedding. The beauty of tulips is how unfussy they are—we suggest keeping your arrangements sweet and simple by using just tulips and greens.

These blooms are already exotic, but in a deep crimson shade, they look even more precious. For a bouquet, we love the idea of a loose bundle of these lovelies bundled together with a simple strand of grosgrain.

We love, love, love how velvety perfect amaryllis blooms are and when gathered together in a bouquet or centrepiece, the look is simply magnificent!

This article is a curated collection from

• Add These 5 Best Smelling Flowers to Your Bouquet by Roseanne Dela Rosa
• 6 Romantic Red Wedding Flowers by Alison McGill
• How To Maximize Your Floral Budget by Ashley Plainos
• How To Care For Your Bouquet & Other Personal Wedding Day Flowers by Krystal Young
• Everything You Need To Know About Wedding Flowers by Kimberly Aglipay