Fresh or silk? Five things to consider when choosing your wedding flowers…
[vc_row 0=””][vc_column][vc_column_text 0=””]So, the date is set, the venue booked, you’ve said ‘yes’ to the dress, and picked out your dream bouquet after spending countless hours scrolling through Pinterest. Now is the time to decide whether you want fresh or silk blooms. Perhaps a silk bouquet is not something you have considered, but with more and more brides opting for silk (or paper, or button, or brooch bouquets – the possibilities are truly endless!) we take a look at five things you might want to think about, and discuss with your florist.
- Are your blooms in season?
Lots of flowers are now available consistently all year round, so if you have chosen a traditional rose posy, or a simple gypsophila bouquet, then your chosen date won’t be a concern. However, if you have your heart set on peonies for an April wedding, or tulips in October, silk may be the way to go. Silks are always available, and are often much cheaper than trying to obtain fresh flowers out of their season. Conversely, selecting fresh blooms which are in season will often be cheaper than the artificial version, as the price of silk does not vary throughout the year.
- Are you super sentimental?
A big selling point when it comes to silk flowers is that you can keep it forever. You can choose to preserve a fresh bouquet, but it is expensive, requires you to send your bouquet away shortly after the wedding, and needs proper storage in order to maintain the quality.
- Colours
Fresh flowers come in a wide array, but if your colour scheme is very specific, it may be easier to find silk flowers to match. Requests for royal blue or Cadbury’s purple are common and silk often the answer.
- Are you getting married abroad?
It is, of course, entirely possible to have fresh flowers at your wedding if you are getting married abroad. However, some brides find it comforting to be able to meet with their florist in person prior to the wedding. Silk flowers can be made well in advance, and packed for transportation, so there will be no nasty surprises on the day. Fresh flowers are also sensitive to weather conditions, which you may want to take into consideration if you are getting married somewhere very hot, or indeed, very cold.
- There are no rules – mix and match!
Why not have the best of both worlds and use both fresh and silk to your advantage. We recently had a bride who had fresh flowers for the bridal party, but her own bouquet in silk because she wanted to keep it (see featured photo).
For another, the wands and hair pieces for the flower girls were done in silk so that they would be more child-proof and could be kept as favours, or you could include just a few artificial blooms in an otherwise fresh bouquet if you want something specific that is out of season or not available in your chosen colour.
Fresh flowers are always beautiful, but silk, or a combination of the two, often means that you can get the wedding flowers of your dreams without having to compromise on flower choice or alter your colour scheme, and it is likely nobody will ever know any different![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
