Let’s face it, planning a wedding is expensive… By the time all of your rentals, entertainment, food/alcohol & everything else adds up, the last thing most clients want to spend a fortune on is flowers! So we have come up with a few budget-friendly ideas that help you to get a little bit more BANG for your buck by learning how to re-use your wedding flowers! We try to do this at all of our weddings no matter how high end the event is! The reality is- every space can always use a few extra finishing touches!
Now, I should begin by saying that there is NOTHING worse than seeing large amounts of flowers being moved here and there by a bunch of hardworking vendors -This can send the wrong message to your guests… So please make sure that when you use these tips they can be done out of the view of the guests.
Tip #1) Re-use your large ceremony flowers!!! This is great for events where the cocktail hour is far away from the ceremony & reception location. The guests will be enjoying cocktail hour and will NEVER know that you have re-used those stunning flowers that were only appreciated for 30 minutes during your ceremony! Here is one example showing how we repurposed these large arrangements at the entry of the reception tent.
Photos by Melissa Musgrove Photography
Florist: Eddie Zaratsian
Heres another example from my own wedding. We re-used the tall ceremony floral pieces on the head table, then moved the shorter ones to the entry of the reception space. The arrangements that were at the back of the ceremony aisle moved to flank each side of the stage!
Photos by: Ashleigh Taylor Photography
Florist: Cody Floral Design
Tip #2) Once you are done with the ceremony & all of your photos, we always walk around and collect your bridesmaids bouquets during cocktail hour. Mostly because balancing a cocktail while eating hors d’oeuvres and trying have a conversation is practically impossible while holding your bouquet! We then use these to decorate the reception bar or anywhere else that seems to need a little pop of color!
Photos by: Ashleigh Taylor Photography
Florist: Cody Floral Design
Tip #3) The cocktail hour arrangements are typically the perfect size for any small end table or coffee table, but once your guests move down to the reception they are simply forgotten about! Since we always try to enjoy flowers for as long as we can, we like to re-purpose the cocktail hour centerpieces into the lounge groupings!
Photos by Melissa Musgrove Photography
Florist: Eddie Zaratsian
Tip #4) A large majority of our clients are choosing to host wedding events throughout the weekend. If you are considering hosting a Sunday Brunch try to re-use your wedding flowers as your brunch centerpieces. Mindy Rice designed the stunning centerpieces for this wedding and we knew we could not let her gorgeous flowers be wasted! By switching up the location, the linens and the chairs the flowers take on a whole different design yet still look absolutely stunning the next day!
(Sorry about the image quality- these photos were taken on our iPhones :))
Florist: Mindy Rice
Tip #5) Donate!!! This is something to discuss with your florist before the wedding day. Lots of local florists will happily donate your wedding flowers to Hospice, nursing homes, hospitals or even cemeteries.
If most of your wedding guests are local, talk to your florist about the containers she is using & ask if some of the flowers can be taken home by your guests at the end of the evening. If this is something you might like- then their is a chance your florist will design the flowers in paper mache pots that easily lift out of the florists containers for the guests to take home!
