The flowers at your wedding will play a pivotal role in how your overall decor looks. The right selection and scale of reception flowers can transform a simple setting into a lush, indoor garden.

However, choosing the correct stems, and creating a successful flower budget takes careful planning. Especially if you’re not a regular visitor to your local florist. 

Wedding Flower Calculator

A good place to start when organizing your floral budget is to think about where you need and want flowers, and who they are for. Once you’ve got those people and locations nailed, it’s easier to start dividing up blooms that match your theme into each category. 

To kick off your general checklist, and get you thinking about the wedding flower checklist, we thought we’d break everything down for you. 

Wedding Flower Checklist: Flower Arrangements and Bouquets

The Bride’s Floral Crown and/or Hair Flowers

If you’re going for that boho, beach bride vibe, a floral crown or hair flowers are a must. The right types of flowers can take a not-so-bohemian dress, and turn it into pure festival chic!

For us, spray roses, baby’s breath, and daisies are the best flower choices for a crown, but the options are almost endless, so talk it over with your florist, and they’ll be able to suggest a good selection. 

One thing to keep in mind is that these floral arrangements will be on display more than any other flower. So make sure you’re happy with your flower crown, and look after it before and during the celebrations. 

The Bride’s Bouquet

The bride’s bouquet is highly photographed and certainly an item to which you should consider dedicating a good portion of your budget!

These carefully arranged blooms come in a variety of different styles and shapes, but our favorite is the hand-tied bouquet, as it offers a more casual look, compared to the tighter, neater styles.

However, the type of bouquet won’t necessarily alter the price. Often this is dictated by the cost of the flowers themselves so keep that in mind.

You may also want to have a second bunch put together specifically for the bouquet toss, depending on your schedule and how much you want to preserve your bouquet. This second bouquet needn’t be the same as your own, and actually, it’s smarter to toss a lower-cost version!

The Bridesmaids Bouquets

When you’ve spent hours debating over the right dress for each of your bridesmaids and maid of honor, there’s not much point in giving them any old bouquet!

The bridesmaid bouquets you choose will stand out almost as much as the bridal flowers, so be sure to coordinate them properly with their overall look. 

Wedding Party Flowers for the Groom

Normally, all the groomsmen will wear a boutonniere, which will be pinned onto their left lapel. Alongside the groom’s wedding party, male officiants and speakers at the wedding should also have a little pop of color on their jackets.

The style of boutonniere will often match that of the bridal party, and more specifically the bride’s bouquet.

Garden roses are a classic choice, but our personal preference would certainly be a lily. However, as we said, it’s a nice touch if you can marry the bridal style to the groom, so let that lead you when you select flowers for the groom and his groomsmen. 

Fresh Flowers for the Parents and Grandparents

Wrist corsages are traditionally worn by mothers and grandmothers. However, these days, more and more mini bouquets are popping up, as well as single stems.

Each mini bouquet would normally be a smaller version of the bridesmaids or bridal bouquet with about three to five stems in each bunch. 

If you’re giving a corsage to parents, then limit it to two to three blooms. Similarly, with the additional corsages for grandparents, no more than three stems should be included. 

When it comes to fathers and grandfathers, it is typical for them to receive a boutonniere in a similar style to the grooms”.

Ceremony Flowers

Entryway Arrangements

Of all the flowers used as wedding decor, the blooms used on your entryway display are particularly important.

These, like your invitations, set the tone for the rest of the day. If you are creating a welcome sign to stand at the entrance to the church or ceremony space, why not adorn it with a selection of flowers your guests will see throughout the day?

Aisle Decorations 

Once your guests have entered the room, and have begun walking down the aisle, this is another place to wow with your floral decor.

Mark each side of the aisle with an accent flower, or mini-bouquet, and you’ll be delicately framing their path towards the altar.

These aisle decorations can be complemented by a runner stretching the length of the pews. While an aisle runner isn’t a must, it can bring the whole look of your ceremony decor together, especially when scattered with delicate petals! 

Re-using Ceremony Flowers Throughout the Day 

If you have decided to use basket decorations, or bouquets on the aisles, be sure to collect them after the ceremony and redistribute them at your wedding reception.

Countless couples spend their wedding budget on flowers, thinking they can’t be used again later on in the day, but with a little planning and assistance from your loved ones, you can easily re-use those wedding arrangements. And trust us, your guests won’t even notice!

Altar Flowers or Decor for Arches

At your wedding ceremony, all eyes will be on the altar, or arch, depending on where you’ll be tying the knot.

The floral design used will feature in all the ceremony photos, and form the backdrop to your most special moment.

For us, the use of floral pieces is a must for your ceremony, and if your budget can stretch to it, having a floral arch covered in beautiful blooms never fails to look spectacular.

It can be difficult to DIY this statement look yourself, so we would suggest speaking to a floral designer, and letting them help you select the right types of wedding flowers.

Reception Flowers

Reception Entryway

Much like your ceremony, the creative choices you make for your wedding reception entryway will certainly impact your guests’ first impression of your celebration. Therefore, it pays to concentrate on this area, either by creating an impressive walkway or placing some drool-worthy floral arrangements.

If you don’t want to go big, then the sophisticated use of your ceremony bouquets or greenery around the welcome sign will create an equally impactful look. 

Centerpieces 

The style of your wedding venue, the table design, and your overall theme should decide the concept of your centerpieces.

For example, low arrangements of urns with short-stemmed flowers would look beautiful in a smaller venue, whereas larger venues with high ceilings could be filled with tall, impactful bunches of blooms in grand glass vases.

We are envisioning lots of bud vase arrangements scattered throughout the tablescape to create a more modern, boho vibe;  a look that can be used no matter the venue!

Flower Wall

It’s likely your guests will be eagerly snapping selfies throughout your big day, so why not gift them somewhere beautiful as a backdrop?

Modern flower walls now come in a considerable range of different styles, both fresh and artificial. Either way, these dramatic color pops look great simply placed somewhere appropriate at your reception. Or as backdrop florals to your newlywed’s table.

Your Newlywed Getaway Car

Decorated in beautiful blooms, and with cans trailing from the bumper, a newlywed getaway car is a classic look.

That shot of the couple kissing as they drive off into the sunset together is always one of the most memorable photos, and when it comes to getaway car arrangements, the world is your oyster!

Whether you decide to decorate your car of choice with a simple floral garland, attach a few statement balloons, or fill the back seat with blooms – you’ll certainly create a moment not to be missed.