Wow Your Guests with These 5 Easy Steps to Breathtaking Wedding Flowers
Planning your dream wedding flowers doesn’t have to be complicated. Follow these easy tips to create breathtaking floral arrangements that perfectly complement your big day. 1. Set Your Wedding Flower Budget Early Flowers can be one of the biggest expenses for couples, with costs varying widely based on bloom choices and quantities. Decide upfront how much you can realistically invest in florals. This allows your florist to source the most beautiful in-season stems within your price range. Pro Tip: On average, most couples allocate 8-10% of their total wedding budget to flowers. However, this can fluctuate based on your priorities and flower vision. Meeting with floral designers early on for quotes is wise. 2. Choose Flowers That Fit Your Wedding Style Are you going for an elegant, romantic vibe or more rustic and natural? Your flower selections should align with your event’s overall aesthetic and personal taste. Classic roses never go out of style for traditional affairs, while wildflowers in mismatched vessels can create a charming, laid-back ambiance. Consider what colours, textures, and shapes you’re drawn to. Share your wedding palette and inspiration photos with your florist so they can make recommendations that capture your distinct style. 3. Consider the Season and Location Seasonal, locally-grown blooms will look their freshest and be most affordable. If you have your heart set on peonies, for example, plan an early summer wedding when they are in peak season. Your venue’s setting can also inspire your floral design – lush garden arrangements for outdoor weddings, grand centrepieces for ballrooms. Expert Advice: Work closely with your florist to choose flowers that will thrive in your wedding’s climate and environment. Certain delicate blooms wilt quickly in direct sunlight or humidity. 4. Get Inspired, but Stay True to Yourselves While it’s helpful to browse wedding magazines and Pinterest for inspiration, don’t feel pressured to follow trends that don’t fit your vision. The most beautiful weddings reflect the couple’s unique style and personalities. An experienced florist can guide you toward on-trend yet timeless designs you’ll love. Insider Tip: Build a floral inspiration board on Pinterest or create magazine clippings. Then have an open discussion with your florist about which elements you love and want to incorporate into your own distinct style. 5. Prioritise Your Floral Musts With budgets in mind, decide which floral elements are absolute musts versus nice-to-haves. Must-haves may include the bride’s bouquet, ceremony backdrop, and centrepieces, while aisle markers or bathroom arrangements could potentially be skipped. Allocate your biggest spend for focal arrangements that will make an impact. Pro Advice: Don’t forget to factor in personal flowers like boutonnieres, corsages, flower crowns, and tossing petals. Repurposing ceremony decor as reception arrangements is a savvy way to stretch your budget. With some simple planning, you can create unforgettable floral magic for your dream wedding day. Let your personal style shine through in every petal!
Why Go Faux for Your Wedding Flowers?
“Flowers are restful to look at. They have neither emotions nor conflicts.” – Sigmund Freud Let’s be honest – planning a wedding can be one of the most exciting yet stressful (and expensive!) events of your life. From locking down the perfect venue to writing up that never-ending guest list and finding your dream dress, the to-do list just keeps growing. But one item you definitely don’t want to sleep on? Your wedding flowers. The best florists in South Africa get booked up months, sometimes even years in advance. And let’s not forget how the costs of fresh blooms can fluctuate like crazy depending on the season – especially if you’re tying the knot in winter. “A flower cannot blossom without sunshine, and man cannot live without love.” – Max Muller Here’s the good news: there’s another gorgeous option that can save you some serious stress (and cash)…luxury faux wedding flowers! Not convinced these false bloomers can give you that dreamy look you’re going for? With Peony, faux flower specialists extraordinaire, you can achieve magazine-worthy floral decor that looks insanely real – all at a fraction of the price. Need more convincing? Check out these 5 reasons why choosing faux over fresh just makes perfect sense: 1. You Know Exactly What You’re Getting With luxury faux flowers, you can hand-pick every single bloom and leafy green months before your big day. Have a super specific shade of pink in mind? No problem! You can see exact samples to pick the perfect rosy hue. That’s not something real flower florists can guarantee. Pay a visit to Peony’s showroom and design your bouquets and arrangements with their talented team. You can even take a stem home to colour match it to your bridesmaid dresses! 2. No More Seasonal Limitations Getting married in a South African summer? You’ll have tons of gorgeous seasonal flowers to choose from. But spring or winter weddings mean your favourite blooms may need to be imported – adding to your costs and carbon footprint. With faux flowers, you get a huge selection no matter when you say “I do.” Your winter wonderland bouquets will cost the same as those sunny summer centrepieces. “After women, flowers are the most lovely thing God has given the world.” – Christian Dior 3. Keep Allergies at Bay If you or someone in your wedding crew struggles with hay fever or pollen allergies, faux flowers are the way to go. You can have the floral arrangements of your dreams without worrying about sneezing fits as you walk down the aisle! 4. Wow-Worthy Arrangements At Peony, they’ve created some of the most incredibly realistic faux flowers around. Many are exact replicas of the blooms in your garden, with luxe, true-to-life petal textures. And since these buds don’t wilt or brown, Peony’s designers have all the time they need to craft some seriously jaw-dropping displays in advance. With so many lush flower and greenery options, there’s no limit! 5. An Eco-Friendly Choice Let’s face it – weddings can leave quite the environmental footprint with all the energy, water and material resources required. Growing acres of flowers to be harvested isn’t exactly eco-friendly either. Opting for faux arrangements minimises waste and lets you share your eco values with your guests. It’s a total win-win – you reduce costs while minimising environmental harm. Still need one more reason to go faux? How about this: 6. Guaranteed Satisfaction The talented team at Peony has created stunning wedding flower collections to match every colour scheme and vibe. From gorgeous aisle decor to show stopping reception centrepieces, arches draped in lush greenery and even flower-adorned swings , their fabulous faux creations cover all your floral needs. With such an amazing variety, reasonable pricing, and the confidence of 100% breathtaking results, why wouldn’t you go faux? They’re so convincing, your guests won’t even be able to tell they’re not real blooms unless you spill the secret!
Newlywed Bliss or Wedding Day Miss? Nail Your Timeline with These 5 Must-Know Timing Tips
Planning your dream wedding? You’ve probably got the vision locked down – from the perfect venue to those gorgeous blooms. But do you know when everything should happen to pull off your big day seamlessly? Don’t sweat it! I’m here to share my top 5 wedding day timing tips that are an absolute must for South African couples. 1. What Time Should You Put on Those Invites? Your wedding invitations set the tone for your guests, so you want to get the timing right from the start. Here’s my rule of thumb: always list the time you want your guests to arrive, not the actual ceremony start time. If you just put the ceremony start, I can guarantee most of your crew will rock up right at that moment, making you late to your own party! My suggestion? Ask guests to arrive at least 30 minutes before the ceremony kicks off. This gives them a chance to use the restrooms, find their seats, and be ready to watch you walk down that aisle right on time. 2. The Ideal First Dance Timing Who doesn’t love a good party? But you don’t want to get the dance floor popping too early and risk your guests losing steam. If you’re having a summer wedding, keep in mind the sun stays out pretty late – until around 9:30pm. You’ll want to hold off on your first dance until at least 7:30 or 8pm when it’s cooler. Getting your guests hot and sweaty on the dance floor while the sun’s still blazing is a recipe for an early exodus! For winter weddings, the shorter daylight hours won’t be an issue, so you can be a bit more flexible with dance floor timing. 3. When the Bride Should Be Ready As the star of the show, you’ll want to be all dolled up and ready to go well before your ceremony begins. I recommend aiming to be fully ready 45-60 minutes prior. Those morning hours just fly by with hair, makeup, and photos. You don’t want to feel rushed! This extra time also allows for special getting ready moments – like a first look with your dad or bridesmaids photos – without the time crunch. And of course, you need to factor in time to actually travel to your ceremony venue and get in place to walk down the aisle. 4. Don’t Overdo It – Know When to Call It a Night I get it – you want to soak up every last second of your dream wedding day. But trust me, you don’t want to be the last one standing at 4am. Newlyweds should aim to end their night on a high note around midnight. That way, you can go out with a bang – like one final dance party with all your loved ones before making your grand exit. If you push it too late into the wee hours, you’ll likely be too drunk, emotional, and exhausted to properly enjoy those final moments. Not to mention, only having 10 drunk diehards left on the dance floor at 3am isn’t exactly the magical ending you envisioned. 5. The Best Ceremony Start Times When you kick off those all-important “I dos” will depend a lot on the season. In summer, the days are longer with more daylight. In winter, the sun sets much earlier. You’ll also need to factor in how many bridesmaids you have and how long it will take to get all you ladies ready. For winter weddings, a nice ceremony start time is usually between 12-1pm. For summer, you’ll want to push it back a bit more to 1:30-2:30pm to account for that extra daylight. There you have it – my 5 essential wedding day timing tips! Having a professional wedding planner to manage your schedule and keep things running smoothly is always a great idea. But if you’re taking the DIY route, be sure to designate a time-keeping friend or family member to help you stay on track. At the end of the day, it’s all about making the most of your special day without any unnecessary stress and chaos. With some smart scheduling, you can focus on just being present and soaking in every joyful moment!