Looking to book your wedding florist in Cornwall? Here we look at what wedding flowers you need for the big day.
You said ‘yes’, but before you say, ‘I do’, you’ll be excitedly pinning to your wedding Pinterest board, firing up your spreadsheets, selecting your bride tribe and most importantly, setting the date and choosing your special venue to celebrate the big day.
It’s also a time to consider your wedding flowers. Erica Clements, founder, florist, and head of wedding flowers at Bleujen, says, “once you have the date and venue booked then it’s time to book your wedding florist.” She continues, “Even if colours and quantities are still unknown, by simply saving the date ensures that your florist can do your wedding for you. At Bleujen we require a small booking fee, but everything else can be sorted along the way of this special journey!”
While the exact details can be discussed with your florist closer to the wedding, Erica recommends once the bride’s dress, bridesmaids dresses and suits have been chosen, for your budget it’s good to have an idea of the flowers you’ll need for your wedding. Here, we have put together an essential wedding flower guide.
Flower designs to consider for your wedding in Cornwall
Wedding Bouquets
The wedding bouquets set the tone for the theme, and are undoubtedly significant props for the big day. “A bride’s bouquet and groom’s buttonhole are the most important flowers of them all. They’re in all of the photos and on your person for most of the day,” explains Erica. “Once you have an image in mind of what your dream bouquet will look like, then your florist will ensure the rest of the designs will seamlessly fall into place.”
As it’s the most important, Erica recommends collecting images of wedding bouquets, whether that’s from Pinterest or Instagram or wedding magazines, so your florist has a springboard to work from. “These flowers are often a big chunk of couples’ budget, but if you’re looking to cut some corners, I’d never advise skimping in this area.”
But when it comes to getting the most out of your budget, a good relationship with your florist is key. “The best plan of action is for the bride and groom to choose the wedding flower designs, style and colour, but to leave the flower choice to the florist.” She continues: “I say this, because the florist will choose seasonal flowers, buying seasonal is the best value for money. Flower prices depend on lots of factors; season, availability, weather, stock and so on. By leaving it with the florist, they will pick the best stems and price of the week. In the summer we have the great advantage of English flowers.” With a stunning selection of English flowers coming with a much smaller footprint, they’re a favourite for Erica. “We pick a lot of our wedding summer flowers from a small farm close to us,” says Erica.
The Bridal Bouquet
When all heads turn to see the beautiful bride, thebridal bouquet is sure to set the tone for the rest of the day. Usually large in size, some brides may opt for seasonal blooms with leafy foliage, a trailing design with pops of colour, or a simpler elegant design with creamy whites. Bridal bouquets are often tied with a colour co-ordinated ribbon, or a simpler twine design can bind them together.
The Bridesmaid Bouquet
Complementing the colour of the bridesmaid dresses, the bridesmaid bouquet is usually a smaller version of the bridal bouquet. The flower choices and colour palette are often the same creating a united front and look incredible in the wedding photos.
The Flower Girl
The cutest flower design of them all, the flower girl bouquet needs to be practical and pretty, so that it’s easy for little ones to carry. At Bleujen we design these with tiny hands in mind, whether that’s incorporating a wreath or small basket, or just a smaller bouquet.
“We also do a lot of head circlets for flower girls at Bleujen, not only do they look adorable and great for wedding photos, the flower girls really want to wear it,” suggests Erica. “In the past we have also designed small wands, which are always well received by little princesses or even a small basket to carry, filled with petals to throw down the aisle.”
Hair Flowers
While hair flowers aren’t an essential design for a wedding, they can enhance the bridal party. “Hair flowers and cake flowers often go overlooked, but these are pieces that can really tie a wedding together and make it unique to the couple,” suggests Erica.
“A few of our brides like to have a head circlet to wear in the evening, as throughout the night you put your bridal bouquet down, so it's always nice to wear a circlet to party. When else would you get the chance to wear a flower crown?” laughs Erica.
Throw Bouquet
An age-old tradition where the bride wishes her single friends luck in love, it’s common for brides to have a secondary bouquet, in order to keep hold of the bridal bouquet. Alternatively, you can use one of the bridesmaid’s for this.
Buttonholes and Corsages
Delicate in design, these are smaller floral details that will complement your wedding bouquets. “While much more delicate in comparison to bouquets, I love scaling down these designs to create buttonholes and corsages, which are subtle but important touches particularly when accessorising a suit,” says Erica.
Buttonholes
Typically worn by the groom, best man, ushers, and father of the bride and groom, a buttonhole is a pin-on design which is worn on the left-hand side of the suit. It is often a single or small cluster of flowers and greenery, that matches the bridal bouquet in style and colour palette. Not only a lovely detail, it’s also a way to identify the wedding party!
Corsages
Mothers of the bride and groom often don a pin-on corsage or wrist corsage. For wrist designs, they are created using a ribbon which complements the colours. If the mother of the bride or groom are wearing an extra layer, a pin-on corsage can be the perfect detail to tie the wedding party together.
Décor flowers for your Cornwall wedding venue
Wedding Décor
It’s not just bouquets you need to consider for your wedding. By adding floral decor throughout your venue, it’ll transform the space. “I’ve been lucky enough to be styling great wedding flowers for almost 15 years, whether you want bright and bold or soft and serene, together we’ll find the perfect match,” says Erica.
If the ceremony is taking place in a separate venue to the reception, there’s often ways you can repurpose the flower designs. “Large displays can be repurposed as long as they can be transported well, for example a freestanding display situated at the altar can be used at an entranceway at the reception.” Erica continues, “In the past couples have had lovely glass vases filled with loose flowers either side of the aisle, which have then gone on to be reused as table decorations.”
Ceremony Arrangements
Ceremony arrangements are flowers that you can place around your venue or at the altar. These can include entrances, pew ends and aisle décor. For church weddings, at the altar and entranceway you can transform the space by adding large flower designs in chunky vases. “Wicker baskets filled with beautiful seasonal blooms, leafy foliage and dried flowers such as pampas grass make for great photos of the happy couple leaving the church,” explains Erica. “And being placed in a vessel means that they can be transported to the next venue if needed.”
Archways
Predominantly for outdoor spaces where the ceremony is taking place, although not limited to, one thing’s for sure floral wedding archways are a statement piece and have been a popular trend for the past few years. “Archways tend to be the costliest part of a wedding,” says Erica, “but they also provide a backdrop for photos, a talking point and can make a real statement and supply the wow factor needed.” A wedding archway is also one of Erica’s favourite flower designs, “You can be so creative with archways incorporating plenty of greenery, dried flowers and delicious seasonal blooms… and the result is just beautiful creating memories that’ll last forever.”
Table Decorations
You should have your tables dressed to reflect your wedding theme, after all in most cases your guests will be seated at the table for quite some time. “Where possible, at Bleujen we make suggestions on how to reuse your ceremony flowers as table centres,” says Erica. For the top table you may choose to have a more elaborate design to cover more of the table, as all your guests will be looking this way for the heartfelt speeches, including your photographer.
Some couples like to keep the table centres simple with classic floral glass vases, while others may opt for garlands spanning the length of the table, creating a show-stopping centrepiece.
Suspended Florals
Ceiling installations also transform an inside venue, and are becoming hugely popular. “Suspended florals work particularly well if your wedding venue is a converted barn with wooden beams as florists can use those to install hanging displays,” explains Erica. “Launcells Barton just outside of Bude in North Cornwall has fantastic spaces to display ceiling installations, such as luscious greenery with pops of colour and textured dried flowers like pampas grass. These displays can look magical!” Again, while suspended florals come at a price, the transformation they provide to a room is huge.
Cake Toppers
Everyone knows the cake is a staple fixture at a wedding and will be well documented in your photos. Take your cake to the next level by having it decorated with flowers. “We can liaise with the bride's chosen cake maker to create the vision or take lead from the bride,” says Erica. “Where possible we prefer to provide loose stems for the cake designer, allowing them to finish off their masterpiece and tying it in with the rest of the flowers from the wedding.”
Once the big day is over it doesn’t mean your flowers can no longer be appreciated. “I would definitely recommend sending guests home with flowers after your wedding to be enjoyed, or some couple choose to take them to a retirement home for the residents to enjoy,” suggests Erica. “Bouquets can be hung somewhere dry and warm, and while some flowers and foliage will dry better than others, it's definitely worth a go! Single heads can be pressed in books to preserve them and frame for remembering, which can make a great keepsake of this hugely significant day!”
Erica has been designing wedding flowers for over 15 years and is an award-winning florist with ICSF Higher Diploma of Floristry and NDSF Master Diploma of Professional Floristry. Bleujen flower designs are recognised across the southwest for the most exceptional seasonal flowers. If you want to find out more about Bleujen’s wedding flowers, click here or give Erica a call on 01288 354606.
