As a wedding photographer, one of my favorite things to photograph is the bride’s bouquet! Each wedding bouquet is unique and tells so much about the personality of the bride. I’ve photographed HUGE bouquets, small bouquets, faux floral bouquets, homemade bouquets…and they all are a perfect reflection of the bride! 

So, how would you go about planning and designing that perfect bouquet? Well, since I’m a photographer and not a florist…I reached out to an amazing florist that I’ve worked with in the past and asked her to share her insight on planning out your bridal bouquet. So without further ado here are some helpful insights from Kenzie Colgate, owner of Open Range Floral and Designs!

PICKING OUT YOUR BRIDAL BOUQUET 

Choosing the right bouquet for you on your special day can be overwhelming, draining and even a little exhausting especially thinking about all the different flowers there really are… Luckily I have a couple tips that I like to use when helping all my brides pick out their wedding florals. I have narrowed it down to three simple steps. First step is choosing a budget for wedding florals, the second step is what I like to call “getting your ducks in a row”, and the final step is to combine and perform.

Step 1: Choosing a budget for your wedding florals

The first step may be hard for some people because the average person may not know the costs of flowers let alone what a florist charges to put those flowers together. So some things that might help you get a budget narrowed down is to simply write down two preferred numbers that come to mind when thinking about your wedding florals. This way your florist at least has a price range to work with.  It will also help while you are budgeting your whole wedding to make budgets for every specific vendor you would need for your wedding.  The point of doing this is having an idea of how much you need to spend versus how much you want to spend.

Step 2: “Getting Your Ducks in a Row”

The second step is “getting your ducks in a row”. I love this step because it just means you get to spend time doing a little research on your dream wedding day. I would initially have my wedding date picked, a color palette, and a vision. I would then go on Pinterest and start pinning! Find ideas you like and choose specific things you like about each photo. Having these things picked out will help you stay within your price range by choosing flowers that are in season for your wedding date. 

Having a color palette will help you choose the right color and type of flowers for your bouquet. Asking brides for their vision on their bridal bouquet is my favorite part. This is when I would ask what shape they’d like their bouquet to be; whether it be round or a cascading bouquet (inspiration photos help).  I like to ask brides if they want a one-hand bouquet or two-hand bouquet, this way your florist knows how large of a bouquet you're wanting. By doing your research on your wedding florals for your specific wedding date will help immensely to stay within the price range you budgeted for in step 1.

Step 3: Combine and Perform

Now to the final step, combining steps 1 and 2 to now perform. Perform is not necessarily your job as a bride, but more so for your florist next actions. Having the first two steps completed will make your florist's job a lot easier! This will help them create the perfect bridal bouquet by combining their inspiration ideas to your vision. They will also name the types of flowers and colors that would work for your color pallet and for the season that your wedding date falls into. And by providing the research you have done in steps 1 and 2, you will get a quote back hopefully within your price range. 

When choosing your wedding florals I hope you use these steps  but I mainly hope you choose something that people will see and  say “that's totally her” because at the end of the day you want your bouquet to fit your personality, your style and your dream wedding day.

~Kenzie Colgate, owner of Open Range Floral and Designs servicing Northern California.

One final thought to consider is the weight of the bouquet. Kenzie mentioned the one-hand or two-hand bouquets, the two-hand bouquets could end up being heavy! I’ve seen poor brides get a huge arm workout just trying to hold that bouquet all day. And there you have it! I hope this post was helpful to you. Feel free to share this post with your family and friends that are trying to plan out their wedding florals!

Happy Planning!
-Jen

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