Author Devon LaSalle (LaSalle Floral Design)

Devon LaSalle is a freelance floral designer with experience over many facets of floristry.  Devon provides her clients with beautiful, unique floral designs for weddings and events specifically tailored to their individual personalities.

 

Taking one look at your mum’s wedding photographs will tell you that floristry trends are changing!  It is important that your flowers not only reflect your personality, but also that stunning new dress you’ve just purchased.  As with all things, research is the key.  Knowing the latest trends in wedding floristry will help inspire you to make the right choices for your own special day.  Here’s a quick guide to this year’s trends…and some tips on how to follow them without the headache!

TRENDS
We’re seeing a lot of surprising trends in wedding flowers this year.  Here’s a quick run-down:

Flowers
While many brides are still opting for the classic rose posy, the overall style has changed slightly.  Rather than using just one rose colour in a tightly bound dome, the latest style is to use a minimum of three “antique” shades.  The roses are more loosely bunched, giving the bouquets an almost Victorian garden feel.

Using a large variety of flowers is also becoming more popular across all wedding styles.  While this concept itself is not new, the point to remember is that brides are now choosing flowers that are naturally in season during their weddings.  In other words, they’re choosing flowers that aren’t grown in an artificial glasshouse environment.  Brides are realising that seasonal flowers last longer than glasshouse flowers, as they’re already equipped to withstand the weather conditions.  These often include “weird but wonderful” flowers and foliages such as Aussie and South African natives or flowers you wouldn’t normally think of using for weddings such as bixa or kangaroo paw.  Best of all, they’re a lot cheaper.  (Perhaps the recent economic crisis has done some good after all!)

Colours

The other fast-growing trend is to use bold, bright colours.  Many brides are pairing beautifully bold-coloured bouquets with simple, plain-coloured satin dresses.  The most popular colour choices seem to be orange, golden yellow and teal, and using lots of bright, luscious greenery is just as important.

Style
More and more brides are opting for smaller sheaf-style (or arm spray) bouquets.  Brides usually have 7-12 blooms, while bridesmaids get 3-7 blooms adored with a bit of greenery around the edges.  While sheafs used to be considered more of an informal wedding choice, we’re now seeing them with roses as the main feature at formal events.  These sheafs are light-weight and very easy to handle…and to set down during the reception!

Another style trend right now is a bit surprising: Stem lengths are getting longer.  The old florist rule of “one hand width” is out.  We’re now seeing stem lengths that are almost the same the length as the flowers themselves.  This means that stem ribboning is becoming more of a feature.  Which brings us to our next trend…


Look in any recent bridal flower magazine and you’ll also see lots of embellishments.  While these used to be quite rare, using diamantes, beads, feathers, coloured wire and even little butterflies is now as common as ever.  While some more elaborate embellishments take centre stage, we’re seeing a growing trend of adding “just a bit of glitz” by tucking them into the flowers a bit more.

TIPS
Following the latest trends doesn’t have to give you a headache!  Here are a few tips on how to incorporate some of these trends into your wedding.

Something Blue…
Your dream wedding includes lots of blue, but finding blue flowers at any given time of the year can be a major hassle.  Fear not…there are other options!  Blue embellishments are an excellent alternative to blue flowers.  One gorgeous example of this is to use blue diamante sprays.  Simply ask your florist to tuck a few of these in amongst your flowers, wrap the stems in your favourite blue ribbon and presto: The perfect blue bouquet!

So Many Ribbons!
The idea of having a gorgeous ribbon feature is appealing, but it can be difficult to choose elaborate ribboning or lacing detail to match your wedding flowers.  One simple tip for combating this issue is to, quite simply, choose your ribbon first.  Believe it or not, it is much easier to find specific shades of flowers than it is shades of ribbon.  Your florist will be able to use the ribbon or detailing of your choice to recommend the most suitable flowers to go with it.

I Wanted Pink, Not PINK!
A bride’s worst nightmare is for the flowers to show up in the wrong colour.  It’s important to remember that everyone’s perceptions of colour are different.  While you might want a light “bridal” pink, your florist might be thinking you want a deeper, hotter shade.  When you’re trying to choose multiple colours, this can turn into a big mess!  The easiest possible way to avoid this is to do your own research and bring pictures to your consultation.  There are some excellent resources out there.  My personal favourite is the Grandiflora website (www.grandiflora.com.au).  You can find a whole range of rose colours to show your florist.  Remember: The more pictures you provide for your florist, the more inspiration they’ll have to design the right flowers for you.

Happy planning!