In the next few minutes, I will unpack the most effective ways to repurpose your wedding flowers, talk about what works, what’s not ideal, and hopefully inspire you, and get you even more excited for your big day.
Flowers will play such a huge part in making your wedding day epic. A thoughtfully chosen flower selection and a skilful, intentional floral design truly have the power to create the desired ambience and transform the space, really elevating your big day and leaving you and your guests in awe. Whether you are looking for a minimalistic design, or dreaming of floral abundance, you’d probably want to make the most of your gorgeous florals (and your investment), and allow them to shine all throughout the day, right? Keep on reading!
BEST WAYS TO REUSE CEREMONY FLOWERS FOR RECEPTION
There are certain ceremony flower designs which are the perfect choice if you are thinking of repurposing your flowers after the ceremony.
Flower columns, plinths and pillar frames dressed in beautiful florals can all easily be repurposed during reception. These types of ‘open’ design will look great placed at the ends of your top table or sweetheart table. Depending on whether there is enough space behind it, these designs could also be located directly behind the two of you, framing you beautifully for the rest of the day. You know it will be all eyes on you, so why not surround yourselves with gorgeous florals?
HOW TO CREATE A PHOTO OPPORTUNITY FOR YOUR GUESTS
Would you like to enhance the speeches or create an area where your guests can have fun taking photos? Your ceremony flowers can create a beautiful backdrop you and your guests can enjoy all throughout the day, and of course relive these fun moments through social media the morning after when everyone starts sharing their photos.
WHAT ARE THE MOST VERSATILE FLORAL PIECES YOU CAN REPURPOSE
One thing I often encourage my couples to opt in for is aisle décor. Beautiful, free-standing aisle pieces not only have the power to bring the whole ceremony space together, create abundance, and perfectly adorn your walk down the aisle, but they are also very versatile and can be repurposed in so many ways!
You can reuse them to decorate:
*Ends of your long guest tables
*Your guest book table
*Cake table
*Signage
*Bar
*and so many other areas within your venue!
However, the most popular, and most impactful way to repurpose aisle pieces is arranging them directly in front of the top table or sweetheart table. They can be spread apart along the length of the table or clustered together, focusing on the centre of the table, adorning the two of you.
HOW TO MAKE YOUR WEDDING CAKE STAND OUT
If cutting the cake is a big moment for you, you could also give your ceremony flowers or aisle decor a second chance to shine by placing them around to your cake table. They will provide a gorgeous backdrop for your cake, create some drama, and really take your cake cutting photos to another level!
WHAT ARRANGEMENTS AND INSTALLATIONS CAN'T OR SHOULDN'T BE REPURPOSED
While there are many types of ceremony florals you can use elsewhere afterwards, not everything is suitable for repurposing.
Closed arches, whether they are straight, arched, or moon gates, are created on site, and because of their weight and the way they are designed, most likely it won’t be possible to move them to a different place after the ceremony. If repurposing your ceremony flowers is important to you, a more open design, like floral columns and plinths I mentioned earlier, are a much better choice.
It happened a couple of times that a bride asked me whether their bridesmaids’ bouquets could be repurposed as centrepieces, and my answer is always ‘no’. Don’t get me wrong – it’s your wedding, and you can do anything you like. However, bouquets and centrepieces are totally different arrangements, created differently, and for a different purpose. Sticking a bouquet in a vase and placing it in the centre of the table will make it look a bit out of place and create a very much of a DIY look, which could ruin the overall look of your gorgeous floral design.
I would suggest just keeping the bridesmaids’ bouquets in water somewhere on the side, so your girls can take them home after the wedding and enjoy the gorgeous flowers for a few more days. Alternatively, if you really want to repurpose them, a less high-profile place, like a guest book table or a sweets table might be a better choice.
WHAT SHOULD YOU BE AWARE OF?
One of the things you should think about if you are planning to repurpose your ceremony flowers during the reception is weather conditions. If you are having an outdoor ceremony on a hot day and in direct sun, or if it’s particularly windy, the appearance of your flowers could potentially be affected. The heat could cause some of the more delicate flowers to wilt, and a very strong wind could possibly change the position of some flowers, making the design look slightly different. So, rather than fully depending on the repurposed designs, I would advise you to think of them as a bonus.
You should also remember that not everything will make sense design-wise. All arrangement and installations are designed with a specific purpose, for a specific place, and might not necessarily work elsewhere. So, I advise you to only reuse your ceremony flowers during the reception if it makes sense and contributes towards your overall floral design looking amazing.
Of course, the above are just some examples of how your ceremony flowers can be reused throughout the day, but the possibilities of what can be created are endless!
Luckily, you are not alone in this! Have a chat with your wedding florist about what’s most important to you and discuss your priorities. They should be able to guide you through this, advise what will and will not work, and contribute some great ideas.
Would you like me to help you make the most out of your florals, elevate your wedding day with gorgeous and impactful design, and totally wow your guests? Get in touch!
I’m a Buckinghamshire based wedding floral designer, but my team and I happily travel further out, within parts of Northamptonshire, Hertfordshire, Oxfordshire, Hampshire, Surrey, and London. I’m excited to get to know you and hear all about your wedding plans! :)
If you would like to have a look at some of the other beautiful weddings we helped make happen, click here.
See you on the next one!
xx Zuzanna
Photography by: Nataly J Photography, Kit Myers Photography, Kris Piotrowski Photography
Venues: Hinwick House, Kimpton Fitzroy, Millbridge Court, Devonshire Terrace, Ashridge House
Kommentit