Georgina Clatworthy

Although fresh flowers are a very traditional part of any wedding, they can be insanely expensive. The cost of wedding flowers can rocket especially if you order exotic varieties or out of season blooms which need to be imported. A good florist will be able to give you wedding flowers ideas which are within budget, but it may actually be better to consider the alternatives to fresh flowers.

Fresh flowers do look amazing but keeping them that way for an entire day can be tricky, especially with some varieties which wilt the moment you look at them! Another issue brides face is what to do with all their flowers after the wedding day. Even if they give some away as wedding gifts, they could still be left with a big number of floral arrangements!

Therefore it could be useful to consider ideas which use artificial flowers instead of fresh ones and which in turn will give you everlasting arrangements which could be easily recycled for another occasion is you wished.

Artificial flowers come in a wide range of styles and varieties. Silk or fabric flowers are the most common and can be found in many of the different flower varieties of their fresh counterparts. Paper flowers include very realistic styles through to more whimsical styles and handmade versions. Paper flowers are in fact very easy to create yourself and could be a cost effective solution to your flower needs if you’re on a tight budget. You can also find flowers made from wood, paper mache and even plastic.

Of course the type you choose will depend on your wedding style and the look you want to achieve with your flowers. If you want particular varieties of flowers for your wedding but find they are just too expensive then consider mixing artificial versions with fresh foliage and other flowers, you will be surprised at how easily the two compliment each other.

Be careful with artificial flowers though. Over the last decade or so artificial flowers and foliage have become very realistic and the quality has improved considerably. Often people have to look twice to determine if a plant or flower is real or fake! But with this increase in quality comes an increase in price and in some cases the fake versions can cost more than the real thing!