Manage My Wedding Podcast

Real Vs Fake Wedding Flowers: Which Should You Have? MMW 219

• Yvette Sitters • Episode 219

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Yvette Sitters discusses the pros and cons of both fake and real flowers for your special day. Whether you're seeking cost-effective alternatives or looking to make a lasting impression with fresh blooms, this episode offers practical advice to help you decide what's best for you but also ensuring you keep it classy and not tacky.

This episode gives you an extensive list of what florals are needed for the big day, cutting costs, re-using and how you can impress your guests but also be sustainable and thoughtful.

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Yvette Sitters:

Welcome to the Manage my Wedding podcast, where we believe your wedding is the most important time in your life and you deserve to feel supported and organised when planning the wedding of your dreams. I'm your host, Yvette Sitters. Hello, welcome back to the podcast. Today, I want to talk with you about florals and, more particularly, I want to talk about the flowers that you actually need for your wedding and ones that you possibly might need, and then I want to go into a discussion about fake versus real flowers and what's best for you, and if you want real flowers, you know what you should be making the most of, and if you want fake, what you need to look for, because I know that everyone is, you know, money conscious. At the moment, everyone is struggling financially and weddings are so expensive, even without the world going through inflation. So I think I really want to talk about this, because florals do play a pretty big, particular part in your wedding. They are literally in every photo, like they're in most of your photos, so it is important that they don't look cheap and nasty. I do just want to say that, but I'm always up for cost cutting as well, so I thought it's really good if we just cover all of this, give you some options, give you some things to think about now. Firstly, what flowers do you possibly need for your wedding day? So you need the bridal bouquet, then you've got the bridesmaids bouquets, then you have the groom's boutonniere Sorry, if some people say I'm not saying it fancy enough Then you've got the groom's man's boutonniere as well, and then you've got Croissages for mothers and grandmothers, then you've got the boutonniere again for fathers and grandfathers, and then you also have the mc. So, depending if it's a male or female, you might have the croissage or the boutonniere again. So that just depends. Then we've got these things I'm going to list off now are more like Maybe's. The other ones are kind of like the standard right, they're the standard ones. They're the things you kind of have to have, but you don't even have to right. We all know that everything is Decision. That's up to you. These days there's no traditions. You do what you like, but they're kind of the main things that usually take place for flowers.

Yvette Sitters:

Now let's then move on to things that you might need to consider or you might want. We've got flower girl's basket of petals, and then on top of that you've got the possibly petals that you might want to have thrown for confetti, because we know that some venues Don't allow, you know, plastic and rubbish and all of that. But some of them will allow petals because you know they're good for the environment and all of those things. Some don't even allow that, so always check. Then you've got, potentially, a ceremony arch or like your altar arrangements, or you might have like the aisle markers or you know the pew decorations. Then you've got cake flowers, if you want cake flowers. Then you've got reception table centerpieces, if you've got the budget, and if you want flowers. It depends. I had orchids going up these vines. Everyone wants something different. Some people love candles, everyone's different. So these are just again, I'm just listing off things for you to consider and possibly cocktail table arrangements. Maybe you want to decorate the bar or maybe you want to decorate the buffet or the food stations. Then there's also possibly some people like to give everyone flowers or some rosemary sprig or something on their name card or their escort card that takes you to your table. So there's so many things you can do with them. You can go wild. There's also that whole thing where you can reuse from the ceremony to reception, which I'm going to talk about as well, but that's just to give you a list to start with, so hopefully I had a pen and paper and you noted that down.

Yvette Sitters:

Now let's talk about the whole fake or real flowers. Now we know that silk flowers have been gaining popularity for their life-like appearance and the durability and costs and all those things, and they are absolutely a fantastic option for brides who are looking for that long-lasting alternative to fresh blooms. However, it is essential to know what to look for when choosing silk flowers. You know you've got to opt for that high-quality silk bloom that kind of mimics the texture and appearance of real flowers. Otherwise it can be really obvious and it can look really bad and you need to pay attention to the details, like the colour variations so that they obviously don't look fake as well, and just the petal texture, and make sure they've kind of got that natural look Because, like I said to you, your flowers are in so many photos and you do not want to look at photos and go, oh my gosh, those fake flowers look terrible. So if you're thinking, you know I need to cut costs and I really don't want all that wastage as well. You know that landfill and then I can keep them, do what I want with them, just order some a smaller amount and see how it looks and feels. Or go into some stores you know that do them really well and have a look, because you know you just don't want to kind of get that tacky look happening. But if you spend the money and you do it properly, they can look incredible. So I'm not saying don't do it at all, I'm saying just make sure you get a sample and check it out.

Yvette Sitters:

Now let's make the most of those real flowers. For those of you who are like, no, I really want real flowers Because we don't want them to go to waste, and I really, really disliked that myself, coming home from a honeymoon and there was my bouquet on my kitchen bench dead it had been in water, but big deal. I was gutted. I was like, oh my gosh, that was so expensive. And then some of my bridesmaids were flying back home and, depending on the state that they went to within Australia, they couldn't or take them and some of them left them in their room. I'm like, oh my gosh, I hope the cleaning staff took them home or did something with them, because they were roses mine was a lot of roses and they were beautiful.

Yvette Sitters:

So what can you do to make sure they don't go to waste? Well, you can preserve your bouquet by drying the flowers and turning them into keepsake and that, if you haven't organised something and that's a quick option just hang them upside down before you leave home. You could donate your flowers to local hospitals or nursing homes, like why not bring absolute joy to those people's faces? I said, oh my gosh, I think it's beautiful to try and do that. You can use the flowers as a decor on your own home to reminisce about that special day, like with a resin design. Or you can get the flowers pressed and put them in a scrapbook or framed in art pieces, like there's so many incredible businesses doing this stuff now and they look amazing. And if you're not sure of any, just message me on Instagram at managemywedding and I will give you some people that do this work, because I tell you what it's stunning and I wish I did it with mine.

Yvette Sitters:

Actually, you could give your flowers to your mothers or your grandmothers, potentially at the end of the wedding, or any special ladies that did anything for you. How nice to go up and give it to them at the end and just say thank you for all your help, or thank you for loving me, or whatever it is. I want you to have these. Or you could use your bouquets as the flower toss, because I know we all go and order this like smaller version of the flower toss and that still costs money. It's still not cheap, so you could just use your own. And then there's also like other options as well, where you can use the bouquets as table centerpieces.

Yvette Sitters:

So I know at my wedding what we did was I organized with the florist. She hired to me these perfect size vases and they went all the way along the bridal table and like there was 12 of us on the bridal table, so it was long. And the girls, when they came in, they were told to put their flowers. I can't remember if I told them or if the wedding coordinator did it, I'm not sure at the venue, but they were the bridesmaids. Flowers were all put across the front of the bridal table in vases, so that was our decoration, so we didn't have to order anything extra for our own table and they looked amazing, and I know that I have been to weddings before too. Well, let's say, there's five bridesmaids and it's a smaller wedding and maybe there's only five tables or four tables and the bouquets are being used in the middle of each table so that they didn't then have to organize anything additional.

Yvette Sitters:

Because, you know, once you kind of like have some photos, you don't need those flowers. Again. They're kind of like wasted. So I don't mean that in a horrible way wasted because, again, like I said, they're in every photo and they're amazing. But why not reuse them as much as we can? And the same thing goes for the ceremony, and I know some florists hate this because they're like please don't tell people you can reuse your florals from the ceremony in the reception, because it takes us out, it's to put everything together and then it takes us hours to dismantle it and then put something together for reception. So that's not always possible, but it doesn't mean that you can't just pick things up as they were and place them around the room. You know, I think it's always worth talking to your florist about or having the venue Just say to the venue when the ceremony is over, just do something with the flowers so they're not wasted, you know. And the other option is and I've seen this done at a couple of weddings and it's so beautiful.

Yvette Sitters:

The bride and groom paid the florist to come and at the end, like of the ceremony, bundle all the florals up that were used for the ceremony and tie them as like a bouquet gift and then they were placed on the seats of those that they really love and wanted to have, so their moms and their aunties and stuff like that and they just absolutely loved it and the florist, you know, had a little note from the bride and groom thanking them and it just felt really special. So that's also a nice thing that could be done if you obviously have the budget, because we know that. You know money is tied at the end, so that's just possibly something extra that you might want to think about. So that's kind of like my thoughts and feelings on flowers. I don't want to tell you if silk or real is better. I think you need to decide what's personally better for you. I do want to say for me personally, I could not go and organize my own florals.

Yvette Sitters:

Like I know a lot of people at the moment are going and organizing their own florals, so they're going to the markets like the day before early in the morning or the day of their wedding and putting them together. Oh my gosh, that would be so stressful to me and I would do the worst job, and I know that. Ask me to organize your life, plan your holiday, get your business with some structure, get your house organized. I'm your lady. But ask me to create something beautiful with flowers oh no, I would rather die. Seriously, I'm not good at that stuff and that is what the professionals are for. So please don't go and cause yourself extra stress because you do not need it.

Yvette Sitters:

If you are amazing at that kind of thing, go and have a try and see if that's your thing and see if you can do it. But if you are like I really need to save money, I don't like the whole wastage of flowers, you know I really want silks, then go for it. Like, do your thing. You have to do what suits you and that's why I'm not here to tell you which one is better or not better, because you will know and you will decide. But when you select real flowers I should have mentioned this before, actually, and I did make a note of it, but I just get I always go off in a tangent after I finish my podcast episodes. I'm always like oh, I didn't mention that because I get so excited, I just roll, roll, roll.

Yvette Sitters:

But when you are selecting real flowers to try and you know, cut the budget back a bit, make sure you think season. Go with flowers that are in season to your wedding and think about your colors. Like, you might love red roses, but they may not suit your color theme at all. So make sure that you consider that and talk to your florist about that. But do not forget about the season, because that makes things much more easier for the florist to find and then not as expensive as well.

Yvette Sitters:

So again, at the end of the day, whether you opt for fresh blooms or silk flowers either, or remember that wedding flowers, they're more than just a decoration, they are in every single photo and they are really a reflection of you and your personal style, I believe, because what you pick is very, very similar to how you are as a person. So choose flowers that speak to your heart and bring your dream wedding vision to life, what you want, not what someone else is telling you to do. Do what you want and what feels great, and that goes for silk or fresh, like either, or it does not matter, but just you know, make sure they're a reflection of your personal style. So that is it for me. I hope you have got something out of this and I hope you took lots of notes and, until next time, enjoy being engaged and staying stress-free and organised while planning the wedding of your dreams. Youreting Ep 4.