March 24, 2024 • 15 mins
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.
Ready to plan your dream wedding without the stress? Our free masterclass reveals how to avoid hidden costs, save 50+ hours of planning, create a seamless day-of schedule, and handle family opinions like a pro. Start now at https://www.managemyweddingacademy.com/weddingmasterclass and turn your wedding vision into a reality!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Yvette Sitters (00:00):
Welcome to the Manage my Wedding podcast, where
we believe your wedding is themost important time in your life
and you deserve to feelsupported and organised when
planning the wedding of yourdreams.
I'm your host, Yvette Sitters.
Hello, welcome back to thepodcast.
Today, I want to talk with youabout florals and, more
(00:23):
particularly, I want to talkabout the flowers that you
actually need for your weddingand ones that you possibly might
need, and then I want to gointo a discussion about fake
versus real flowers and what'sbest for you, and if you want
real flowers, you know what youshould be making the most of,
and if you want fake, what youneed to look for, because I know
(00:45):
that everyone is, you know,money conscious.
At the moment, everyone isstruggling financially and
weddings are so expensive, evenwithout the world going through
inflation.
So I think I really want totalk about this, because florals
do play a pretty big,particular part in your wedding.
They are literally in everyphoto, like they're in most of
(01:09):
your photos, so it is importantthat they don't look cheap and
nasty.
I do just want to say that, butI'm always up for cost cutting
as well, so I thought it'sreally good if we just cover all
of this, give you some options,give you some things to think
about now.
Firstly, what flowers do youpossibly need for your wedding
(01:31):
day?
So you need the bridal bouquet,then you've got the bridesmaids
bouquets, then you have thegroom's boutonniere Sorry, if
some people say I'm not sayingit fancy enough Then you've got
the groom's man's boutonniere aswell, and then you've got
Croissages for mothers andgrandmothers, then you've got
(01:53):
the boutonniere again forfathers and grandfathers, and
then you also have the mc.
So, depending if it's a male orfemale, you might have the
croissage or the boutonniereagain.
So that just depends.
Then we've got these things I'mgoing to list off now are more
like Maybe's.
The other ones are kind of likethe standard right, they're the
(02:16):
standard ones.
They're the things you kind ofhave to have, but you don't even
have to right.
We all know that everything isDecision.
That's up to you.
These days there's notraditions.
You do what you like, butthey're kind of the main things
that usually take place forflowers.
Now let's then move on to thingsthat you might need to consider
or you might want.
(02:36):
We've got flower girl's basketof petals, and then on top of
that you've got the possiblypetals that you might want to
have thrown for confetti,because we know that some venues
Don't allow, you know, plasticand rubbish and all of that.
But some of them will allowpetals because you know they're
good for the environment and allof those things.
(02:57):
Some don't even allow that, soalways check.
Then you've got, potentially, aceremony arch or like your
altar arrangements, or you mighthave 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 tablecenterpieces, if you've got the
(03:19):
budget, and if you want flowers.
It depends.
I had orchids going up thesevines.
Everyone wants somethingdifferent.
Some people love candles,everyone's different.
So these are just again, I'mjust listing off things for you
to consider and possiblycocktail table arrangements.
Maybe you want to decorate thebar or maybe you want to
decorate the buffet or the foodstations.
(03:41):
Then there's also possibly somepeople like to give everyone
flowers or some rosemary sprigor something on their name card
or their escort card that takesyou to your table.
So there's so many things youcan do with them.
You can go wild.
There's also that whole thingwhere you can reuse from the
(04:05):
ceremony to reception, which I'mgoing to talk about as well,
but that's just to give you alist to start with, so hopefully
I had a pen and paper and younoted that down.
Now let's talk about the wholefake or real flowers.
Now we know that silk flowershave been gaining popularity for
their life-like appearance andthe durability and costs and all
(04:30):
those things, and they areabsolutely a fantastic option
for brides who are looking forthat long-lasting alternative to
fresh blooms.
However, it is essential toknow what to look for when
choosing silk flowers.
You know you've got to opt forthat high-quality silk bloom
that kind of mimics the textureand appearance of real flowers.
(04:52):
Otherwise it can be reallyobvious and it can look really
bad and you need to payattention to the details, like
the colour variations so thatthey obviously don't look fake
as well, and just the petaltexture, and make sure they've
kind of got that natural lookBecause, like I said to you,
your flowers are in so manyphotos and you do not want to
(05:15):
look at photos and go, oh mygosh, those fake flowers look
terrible.
So if you're thinking, you knowI need to cut costs and I
really don't want all thatwastage as well.
You know that landfill and thenI can keep them, do what I want
with them, just order some asmaller amount and see how it
looks and feels.
Or go into some stores you knowthat do them really well and
(05:37):
have a look, because you knowyou just don't want to kind of
get that tacky look happening.
But if you spend the money andyou do it properly, they can
look incredible.
So I'm not saying don't do itat all, I'm saying just make
sure you get a sample and checkit out.
Now let's make the most of thosereal flowers.
For those of you who are like,no, I really want real flowers
(05:59):
Because we don't want them to goto waste, and I really, really
disliked that myself, cominghome from a honeymoon and there
was my bouquet on my kitchenbench dead it had been in water,
but big deal.
I was gutted.
I was like, oh my gosh, thatwas so expensive.
And then some of my bridesmaidswere flying back home and,
(06:21):
depending on the state that theywent to within Australia, they
couldn't or take them and someof them left them in their room.
I'm like, oh my gosh, I hopethe cleaning staff took them
home or did something with them,because they were roses mine
was a lot of roses and they werebeautiful.
So what can you do to make surethey don't go to waste?
Well, you can preserve yourbouquet by drying the flowers
(06:43):
and turning them into keepsakeand that, if you haven't
organised something and that's aquick option just hang them
upside down before you leavehome.
You could donate your flowersto local hospitals or nursing
homes, like why not bringabsolute joy to those people's
faces?
I said, oh my gosh, I thinkit's beautiful to try and do
that.
You can use the flowers as adecor on your own home to
(07:05):
reminisce about that special day, like with a resin design.
Or you can get the flowerspressed and put them in a
scrapbook or framed in artpieces, like there's so many
incredible businesses doing thisstuff now and they look amazing
.
And if you're not sure of any,just message me on Instagram at
managemywedding and I will giveyou some people that do this
(07:28):
work, because I tell you whatit's stunning and I wish I did
it with mine.
Actually, you could give yourflowers to your mothers or your
grandmothers, potentially at theend of the wedding, or any
special ladies that did anythingfor you.
How nice to go up and give itto them at the end and just say
thank you for all your help, orthank you for loving me, or
whatever it is.
I want you to have these.
(07:49):
Or you could use your bouquetsas the flower toss, because I
know we all go and order thislike smaller version of the
flower toss and that still costsmoney.
It's still not cheap, so youcould just use your own.
And then there's also likeother options as well, where you
can use the bouquets as tablecenterpieces.
(08:13):
So I know at my wedding what wedid was I organized with the
florist.
She hired to me these perfectsize vases and they went all the
way along the bridal table andlike there was 12 of us on the
bridal table, so it was long.
And the girls, when they camein, they were told to put their
flowers.
I can't remember if I told themor if the wedding coordinator
(08:33):
did it, I'm not sure at thevenue, but they were the
bridesmaids.
Flowers were all put across thefront of the bridal table in
vases, so that was ourdecoration, so we didn't have to
order anything extra for ourown table and they looked
amazing, and I know that I havebeen to weddings before too.
Well, let's say, there's fivebridesmaids and it's a smaller
wedding and maybe there's onlyfive tables or four tables and
(08:56):
the bouquets are being used inthe middle of each table so that
they didn't then have toorganize anything additional.
Because, you know, once you kindof like have some photos, you
don't need those flowers.
Again.
They're kind of like wasted.
So I don't mean that in ahorrible way wasted because,
again, like I said, they're inevery photo and they're amazing.
(09:18):
But why not reuse them as muchas we can?
And the same thing goes for theceremony, and I know some
florists hate this becausethey're like please don't tell
people you can reuse yourflorals from the ceremony in the
reception, because it takes usout, it's to put everything
together and then it takes ushours to dismantle it and then
(09:38):
put something together forreception.
So that's not always possible,but it doesn't mean that you
can't just pick things up asthey were and place them around
the room.
You know, I think it's alwaysworth talking to your florist
about or having the venue Justsay to the venue when the
ceremony is over, just dosomething with the flowers so
they're not wasted, you know.
And the other option is andI've seen this done at a couple
(10:00):
of weddings and it's sobeautiful.
The bride and groom paid theflorist to come and at the end,
like of the ceremony, bundle allthe florals up that were used
for the ceremony and tie them aslike a bouquet gift and then
they were placed on the seats ofthose that they really love and
(10:22):
wanted to have, so their momsand their aunties and stuff like
that and they just absolutelyloved it and the florist, you
know, had a little note from thebride and groom thanking them
and it just felt really special.
So that's also a nice thingthat could be done if you
obviously have the budget,because we know that.
You know money is tied at theend, so that's just possibly
something extra that you mightwant to think about.
(10:43):
So that's kind of like mythoughts and feelings on flowers
.
I don't want to tell you ifsilk or real is better.
I think you need to decidewhat's personally better for you
.
I do want to say for mepersonally, I could not go and
organize my own florals.
(11:04):
Like I know a lot of people atthe moment are going and
organizing their own florals, sothey're going to the markets
like the day before early in themorning or the day of their
wedding and putting themtogether.
Oh my gosh, that would be sostressful 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.
(11:26):
I'm your lady.
But ask me to create somethingbeautiful with flowers oh no, I
would rather die.
Seriously, I'm not good at thatstuff and that is what the
professionals are for.
So please don't go and causeyourself extra stress because
you do not need it.
If you are amazing at that kindof thing, go and have a try and
(11:46):
see if that's your thing and seeif you can do it.
But if you are like I reallyneed 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 youand that's why I'm not here to
tell you which one is better ornot better, because you will
know and you will decide.
(12:06):
But when you select realflowers I should have mentioned
this before, actually, and I didmake a note of it, but I just
get I always go off in a tangentafter I finish my podcast
episodes.
I'm always like oh, I didn'tmention that because I get so
excited, I just roll, roll, roll.
But when you are selecting realflowers to try and you know, cut
the budget back a bit, makesure you think season.
(12:29):
Go with flowers that are inseason 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 considerthat and talk to your florist
about that.
But do not forget about theseason, because that makes
things much more easier for theflorist to find and then not as
(12:51):
expensive as well.
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 adecoration, they are in every
single photo and they are reallya reflection of you and your
personal style, I believe,because what you pick is very,
(13:13):
very similar to how you are as aperson.
So choose flowers that speak toyour heart and bring your dream
wedding vision to life, whatyou want, not what someone else
is telling you to do.
Do what you want and what feelsgreat, and that goes for silk
or fresh, like either, or itdoes not matter, but just you
know, make sure they're areflection of your personal
(13:33):
style.
So that is it for me.
I hope you have got somethingout of this and I hope you took
lots of notes and, until nexttime, enjoy being engaged and
staying stress-free andorganised while planning the
wedding of your dreams.
Youreting Ep 4.
Welcome to the Manage my Wedding podcast, where
we believe your wedding is themost important time in your life
and you deserve to feelsupported and organised when
planning the wedding of yourdreams.
I'm your host, Yvette Sitters.
Hello, welcome back to thepodcast.
Today, I want to talk with youabout florals and, more
(00:23):
particularly, I want to talkabout the flowers that you
actually need for your weddingand ones that you possibly might
need, and then I want to gointo a discussion about fake
versus real flowers and what'sbest for you, and if you want
real flowers, you know what youshould be making the most of,
and if you want fake, what youneed to look for, because I know
(00:45):
that everyone is, you know,money conscious.
At the moment, everyone isstruggling financially and
weddings are so expensive, evenwithout the world going through
inflation.
So I think I really want totalk about this, because florals
do play a pretty big,particular part in your wedding.
They are literally in everyphoto, like they're in most of
(01:09):
your photos, so it is importantthat they don't look cheap and
nasty.
I do just want to say that, butI'm always up for cost cutting
as well, so I thought it'sreally good if we just cover all
of this, give you some options,give you some things to think
about now.
Firstly, what flowers do youpossibly need for your wedding
(01:31):
day?
So you need the bridal bouquet,then you've got the bridesmaids
bouquets, then you have thegroom's boutonniere Sorry, if
some people say I'm not sayingit fancy enough Then you've got
the groom's man's boutonniere aswell, and then you've got
Croissages for mothers andgrandmothers, then you've got
(01:53):
the boutonniere again forfathers and grandfathers, and
then you also have the mc.
So, depending if it's a male orfemale, you might have the
croissage or the boutonniereagain.
So that just depends.
Then we've got these things I'mgoing to list off now are more
like Maybe's.
The other ones are kind of likethe standard right, they're the
(02:16):
standard ones.
They're the things you kind ofhave to have, but you don't even
have to right.
We all know that everything isDecision.
That's up to you.
These days there's notraditions.
You do what you like, butthey're kind of the main things
that usually take place forflowers.
Now let's then move on to thingsthat you might need to consider
or you might want.
(02:36):
We've got flower girl's basketof petals, and then on top of
that you've got the possiblypetals that you might want to
have thrown for confetti,because we know that some venues
Don't allow, you know, plasticand rubbish and all of that.
But some of them will allowpetals because you know they're
good for the environment and allof those things.
(02:57):
Some don't even allow that, soalways check.
Then you've got, potentially, aceremony arch or like your
altar arrangements, or you mighthave 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 tablecenterpieces, if you've got the
(03:19):
budget, and if you want flowers.
It depends.
I had orchids going up thesevines.
Everyone wants somethingdifferent.
Some people love candles,everyone's different.
So these are just again, I'mjust listing off things for you
to consider and possiblycocktail table arrangements.
Maybe you want to decorate thebar or maybe you want to
decorate the buffet or the foodstations.
(03:41):
Then there's also possibly somepeople like to give everyone
flowers or some rosemary sprigor something on their name card
or their escort card that takesyou to your table.
So there's so many things youcan do with them.
You can go wild.
There's also that whole thingwhere you can reuse from the
(04:05):
ceremony to reception, which I'mgoing to talk about as well,
but that's just to give you alist to start with, so hopefully
I had a pen and paper and younoted that down.
Now let's talk about the wholefake or real flowers.
Now we know that silk flowershave been gaining popularity for
their life-like appearance andthe durability and costs and all
(04:30):
those things, and they areabsolutely a fantastic option
for brides who are looking forthat long-lasting alternative to
fresh blooms.
However, it is essential toknow what to look for when
choosing silk flowers.
You know you've got to opt forthat high-quality silk bloom
that kind of mimics the textureand appearance of real flowers.
(04:52):
Otherwise it can be reallyobvious and it can look really
bad and you need to payattention to the details, like
the colour variations so thatthey obviously don't look fake
as well, and just the petaltexture, and make sure they've
kind of got that natural lookBecause, like I said to you,
your flowers are in so manyphotos and you do not want to
(05:15):
look at photos and go, oh mygosh, those fake flowers look
terrible.
So if you're thinking, you knowI need to cut costs and I
really don't want all thatwastage as well.
You know that landfill and thenI can keep them, do what I want
with them, just order some asmaller amount and see how it
looks and feels.
Or go into some stores you knowthat do them really well and
(05:37):
have a look, because you knowyou just don't want to kind of
get that tacky look happening.
But if you spend the money andyou do it properly, they can
look incredible.
So I'm not saying don't do itat all, I'm saying just make
sure you get a sample and checkit out.
Now let's make the most of thosereal flowers.
For those of you who are like,no, I really want real flowers
(05:59):
Because we don't want them to goto waste, and I really, really
disliked that myself, cominghome from a honeymoon and there
was my bouquet on my kitchenbench dead it had been in water,
but big deal.
I was gutted.
I was like, oh my gosh, thatwas so expensive.
And then some of my bridesmaidswere flying back home and,
(06:21):
depending on the state that theywent to within Australia, they
couldn't or take them and someof them left them in their room.
I'm like, oh my gosh, I hopethe cleaning staff took them
home or did something with them,because they were roses mine
was a lot of roses and they werebeautiful.
So what can you do to make surethey don't go to waste?
Well, you can preserve yourbouquet by drying the flowers
(06:43):
and turning them into keepsakeand that, if you haven't
organised something and that's aquick option just hang them
upside down before you leavehome.
You could donate your flowersto local hospitals or nursing
homes, like why not bringabsolute joy to those people's
faces?
I said, oh my gosh, I thinkit's beautiful to try and do
that.
You can use the flowers as adecor on your own home to
(07:05):
reminisce about that special day, like with a resin design.
Or you can get the flowerspressed and put them in a
scrapbook or framed in artpieces, like there's so many
incredible businesses doing thisstuff now and they look amazing
.
And if you're not sure of any,just message me on Instagram at
managemywedding and I will giveyou some people that do this
(07:28):
work, because I tell you whatit's stunning and I wish I did
it with mine.
Actually, you could give yourflowers to your mothers or your
grandmothers, potentially at theend of the wedding, or any
special ladies that did anythingfor you.
How nice to go up and give itto them at the end and just say
thank you for all your help, orthank you for loving me, or
whatever it is.
I want you to have these.
(07:49):
Or you could use your bouquetsas the flower toss, because I
know we all go and order thislike smaller version of the
flower toss and that still costsmoney.
It's still not cheap, so youcould just use your own.
And then there's also likeother options as well, where you
can use the bouquets as tablecenterpieces.
(08:13):
So I know at my wedding what wedid was I organized with the
florist.
She hired to me these perfectsize vases and they went all the
way along the bridal table andlike there was 12 of us on the
bridal table, so it was long.
And the girls, when they camein, they were told to put their
flowers.
I can't remember if I told themor if the wedding coordinator
(08:33):
did it, I'm not sure at thevenue, but they were the
bridesmaids.
Flowers were all put across thefront of the bridal table in
vases, so that was ourdecoration, so we didn't have to
order anything extra for ourown table and they looked
amazing, and I know that I havebeen to weddings before too.
Well, let's say, there's fivebridesmaids and it's a smaller
wedding and maybe there's onlyfive tables or four tables and
(08:56):
the bouquets are being used inthe middle of each table so that
they didn't then have toorganize anything additional.
Because, you know, once you kindof like have some photos, you
don't need those flowers.
Again.
They're kind of like wasted.
So I don't mean that in ahorrible way wasted because,
again, like I said, they're inevery photo and they're amazing.
(09:18):
But why not reuse them as muchas we can?
And the same thing goes for theceremony, and I know some
florists hate this becausethey're like please don't tell
people you can reuse yourflorals from the ceremony in the
reception, because it takes usout, it's to put everything
together and then it takes ushours to dismantle it and then
(09:38):
put something together forreception.
So that's not always possible,but it doesn't mean that you
can't just pick things up asthey were and place them around
the room.
You know, I think it's alwaysworth talking to your florist
about or having the venue Justsay to the venue when the
ceremony is over, just dosomething with the flowers so
they're not wasted, you know.
And the other option is andI've seen this done at a couple
(10:00):
of weddings and it's sobeautiful.
The bride and groom paid theflorist to come and at the end,
like of the ceremony, bundle allthe florals up that were used
for the ceremony and tie them aslike a bouquet gift and then
they were placed on the seats ofthose that they really love and
(10:22):
wanted to have, so their momsand their aunties and stuff like
that and they just absolutelyloved it and the florist, you
know, had a little note from thebride and groom thanking them
and it just felt really special.
So that's also a nice thingthat could be done if you
obviously have the budget,because we know that.
You know money is tied at theend, so that's just possibly
something extra that you mightwant to think about.
(10:43):
So that's kind of like mythoughts and feelings on flowers
.
I don't want to tell you ifsilk or real is better.
I think you need to decidewhat's personally better for you
.
I do want to say for mepersonally, I could not go and
organize my own florals.
(11:04):
Like I know a lot of people atthe moment are going and
organizing their own florals, sothey're going to the markets
like the day before early in themorning or the day of their
wedding and putting themtogether.
Oh my gosh, that would be sostressful 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.
(11:26):
I'm your lady.
But ask me to create somethingbeautiful with flowers oh no, I
would rather die.
Seriously, I'm not good at thatstuff and that is what the
professionals are for.
So please don't go and causeyourself extra stress because
you do not need it.
If you are amazing at that kindof thing, go and have a try and
(11:46):
see if that's your thing and seeif you can do it.
But if you are like I reallyneed 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 youand that's why I'm not here to
tell you which one is better ornot better, because you will
know and you will decide.
(12:06):
But when you select realflowers I should have mentioned
this before, actually, and I didmake a note of it, but I just
get I always go off in a tangentafter I finish my podcast
episodes.
I'm always like oh, I didn'tmention that because I get so
excited, I just roll, roll, roll.
But when you are selecting realflowers to try and you know, cut
the budget back a bit, makesure you think season.
(12:29):
Go with flowers that are inseason 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 considerthat and talk to your florist
about that.
But do not forget about theseason, because that makes
things much more easier for theflorist to find and then not as
(12:51):
expensive as well.
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 adecoration, they are in every
single photo and they are reallya reflection of you and your
personal style, I believe,because what you pick is very,
(13:13):
very similar to how you are as aperson.
So choose flowers that speak toyour heart and bring your dream
wedding vision to life, whatyou want, not what someone else
is telling you to do.
Do what you want and what feelsgreat, and that goes for silk
or fresh, like either, or itdoes not matter, but just you
know, make sure they're areflection of your personal
(13:33):
style.
So that is it for me.
I hope you have got somethingout of this and I hope you took
lots of notes and, until nexttime, enjoy being engaged and
staying stress-free andorganised while planning the
wedding of your dreams.
Youreting Ep 4.
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