One of the things I love most about wedding days is the elaborate wedding flowers. When else in your life do you get to work directly with a florist to design your dream florals? As a live wedding illustrator, I’ve seen many fun ways couples have incorporated flowers throughout their wedding day. Whether you’re having a garden-themed wedding or simply love flowers, here are some of my favorite ways I’ve seen them used. 

Add Flowers to Your Outfits

The first place to consider adding extra flowers on your wedding day is in your outfits! For partners wearing suits, you can opt for a flower pocket square or even a full flower lapel instead of a traditional boutonniere. Partners with long hair can choose a braid or similar style with small flowers woven in. And don’t forget floral fabrics! You can opt for a full floral dress or something more low-key, like a floral pattern lining on the inside of your suit. 

Cocktail Hour Flowers

Another fun place to add unexpected wedding flowers is cocktail hour. Edible flowers are great additions to drink and food – who wouldn’t want a lemon spritz topped with a pansy? You can even freeze them in ice cubes! I also love the idea of a bouquet bar at cocktail hour. Give your guests a fun activity that also doubles as a favor! And I’d be remiss not to mention incorporating florals into your live guest illustrations. We can work together to design a floral border around the illustrations that match your wedding flowers perfectly.

At the Reception 

Of course, we can’t talk about wedding flowers without talking about the reception. Beyond the traditional centerpieces, there are so many fun and unique ways you can incorporate florals into this part of your day. For a big statement, consider a hanging arrangement over the dance floor or sweetheart table. Or, install a flower wall behind your sweetheart table or as a photo booth backdrop! For something more subtle, you can opt for individual blooms at each place setting. You can place them on top of the menu or attach them to each place card as a unique detail. 

Other Fun Ideas 

There are so many incredible things you can do with florals at your wedding, and they don’t have to be limited to the actual wedding day! For example, you can send dried or pressed flowers with your wedding invitations as a fun embellishment. I love seeing them attached to the stationery with a custom wax seal! Don’t want the flower fun to stop when the wedding’s over? Send your guests home with seeds as favors so they can grow them at home and think of you when they bloom. 

Weddings with Samia Lynn Designs

I absolutely love wedding flowers and seeing how couples come up with unique ways to include them throughout their wedding day. Whether you opt for real or faux flowers, they’re a beautiful way to add a fresh element to your day. If you want your wedding florals memorialized in guest illustrations, reach out! We can work together to plan the perfect design for your big day. 

Fact: for many weddings, your florals will take up a BIG part of your budget (and for good reason).

However, this doesn’t have to be a “one time purchase”. Besides being able to re-use pieces here and there throughout the wedding weekend, there are a ton of ways you can transform your florals into decor pieces for your home post-events.

But first, let’s talk about Sola Wood Flowers. A company that specializes in creating affordable floral bouquets made out of wood. Yes, I said WOOD. Sola wood comes from a tapioca plant root; it’s molded and painted into floral bouquets that you can’t even tell that it's fake. The company was even featured on Shark Tank! Here are their suggestions for home decor you can create from your wedding florals:

1. Wreaths

Wreaths are an easy and obvious choice for floral creations. Whether your flowers are preserved, dried, or artificial, you can use them to create a gorgeous wreath that you’ll love to display on your front door. Simply get a grape vine wreath form and add your flowers with floral wire or hot glue. This is an easy way to create a decoration that is totally personalized. 

2. Centerpieces

You can also use your preserved wedding flowers to create gorgeous centerpieces that you can display in your home throughout the year. For this craft, you’ll simply need a vase or bowl and some floral foam. Place the foam in the bottom of your vase and then carefully stick the stems of your flowers into the foam in your desired arrangement. Make your centerpiece “forever” by using Sola Wood Flowers!

3. Resin Art

If you love DIY crafts, you might like to use your preserved flowers to create some beautiful resin art. Resin is used to create crystal-like pieces of art that immortalize the beauty of your flowers after they’re dried using silica gel beads. With resin, you can preserve your flowers in coasters, book ends, paperweights, and more.

4. Wall Hangings

Once your flowers are preserved, you can also easily display them in form of a wall hanging. For example, you can use some pretty wall vases, shelves, or wall sconces to hold a small, pretty bouquet of your wedding flowers.

5. Spa Bathroom Florals

If you love creating a spa-like environment in your home, your wedding flowers could be the perfect touch for your relaxing bathroom vibe. You can display your preserved wedding flowers in a pretty vase on your countertop. You could also make a dangling chandelier of your florals that you can hang above your tub. You can even make soap or candles with tiny dried flower petals. These are easy ways to upgrade your bathroom with some wedding flowers.

6. Seasonal Garlands

If you have an empty mantle or banister that is in need of some sprucing up, you might want to create a beautiful, seasonal garland with your wedding flowers. You’ll love to display this gorgeous garland in your home, especially when you’re hosting a fun party.

Your wedding florals should be 100% YOU, so let’s make them last longer than just your wedding weekend. Once you’ve figured out how to preserve your wedding flowers, you’ll be able to create gorgeous home decor from those special blooms!

Need ideas for bouquet preservation? Check out that blog post here.

See for yourself how life-like Sola Wood Flowers can be! Visit their site at www.solawoodflowers.com and follow them on Instagram @solawoodflowers to grace your feed with all the gorgeous florals that stay in bloom forever.

Happy planning!

Samantha Shammas, Author and Owner of SamiaLynn

Florals designed by Wedding Events

Lauren here! Raise your hand if Pinterest is an overwhelming hub of options and inspiration…. Same. And I never fully realized until planning my own wedding that so many options that you see on Pinterest do not live in reality. There are so many inspirational photos that are just not feasible unless you are a Kardashian or President Biden’s granddaughter getting married at the White House! But you know you can always come to us for realistic wedding advice and today we wanted to share with you a few unique ways to decorate your aisle at (almost) any budget. 

Grounded Flowers

These have been a huge conversation in the wedding world recently. Just like the name suggests, this simply means that your flowers will surround you from the floor. Typically this included tall branch style flowers, some fuller greenery, and a variety of sizes of your signature wedding flowers. This look is particularly good if your surroundings are beautiful like the beach, the mountains, or a unique wall working your venue. 

Floral chandeliers

These are another update to a wedding arch (which are still very popular and beautiful). This idea can come across more formal than the grounded flowers technique just for the added complication of hanging a full oversized flower arrangement. Using a floral chandelier will bring the eye up and depending on the size will either hide a ceiling or bring focus to it so I would make sure you know what your end goal is if you go this route! Many times this floral arrangement will include wisteria hanging out of the arrangement as well as full greenery and your choice of florals to give it dimension and make it your own. 

Candlelight

If you (like me) are trying to keep the cost of florals down, surround yourself with candlelight! You could always replace flowers with a traditional chandelier (which are easy to rent!) or instead of grounded flowers just surround yourself with different size and shape candles. There are plenty of good options these days for battery powered candles if your venue does not allow for fire hazards. 

Book shelves

Another great option that can be rented or thrifted. This is a great way to add height and fill up space without the hefty price of full florals. You can fill the shelves with scattered flowers, candles, or other things that might be sentimental to you as a couple. You could even go as crazy as putting actual books on the book shelves! 

Your wedding day is a day to surround your friends and family in your personal style, so make sure you are picking decor that tells a story of who you are as a couple. Which of these options sounds most like you?

Lauren Allen, Author

Lauren is a bridal consultant and self-published author, with a background in celebrity styling and bridal make up artistry. You can find her with an oat milk cappuccino in the morning, and a glass of Cabernet at night, her real passions. Lauren is based in Kansas CIty and her book “How to Be 23” can be found here