Should You Do A Real Wedding Bouquet?

Weddings can get expensive pretty quickly, so when it comes to your bouquet, is it better to splurge on real flowers or save with artificial? Obviously, you need to make the decision that is best for your budget and preferences. However, if you ask us, we would say that a real bouquet is the only way!

Grant and I know that it can get chaotic to hear all the wedding vendors telling you that you need this and that and to spend all your money on their product, and by no means do we want to tell you what to do on your day. As photographers, our only motivation in recommending a real bouquet is the fact that the photographer side of us loves every opportunity we get to capture the natural, vibrant beauty of a bouquet of real wedding flowers.

We know that occasionally it does become necessary to cut costs when it comes to wedding planning, but we would encourage you to always splurge on your bouquet! No, the bouquet won’t last forever, but the photos of it will! Also, if you are on a budget but still definitely want real flowers, there are ways to save. A few easy ways to minimize your floral costs are to have your florist choose flowers that are in season, add more greenery for a fuller bouquet with fewer blooms, do baby’s breath for your bridesmaids, use your bouquet as the centerpiece at your head table, repurpose ceremony florals at your reception, or a combination of all of these. Or, you may want to stick with your floral budget and cut costs somewhere else that seems extra and may not be as important to you. Which brings me to another point…

Make a list of all the things you need/want to make your wedding day absolutely perfect. Go through and categorize each one in order of importance to you. You can do this simply by designating a #1 for a high priority and a need, while maybe a #2 or #3 are lesser priorities. Whatever system you come up with, see what you’ve put as your “#3” and figure out if you can cut it out completely or just cut back on it. This way you’re able to eliminate items you didn’t care for quite as much but are still getting to have the things you really want to complete your wedding.

Grant and I planned our wedding in 12 days, so we didn’t even allow ourselves the time many people have to spend lots of money. However, one of my personal top priorities was to have a real, floral bouquet. Mostly because I love flowers, but also because I knew those were the photos I would be hanging on my wall and I wanted them to look amazing. I knew it was an expense we could afford because we decided to cut costs somewhere else, and we also didn’t have a wedding party that we needed to provide bouquets for. I did dry my bouquet and it’s now slightly hideous because apparently sunflowers and Gerbera daisies do not dry well. But I do also know that I could find a florist to recreate my bouquet if I ever wanted. 🙂

So, these are our thoughts on whether or not to do a real wedding bouquet. We would love to hear what you think!