A Guide To Planning Your Wedding Flowers
Photos by Evelyn Barkey
A softly guided, stress-free approach to creating florals that feel like you.
Planning your wedding flowers doesn’t have to feel overwhelming. It can be one of the most joyful, creative parts of the process — when approached with clarity and intention.
This guide will walk you through it gently, so you can make decisions that feel grounded, beautiful, and aligned with your day.
1. Begin With the Feeling
Photos by Evelyn Barkey
Before we talk about specific flowers, let’s talk about atmosphere.
Close your eyes for a moment and imagine your ceremony.
Is it quiet and romantic? Warm and candlelit? Fresh and garden-inspired? Modern and sculptural?
Your flowers should support that feeling — not overpower it.
Choose three words that describe how you want your wedding to feel.
For example:
grounded, abundant, intimate
airy, organic, refined
romantic, textural, warm
These words become your anchor for every floral decision.
2. Consider Your Venue Setting
Photos by Evelyn Barkey
Your venue does a lot of the design work for you.
A historic estate requires something different than a modern white space.
A vineyard feels different than a downtown loft.
A tented garden celebration carries a different energy than a ballroom.
When planning your flowers, ask:
What already feels beautiful about this space?
Where does it need softness?
Where does it need warmth or scale?
Florals should complement the architecture and surroundings — not compete with them. Sometimes a dramatic installation is needed. Other times, restraint feels far more elevated.
3. Decide Where Flowers Will Have the Most Impact
Photos by Evelyn Barkey
Not every space needs to be filled. The key is intentional placement.
Focus on making a statement in high tough point areas, like the following:
bridal bouquet
ceremony alter
guest tables
head table
bar
These are the areas that your guests will be looking at the most during the day therefore making them more likely to be remembered. Smaller accent areas such as, seating chart, welcome table, etc. are less likely to impact the overall feel.
Florist Tip #1: A large part of your budget can be eaten up quickly if you have a large bridal party. Bridesmaids flowers are really only seen when walking down the aisle and then often get stashed away in a corner for the rest of the night. Consider scaling back on your attendants bouquets by opting for a simple mono-bloom post or 1-3 stems of a statement flower like Anthurium or Calla Lily.
Florist Tip #2: Often, your ceremony flowers can be repurposed in your reception space. This could look like your alter Make sure you chat with your florist about ceremony designs that work best for this!
4. Let’s Talk Budget (Gently)
Photos by Evelyn Barkey
Flowers are an investment in atmosphere.
Most couples allocate 8–15% of their overall wedding budget to florals, depending on how design-forward their day is.
For our signature Viola Grey look — layered, textural, abundant yet refined — most Viola Grey clients invest between $6,000–$8,000 in floral design.
Of course, every wedding is unique. But here’s the key:
Prioritize your budget for the design elements that will feel most impactful.
5. Choose a Palette, Not a Flower List
Photos by Evelyn Barkey
It is best to be f lexible when it comes to specific flower varieties. Having a solid colour palette and style (this is where you can refer to your three descriptive words from Step 1.) is enought to set your florist up for success because they can interpret your colour palette in whatever flowers are best available for your wedding date.
You don’t need to figure this all out on your own, if you have a general idea of colours your love and a feeling you want to create your florist can select the best seasonal blooms that achieve that look beautifully.
This approach keeps the design cohesive — and allows for creativity and flexibility.
6. Think About Season & Movement
Photos by Evelyn Barkey
Flowers are living things. They respond to light, temperature, and time.
Seasonal blooms tend to:
Look more natural
Feel more abundant
Offer better value
We love to design with the season and setting in mind — allowing florals to feel as though they belong and are a natural extension of .
Soft asymmetry. Air between blooms. Branches that reach. This is where your design comes alive.
7. Trust the Creative Process
Photos by Evelyn Barkey
Once you’ve chosen a floral designer whose work resonates with you, trust them.
Share:
Your vision words
Your venue
Your priorities
Your investment range
Then allow space for interpretation.
The most beautiful weddings feel effortless because someone was given room to create — not replicate.
A Final Note
Photos by Evelyn Barkey
I believe the purpose of your wedding flowers is to enhance the connection, warmth, and atmosphere of your wedding day.
They’re not about excess.
They’re about intention.
They are there to frame the moments that matter most and offer an invitation to be fully immersed in the present moment.
- Mandy
