Planning a wedding is HARD work! I mean… who do you ask to be your bridesmaids? And HOW do you ask them?! Do you go with hair up, halfway up, down or braided? Pinterest doesn’t make it much easier on ya, amiright?!

One moment you’ve finally crafted your perfectly curated wedding board with the most beautiful blush, mauve and champagne color palette and the next thing you know you find yourself pinning some teal bridesmaids dresses that makes you question the whole thing! The struggle is real! Ok let’s be honest, it’s not quite the worst struggle in the world, but in the midst of planning a million details, you’re one decision away from throwing in the towel and eloping on the beach in a white sundress!

Well I’m here to offer some suggestions in the flower department. I’m no florist, BUT I have seen quite a few things in 100+ weddings that has made me realize that there’s definitely a way to do your wedding florals right! So I wanted to share with you 5 things I think you should know about your wedding day florals from a photographers perspective!

1. Your bridal bouquet should be your number one priority

One thing I’ve come to realize, after all these weddings, is how your bridal bouquet can play such a HUGE role in the day! You might be confused how this is suppose to help your decision making process, but let me tell you a little secret…

Your bridal bouquet is in most every picture! SO even if you don’t have the biggest flower budget and aren’t in love with your choices for flowers, focusing on making your bridal bouquet the best can still make it look like your wedding flowers were amazing! All your portraits of you and your groom are accompanied by your trusty flower buddy for the day! Which means you can add such a beautiful pop of color or elegant touch to each photo even if there’s not much of a background to work with!

Not only is the bouquet in all your portraits, but it also is used as a backdrop for details at the beginning of the day! So that one bouquet can play a massive role in how your overall gallery and album looks!

So maybe instead of focusing on making sure all the bridesmaids have the perfect bouquet, you can make theirs more simple and allow that extra spending to go towards making yours stand out a bit more! Your ladies will TOTALLY understand and their bouquets will get photographed so much less than yours that day so you’ll never regret it!

Basically what I’m getting at is that your bouquet is a huge focal point for most all portraits, so if you need to put less priority on the reception florals, bridesmaids florals and boutonnieres in order to get your DREAM bouquet, girlfriend, go right ahead and do it! You won’t regret it!

2. Statement pieces vs. smaller arrangements

Have you ever been to a wedding where there was a large floral installment (fancy word for arrangement) at the front of the ceremony right where the bride and groom stood and shared their first kiss? Or maybe you’ve been to a reception where the head table was decked out with some beautiful floral pieces! It’s a little easier to remember those eye-catching statement pieces than lots of centerpieces that are pretty average right?

As a photographer, we LOVE to see when couples have prioritized their budget on larger statement pieces that will be captured in most of the photos, vs. the budget being spread out over all the tables or along the rows down the isle which will only show up mainly in your detail shots.

If you have the availability and resources to do it all, then by all means, do it all 😉 But if you’re trying to figure out if you want each table to have a more elaborate centerpiece, or skimp a bit on those (by maybe doing more greenery) in order to work with your florist on 1 or 2 amazing installations, you won’t regret it!! Promise 🙂

3. Communicate with your florist about your timeline

As photographers, we’ll typically work with the bride and groom on their timeline months before the wedding. So it’s always a good thing once you have that figured out, to be in communication with your florist on when your flowers need to be there for the day.

Obviously it goes without saying, but if your portraits are suppose to start at noon and your florist isn’t planning on being there until 2pm, then that’s a bit of a problem 😉 So making sure that there’s no confusion on when the flowers need to be there will help make sure everything stays on time and as planned.

For me personally, I try to talk to my ladies about communicating to the florist to have the flowers there by the time we’re starting detail shots because the flowers will be in those pictures. Which should be a win-win for everyone! Photographers will be able to use the pieces for adding an extra touch of your day to your detail shots, and the florists get extra photos of their work!

4. Adding color to your bouquet can help it stand out from your dress

Soft tones and neutral colors are totally my jam, but even I like to see a bit of color in your bouquet. Especially as a “bright and airy photographer” I want to make sure your bouquet stands out apart from your dress. If there’s too much white on white, sometimes it can get lost in the picture.

Like I was mentioning in #1, you want your bridal bouquet to be a big statement piece for the day… but in order to do that, you need to give it a way to make a statement and stand out. Adding even soft pops of color can help it contrast against the white or ivory of your dress and make it more eye-catching.

5. Don’t get boxed in

One of my favorite things about wedding florals today (and especially bridal bouquets) is that we’ve strayed away from the super tight bouquets and centerpieces. I myself had pretty much the most typical round pink rose bouquet you could get for our wedding, which I LOVED (and still do). But this new age of all the movement (aka differing pieces that aren’t always the same length) in florals just makes my photographers heart so happy.

You might be wondering why I care if there is “movement” in your flowers 😉 Well, when your eye has places to move in a photo, it can help create a better image (to put it pretty simply). More pieces moving from one side of the bouquet to the other makes it more aesthetically pleasing for the viewer. It can still make your eyes know exactly where to look while having them dance around a little bit to create more depth and excitement to the photo.

There ya have it! 5 things I think every bride should know about their wedding day florals (from a photographers perspective). I’m hoping that these tips helped reign in your focus a little bit and helped you know where to prioritize.

If you have any questions, feel free to jot them down below in the comments!

And if you’re a bride wanting to know how you can get you a florist like the amazing one that did the florals in all these shots, then head on over to LB Floristry and contact her quick before she books up for your date! You won’t regret it!