A florists guide to planning your wedding flowers.
Hello everyone, Happy New Year!
And massive congratulations to everyone who got engaged over the holiday period, exciting times ahead.
Our inbox has been busy with enquiries, and I have noticed a recurring statement from couples “we have no idea what we need!”, so this post is hopefully here to demystify that somewhat.
Unity Arrangement for Balithin & Andy’s wedding in Durrus Church.
Photo by Ayna O’Driscoll.
When it comes to wedding flowers you kind of need to think like a photographer! The purpose of the flowers is to create a style vibe, mood and ambience, a beautiful backdrop or focal enhancer to the special areas and key areas of the whole wedding. These special/key areas will feature in pretty much all your photos.
Considering this, these are the areas you will need to potentially have flowers for.
BRIDAL PARTY
The bridal party includes the bride and groom, bridesmaids, groomsmen, flowergirls and page boys, and also the bride and groom’s parents. The bride and bridesmaids most typically carry bouquets, and all the men wear buttonholes on their lapels or have a floral pocket square tucked into their jacket pocket. The page boys, depending on their age, might also wear buttonholes. The flowergirls, again depending on their age, usually carry or wear flowers. Wands and crowns are our most requested flowergirls items, but we also make bouquets, alice bands, baskets and hoops! The mum’s of the bride and groom also wear flowers, but some prefer not to, so I always advise to ask them. Most usually we make buttonholes for the mum’s, similar to the men’s but slightly larger, or a floral bracelet.
Bridal Party flowers for Blaithin & Andy’s wedding in Durrus Church. Our flowergirls wands are made with a fresh flower whose long stem is wrapped in pretty ribbon. We add flowing, botanically dyed silk ribbon streamers which dance on the breeze and little girls love to wave them around.
Photo by Ayna O’Driscoll
CEREMONY FLOWERS
If you are opting for a church ceremony, these are usually the areas to consider adding flowers to.
The entrance. This might be as simple as a welcome sign with a floral flourish, to as elaborate as a full arch. Decorating the entrance immediately tells your guests they are in the right place, “yes there’s a wedding on here!”. It also provides a “photo booth” for your arrival to and departure from the church.
The porch. Depending on the church and it’s size, sometimes an arrangement, collection of candles or lanterns, or a welcome sign is a nice addition to a porch. If the porch is small or non existent, skip to the next area!
The ailse. Lining the aisle with flowers and/or candles looks incredibly welcoming and beautiful, and enhances all your photo’s looking both up and down the walkway. Depending on the length and width of the aisle you can choose for decorations on the row ends either tied to the pews, or along the floor. When going for tie on pew ends it;s usual to decorate every second to third row end along either side of the aisle. Floor pieces really only are suitable for wider aisles as they do take up a considerable amount of space. However, you will usually require less of them, usually staggering their placement on either side, with approx 4 rows between each piece. They look great alternated with groups of candles in glass cylinders also.
Bride & Groom’s chairs. These can look really lovely in the photos, especially if you are hoping for a full flower effect. Similar to the aisle markers, they can be tied to the back of the chairs, or meadows on the floor, giving the illusion of you both sitting in a little garden looking up to the altar.
Pulpit and/or sanctuary decor. While not at all a necessary item for all churches, some decor can look nice as a feature in larger spaces and big churches/cathedrals. Maybe some candles or even an arrangement, we can advise you on decor for your own venue.
The altar. The unity arrangement is the long and low, traditional piece which sits on top of, or on a table in front of the altar. This arrangement contains the candles you light during your ceremony. depending on the size of the altar you might require a standard sized piece or something larger. An alternative is a beautiful footed bowl arrangement and the candles to the side, separate, in holders. Another item sometimes placed on the altar is a memorial arrangement. This smaller piece usually contains a single candle which is lit at the start of the ceremony in honour of passed loved ones.
Back of altar. Most churches have vases which sit either side of the tabernacle, behind the altar, and we can fill these vases with your selection of flowers and foliage. Most churches request that these flowers remain in the vases/church as gifts to the parish after the ceremony. We can also create larger arrangements in our various urns for this area, larger arrangements suit larger churches and cathedrals as they are more impactful in the vast space.
A staggered urn half arch at the doorway of St.Michaels Church in Rathbarry, West Cork.
Photo by Howe Hill Flowers
We created a stunning meadow lined aisle for Lorna and William at Holy Cross Church in Kenmare.
Photo by Padraig Healy Wedding Photographer.
Mary-Rita and Brendans Unity arrangement at their wedding in Farnivane Church.
The flowers you might need for a civil or alternative wedding ceremony very much depend on the individual location. Flowers are usually added to create a focus or feature at various important points, almost similar to a church! These might be areas to consider;
Direction points. You might consider adding some floral decor at or as direction points guiding guests to the ceremony area. These direction points could also be marked by little signs or, like a church ceremony, a welcome sign.
Aisle/Walkway. Similiar to the church ceremony, the aisle or walkway might be marked with floral decor.
Ceremony space. This is the important area, the one where you are creating focus and an impact, in marking or creating a ceremony space. Each location is different, so we usually work with couples in creating a bespoke design which suits them and their location. Some popular ceremony space items include bespoke arches, partial arches, urns or arrangements on plinths, and grounded arches (ceremony gardens).
Ceremony table. A floral feature can be placed on the ceremony table is desired, we usually recommend that you discuss with your celebrant as other important (and legal!) items may also be required on the table, so space may be a consideration.
A grounded arch (ceremony garden) created for Kate & Devin’s clifftop wedding at Dunmore House Hotel. We added a beautiful footed bowl arrangement to their ceremony table alongside their wedding candles.
Photo by Emma Jervis Wedding Photography.
We created a bespoke arch backdrop for Bianca & Nick’s wedding in Kinsale Hotel & Spa. This piece was originally intended for an outdoor ceremony, but the weather wasn’t cooperating so was moved inside, it looked absolutely beauiful and brought the feel of nature right in.
Photo by Emma Jervis Photography
Our bespoke “Seafoam” arch at the clifftop by Dunmore House Hotel.
Sometimes you just need one “WOW” piece for your ceremony, such as this “Seafoam” babies breath arch we created for one of our Dunmore couples.
RECEPTION FLOWERS
Depending on your venue, you might also need more flowers to enhance key or feature areas, and also to decorate your dining tables. Many venues include flowers and/or candles in their packages, so do check what is on offer and does it tie in to your own flowers and style.
Gorgeous, bespoke candelabra arrangements for a wedding at Dunmore House Hotel. These candelabras are a part of our “Treasures” collection and available exclusively to our full service weddings.
Photo by John Beasley Photography
The areas you may wish to consider for reception flowers are;
Seating plan or escort plan/table. Sometimes a floral enhancement or feature looks really incredible at this point.
Table decor or tablescape. There is nothing like setting the vibe with flowers, candles and styling on the dining tables!
Cake table. Talk to your baker to get advice on whether florals might enhance the cake or the cake table.
Bar. Again, a floral feature can look great on or beside the bar. Check with your venue before making plans as some require the surface of the bar to be kept clear.
Photobooth or backdrop. Flowerwalls, flower grotto’s, it’s also possible to potentially rework ceremony features like arches and meadows into features and backdrops.
Gift flowers. Some couples gift flowers to important people, especially the mum’s during the speeches.
Doorway urns reworked as a feature alongside the cake table at Dunmore House Hotel
The Ocean Suite at Dunmore House Hotel decked out for Niall & Sarah’s wedding with fully bespoke table flowers and candles.
Photo by Emma Jervis Photography
Another possibility is reworking some or all of your ceremony flowers to your reception. This is usually feasible when your ceremony is in the same location or venue as your reception, or, if they are within a short (no more than 45mins to 1 hour drive) of each other. If you are hoping to rework ceremony flowers to your reception and the turnaround time is very, or too tight, additional staff may be required to get everything completed in time. Possibly consider having an earlier ceremony time to allow for your floral decor to be reworked, also make your photographer and videographer aware that the ceremony flowers will need to be moved straight after the ceremony so that they can bring you to another location for photos, clearing the ceremony space.
An escort table designed by Amy Daunt Events for which we created a feature urn centrepiece.
Photo by Studio Lordan
So all the above is the flowers part, but, the often forgotten or overlooked part is SERVICE & DELIVERY!
Service and delivery is a significant factor in wedding flowers, especially when you consider what is involved in carefully transporting delicate flowers and arrangements from place to place, often en masse. And the equipment and time required to do so.
If you have a smaller wedding flower order, perhaps just your bridal party and a few ceremony flower basics, you might be able to take on the transporting, setting up and transfering of the flowers yourself, or with the help of some friends or guests. We offer a “Gathered” service for exactly this, and within this service you can choose from a selection of easily transportable pieces and completely cut out any necessary delivery or service fees by taking on all the transporting, setting up, transfering and tidying up yourself.
We also have a service called Gathered+ through which you can have a selection of items delivered and set up to one local venue (within a 30 minute drive of our studio) on the wedding morning. After your ceremony you can bring any flowers from your ceremony location back to your venue yourself (or nominate a friend or guest to do this for you). Gathered+ has a minimum order requirement and incurs a set delivery and service charge.
Our Spellbound service is our full service. Again a minimum order requirement applies. Spellbound has a limitless flower menu, and we look after all aspects of delivery, set up, transfer and restyle on the wedding day itself, and even clean up/take down the next day. We usually find that the additional delivery and service costs equate to between 25% and 30% of the total flowers bill, ie. add up the cost of all the floral and styling items and add another 25% to 30% of that total to allow for us being there working for you throughout the wedding day and next day.
The Howe Hill team after setting up up Lorna & Williams wedding flowers at Holy Cross Church in Kenmare.
We try to be as transparent as possible about our pricing and our charges so that you can really get a good idea of what things might cost from us. You can view our 2025/2026 Wedding Flowers Brochure right here, it includes lots of info about us, our work and also our price guides.
We created this custom flower arch at the doorway of St.Patricks Church in Bandon for Shane and Shauna’s big day.
Photo by Sean Sharpe Photography
I really hope this post has been of help! Feel free to ask questions in the comments below, or to share to any newly engaged couples who might benefit from some floral insight.
Flicky x
