One of the best ways to get inspiration for your wedding is to peruse all of the glossy bridal magazines and high end bridal websites. For those brides who do not have a platinum budget, however, many of the designs featured in the wedding editorials can be too pricey to replicate for their own weddings. The great news is that it is possible to use the style of your favorite expensive wedding elements as the design inspiration for less pricey versions which are just as lovely. This guide will help you design a beautiful bridal bouquet on a budget.
If there is one top tip for reproducing your favorite bouquet inexpensively, it is to make flower substitutions. Flowers are like many other wedding elements. As long as the general style of the item is the same, more affordable materials can be used to create an equally gorgeous effect. Just as brides know that crystal wedding jewelry will give them the same great sparkle as diamonds for a fraction of the price, you can make a budget friendly bouquet with high style if you know how to pick your blossoms wisely.
Many of the most elegant bridal bouquets featured in the wedding magazines are based on lush garden roses. Their large size a full petals are absolutely gorgeous, without a doubt. But at 4xs (or more) the price of mass produced roses, garden roses can quickly take the price of a bouquet into the stratosphere. This is why one of the easiest ways to recreate a favorite bouquet on a budget is to substitute standard roses for garden roses. Stick to the same colors as in your inspiration piece and use a combination of classic size and spray roses for extra fullness and visual interest. You will still have your elegant bouquet of roses, but for a fraction of the cost.
There are other flower substitutions which can make a dramatic price difference. For instance, all orchids are perceived as exotic and luxurious, but they are not all sold for the same price. Did you know that dendrobium orchids cost about 20% less than cymbidium orchids? What an easy switch to make that will save you money without sacrificing one iota of style. If you have your heart set on one of the pricier flowers like orchids, another way to trim the bouquet budget is to combine the orchids with less expensive filler flowers and greens. One beautiful flower to combine with blossoms like orchids and roses is lisianthus. It comes in a nice array of colors, and has lovely ruffly petals which help to fill out a bouquet inexpensively.
Size matters too when it comes to budget bridal bouquets. You may be able to afford the look you like simply by scaling down the size of the bouquet. Instead of a dramatic cascade bouquet which waterfalls to the floor, opt for the same flowers arranged in a more modest teardrop shape. The sense of movement will remain, but far fewer blossoms will be needed. In magazines, florists want to show off, so they will create oversized round bouquets which are larger than standard round nosegays. If your dream bouquet has a robust 12 inch diameter, ask your florist to replicate it in a more typical 8 inch size. Petite brides can even scale nosegays down to posies, without changing the overall appearance of their bouquets.
Finally, give careful consideration to the extras within bouquets when you are trying to work within a budget for your wedding flowers. Instead of the imported French ribbon, use something in the same color from the local craft store. Rather than inserting a crystal into the center of each blossom to coordinate with your crystal wedding jewelry, pin a small crystal brooch to the bouquet handle for sparkle (you might even be able to borrow a brooch for your “something borrowed”). All of the little changes can add up to big savings, and you will be able to design a bridal bouquet which is both beautiful and affordable.
Have any wedding questions? Get all the answers you need now at Rachael West Designs.
