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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to ask whether fake flowers for wedding venue are tacky

78 replies

Scrumbleton · 01/07/2021 23:26

Second wedding. We are middle aged getting married with a flexible budget. Country house/ small castle venue. Bridal bouquets, button holes and corsages will all be fresh flowers. I’ve found a supplier that will provide really lovely tall blossom displays on plinths and matching table centre pieces, with a flowered arch for the service. The cost to decorate the venue would be around £600 versus more than double that for fresh flowers. But is it tacky to have fake venue flowers

OP posts:
DeathStare · 02/07/2021 07:08

Personally I hate them. But it's your wedding, do what you like - you're not going to please everyone and it's not going to spoil anyone's enjoyment of the wedding. To be honest, it wouldn't spoil any guest's enjoyment of the wedding if there were no decorations at all.

riotlady · 02/07/2021 07:13

I think they’re fine! So long as you’ve got plenty of food and drink no ones going to be scrutinising your flowers. Plus it can be nice to keep things- I still have my artificial bridesmaids bouquet from my best friends wedding

Lazypuppy · 02/07/2021 07:18

We're using fake flowers for everything. I stead of £500 for fresh, cost me £90 for bouquets, butyon wholes, and centre pieces. However, i don't really get flowers, but thought at least for my bouquet won't get damaged throughout the day. For me fresh flowers is a huge waste of money

nellly · 02/07/2021 07:22

I have bash hayfever so was never going to go real, I've got artificial for bouquets but really good quality ones that look really nice, the venue decor is other things that aren't flowers like silk sashes etc I do think big plinths could potentially look tacky but that photo you posted looks nice

Does it need to be hugely decorated? The important thing is you're getting married and if it's a budget thing I would cut down in decor and keep that money for food etc

tara66 · 02/07/2021 07:33

Can you mix real flowers with fake foliage like fake eucalyptus leaves are realistic?

inappropriateraspberry · 02/07/2021 07:39

I'd avoid artificial for environmental reasons. If what you want in real flowers is too expensive, then scale it down. Also you could try and find someone who supplied U.K. grown flowers - less choice but also less air miles!
I like the idea of potted plants. A collection of little cacti or succulents on individual pots would make a nice centrepiece and also double as the wedding favours for guests.

Grace58 · 02/07/2021 07:49

I would do it! I just counted up in my head and I must have been to over 30 weddings in my life, cannot recall (or have an opinion on!) the flowers at any of them except my own. And I remember that they were bloody expensive!!!

whatthejiggeries · 02/07/2021 07:55

I've seen some amazing fakes. My cleaner waters some fake flowers I have because the look so real. I would go for it

TwoZeroTwoZero · 02/07/2021 08:03

Yea do it. They're colourful, can be reused by the florist and some can be kept as a lovely reminder of your day. Ignore the tacky comments because everything seems to be tacky according to mn.

MiddleClassProblem · 02/07/2021 08:07

At the end of the day if you like them, that’s all that matters. I would see them in person rather than go by photos first.

If your guests are going to judge you for it, says more about them if it’s something they’re remotely hold on to (unless maybe environmental reasons but maybe they get reused?).

TheLovleyChebbyMcGee · 02/07/2021 08:09

We did paper roses, so they definitely looked fake, but I think so much better than fake looking flowers. I made them myself and I guess I paid maybe a tenner in supplies of books, coloured paper, glue and wire.

Have a look at examples on etsy, people sell them for a lot of money! I used pages from my favourite books I bought second hand from charity shops.

EmeraldShamrock · 02/07/2021 08:10

A centre piece like the photo attached is lovely.

CMOTDibbler · 02/07/2021 08:10

Not tacky at all. Think of all the IG photos in front of artificial flower walls for a start. I had all artificial flowers at my wedding due to cost and the fact I could do all my own, and then table arrangements went home with people and I still have my bouquet 24 years on.
And as pp said, people pay so little attention to decorations really - except when you can see they have spend ££££ on decorations and then skimped on food..

ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba · 02/07/2021 08:16

have fake flowers, it's fine

some people will think it's tacky on the day, so if that bothers you then either don't get them or decide not to get upset about comments

Minfilia · 02/07/2021 08:19

Christ, I’ve just discovered another cardinal mumsnet sin on this thread - artificial flowers.

Better add it to my list…

(I wouldn’t give a shit, in fact I probably wouldn’t even notice and I’m sure it would still look pretty)

Arrowheart · 02/07/2021 08:22

Dried flowers are beautiful. My friend had dried flowers at her wedding and a dried flower headpiece and it was so beautiful.

Tal45 · 02/07/2021 08:24

If you're happy with it then who cares what anyone else thinks, it's your day not theirs. I do like the idea of potted plants though

fantastaballs · 02/07/2021 08:26

Nobody really cares about details like this. Nobody will remember your wedding decorations apart from you unless you do like others said and possibly put potted plants in the Centre for people to take home. That is a lovely idea and very easy to sort out and likely much cheaper too. Aldi and Lidl do mini roses in bloom for £1.79 each. You can get tiny cacti for 50p-£3. Put them in a nice pot, arrange several into a tiered display with some foliage to compliment them and call them favours .

At my small Christmas wedding I had a cylindrical plain vase filled a candle and vintage glass baubles off eBay in the cavity between the candle and the glass. The ladies in my family and friends loved them and all of them were taken home and are still talked about every year in December.

whatthehelldowecare · 02/07/2021 08:32

We're getting married at the end of the month and using artificial flowers for our centrepieces. It never even occurred to me that they might look tacky 😂

I'm not a fan of floral arches and the blossom trees, but only because I feel like they've been done to death at weddings I've been to/seen photos of. I think they're lovely, I just didn't want the same wedding as everyone else

IamtheDevilsAvocado · 02/07/2021 08:33

I think the modern fake flowers are brilliant.

A pal bought me some... They looked real and smelt real... I had to try them out, after I watered themGrin.

My mum used to do church flowers she worked on the idea that if people were going to be in touching distance, use fresh /mixture of fresh /fake.... Everything else was fake... And looked beautiful

IamtheDevilsAvocado · 02/07/2021 08:34

Meant 'dry them out' Grin

ThePlantsitter · 02/07/2021 08:37

I think fake flowers can look really nice - ask those shop doorways with flowers cascading off them are lovely. The problem is what you would do with the flowers afterwards since you would presumably own them. As long as it's not 'throw them away' I say go for it.

HotChoc10 · 02/07/2021 08:40

If you were going to buy them as a one off I would say YABU as it's so wasteful (though to be fair a lot to do with weddings is wasteful) but as they're rented, I would say go for it!

The picture you shared looks lovely and I think all guests really care about is there being enough food and wine, and seeing the happy couple get married.

cherrytreecottage · 02/07/2021 08:42

I always thought artificial flowers were tacky, and chose to pay (a lot of money) for fresh flowers for our wedding...a few months later we attended a wedding where all of the flowers were artificial and unless inspecting up close (the bride had told me which is why I picked up on them) you genuinely couldn't tell. I bloody kicked myself for spending probably double the price on arrangements that people only saw from afar. Equally, literally no one will care if you have fresh or fake flowers, it's the overall vibe of the day that counts! Save yourself the money!

MrsSkylerWhite · 02/07/2021 08:44

I was looking at the white geraniums in full bloom in our garden yesterday and said to my husband, wouldn’t a pot of those on each table at a wedding look lovely. He agreed. The leaves have a nice fragrance too and they’re very, very cheap.
Please don’t use balloons, even the “biodegradable” ones take up to six months to break down, by which time an animal could have swallowed one if they’re not carefully disposed of.