I don't think flowers are important at a wedding, are they?

[BatShitBuns]

We are getting married in January on a mid-range budget.

I am not fussed about flowers. I cannot think of a single wedding I've been to where I've remembered the flowers.

Everyone else I speak to says the flowers are really important and you need to allocate 10% of your budget for them - 10%!!!!! Can that be true???

Interestingly ours clock in at 10% on the dot, but that’s probably down to a cheap venue and lots of tables (12 of 10 people) and having 5 bridesmaids. We cut back where we wanted to!

However it’s completely up to you - as should everything re your wedding

If you're talking bouquets - Grab some you like from your local supermarkets, some pretty ribbon and tie them yourself a couple days before. Can be beautiful but inexpensive

I had a bouquet (gifted by an aunt) and paper flowers I made on tables, and two little vases with supermarket flowers and waterproof tea lights.im not a flower person, and our budget was very small (and I hate wasting money on something that won't last).
Saying that I was bridesmaid at a wedding where the flowers cost ££££, were gorgeous and were used in the church, pictures,wedding breakfast, evening do and gifted to aunts & uncles at the end. But that's the only wedding I remember the flowers tbh.

I went to the supermarket the day before my wedding and spent £30 or so on a load of roses and some other nice flowers and made up my own bouquets for me and my 6 bridesmaids. No way would I have paid what I was quoted (roughly 10x that) for something that doesn't last and doesn't really matter. I'd bought some satin ribbon to tie round, looked great. Then again, we had a very casual wedding, so there was no need for things like buttonholes.

I've just realised I misread the OP, sorry. You were talking about room decoration flowers. 10% seems like a lot of money. I think you have to decide what matters to you and prioritise spending on that.

My friend wanted a free bar at his wedding (this is the done thing among my group of friends) but his wife wanted stunning floral arrangements. She won. No one even noticed the expensive flowers, but everyone noticed the expensive bar. It was a pretty shit wedding tbh.

I think they can be a lovely addition :) To save on costs I would just get a professional bridal bouquet done then simply buy some supermarket flowers and put them in little vases on the tables on the day. Extra work I know, but I'm sure it will deffo save on costs! I've made some lovely homemade bouquets in empty jam jars (which are quite boho and cool looking!) at home with £5 worth of flowers.

I made a small posey from fake flowers and bound the stems with zip ties wrapped in tape, I wanted a momento the day and fake flowers will last.

I also had a 50s dress but we had a colour and day theme. Enjoy it

I had two displays of greenery, then had hurricane lanterns with candles in sand in the day and sweetie trees (that I made myself) in the evening.

I’m an ex florist, I don’t think they are too important a small hand held bouquet is enough and they are easy enough to make yourself.

I never remember the flowers at wedding afterwards, although I am aware of stunning displays while I am there IYSWIM?

At our wedding we had 3 potted moth orchids in a large flattish glass dish on the centre of each table (Pots disguised with moss etc) and some of the guests took them home with them. We kept 3 and one is still very much alive and still flowers periodically (we've been married 14 years). Definitely not 10% of the budget!

We did all of our flowers ourselves, ordered from an online nursery and made center pieces, bouquets, button holes etc. We spent just under 5% of our budget on just the flowers, and I suspect if we'd paid a florist to do what we wanted it would have been a lot more, but we had loads of flowers on every table, and five bridesmaids arrangements, so a lot of flowers everywhere. It looked stunning, I looked around the room and was blown away, and we did give a few as gifts, but I ended up binning sooooo many flowers when they died a few days later, so that was a bit gutting!! I had originally argued for silk flowers but my dh wanted fresh. It's your wedding at the end of the day, it should make you feel happy when you look around the room.

They were important for me, but I love flowers, and always notice them in church or in hotel lobbies or whatever. I would love to have someone deliver me a fresh arrangement of flowers every week! If you are not bothered, then don’t have them. I wasn’t bothered about favours or a wedding video so we didn’t have them.

You should do want you want to do.

We used a mixture of dried flowers and foam roses. Only my bouquet and a few buttonholes were real flowers.
We saved a fortune and it still looked lovely. There's plenty you can do with bunting and other decorations. I used dried rose buds on the tables so it smelt lovely too.

Decoration flowers I think you can find other nice ways to decorate but button holes and bouquets I think need to be fresh flowers.
I agree many people's are forgettable which is why I found a florist I absolutely loved. My flowers were very important. They made the wedding feel more special.
But table decor we did potted flowers which was mega cheap and decorated with candles at the ceremony.

I had a white roses hand tied bouquet my friend picked up at a florist on the morning of my wedding for £20 and then in small vases on the tables I had paper flowers made from our favourite books, like these in Ikea vases. (I kept some after and even years on they look lovely). I bought a book and made them but you can buy them from EBay / Etsy, admittedly it costs more.

No other flowers. No one noticed. No one cares. I think table decorations are the most mental thing - £80 a table for something that gets in the way of all the other stuff on the table.

Each to their own but I can’t imagine a wedding without flowers. Our eldest is talking about next summer and we’re already planting up the garden so it will be into prime for immediately after the church.
I did most of our flowers to save money just buying the bouquets and headdresses.
We have a florist who is the daughter of a local farmer, so will get ‘mates rates’ but the flowers will still be a significant expense by the time she’s done bouquets, corsages, church entrance archway and all the church flowers. I may do most of the breakfast venue flowers but I’d still want the big displays done professionally.

What you need to get married.

Bride and groom/groom and groom/bride and bride, celebrant/registrar and witnesses.

Flowers aren't essential.

The right flowers enhance a ceremony venue greatly.

Bare room with naff cheap decorations looks crap

No way would I have paid what I was quoted (roughly 10x that) for something that doesn't last and doesn't really matter.

Everything about a wedding is temporary.

Your bridal bouquet will be in lots of photos. Don't spend £££ on a dress then carry a DIY handtied made from supermarket flowers.

My mum was horrified that we weren't having flowers to decorate the room we got married (even though my parents were paying) but it just felt a waste of money as we went straight to the reception venue after. We hired plants from the council to decorate the reception room and had little pot plants on the tables. Again much to my mum's horror! My mum and I made me a button bouquet which I love as I know it'll last forever.

shrimpi can I hijack and ask which online wholesaler you used we are rural north west and can't visit an actual market. To the op I love flowers so yes important to me and my family but if you are not interested then do put the money into something else. However if you do have any do go for fresh if possible. I second a lot of different greenery can look lovely and hedgerows/family gardens can help there with a few flowers to lift it.. You do not have to be very skilled to make a table centrepiece if you do decide to have some.

I've been to loads of weddings without flowers. My cousin had the room decorated with balloons which made a really festive atmosphere (if not very eco-friendly). A friend had a December wedding with candles on the tables and glittery snowflakes hanging from the ceiling. Another had handcrafted gold stars on little wires, arranged in a sort of starburst in the middle of each table.

We did have flowers at ours but not many because we thought it was a waste of good honeymoon money. We had big glass bowls with tea-lights and a few white roses in the bottom. The bowls were from Ikea and the roses from the market. It didn't cost much.

We just picked up a few bunches of flowers from M&S and stuck them loosely in vases. The venue was a small manor house with interesting features, so didn't need much decoration. Don't think anybody cared, I certainly didn't.