Wedding ceremony flowers are one of the most impactful design pieces of your wedding day. Your wedding ceremony flowers will also be the backdrop for some of the most meaningful moments of your wedding day.
From wedding floral arbors to urn arrangements, there are so many ways to personalize your wedding ceremony flowers to your vision for your wedding. While we love scrolling through heart-fluttering floral design ideas, implementing your design effectively requires logistic planning.
In this post, we’re discussing some of our favorite types of wedding ceremony flowers, important considerations for each type, and the logistic factors to consider when planning for your wedding ceremony flowers.
Floral-Forward Wedding Floral Arbor
Wedding floral arbors, sometimes referred to as wedding arches, are one of the most popular types of wedding ceremony flowers. Floral arbors are a huge design statement, haloing your wedding ceremony with dreamy blooms. They’re perfect for garden and outdoor weddings for a romantic aesthetic.
This wedding arbor is what many in the industry refer to as “floral-forward.” This means that the floral design is very bloom-focused, and there is little greenery.
Arbors with no greenery whatsoever are also a possibility, but they have a tighter design style and require a significant amount of product. On the other end, for a whimsical look you can add more greenery for a garden-style arbor.
Considerations for Floral-Forward Wedding Arbors
Set-Up Logistics
Arbors are generally built on-site by your floral design team. Floral installations in general require time to build, as they are often built mostly from scratch, and bloom by bloom.
If you’re envisioning a floral arbor for your ceremony, it’s important to confirm that you have sufficient set-up time for your florist to load-in, build your arbor, and load-out with clean-up. Check with your wedding venue or venue contract to check your load-in time.
Contracts will sometimes differentiate between event time when the event is happening and guests are present, and load-in/load-out time when only vendors are present doing the behind-the-scenes work to produce your event. There should be specified access hours listed in your venue contract.
If your venue has a limited set-up time, a floral arbor may not be possible to execute logistically. When in doubt, consult your florist to ask how much time is reasonably needed to execute your design.
Garden-Style Wedding Floral Arbor
Garden-style floral arbors are another stunning option. They have a romantic feel, and have more greenery for a garden-inspired aesthetic. This style is great for garden weddings, and feels very aesthetically cohesive in the space.
Considerations for Garden-Style Wedding Arbors
Set-Up Logistics
Garden-style floral arbors tend to be large in scale, and take considerable time for set-up. As we discussed in the last section, the same logistic challenges apply. It’s important to consult your florist about how much set-up time is needed.
Asymmetrical/Broken Wedding Arbor
Similar to wedding floral arbors are what many industry professionals refer to as an asymmetrical arbor or broken arbor. These installations are similar to classic arbors, but are built in two independent pieces, rather than being connected at the top in a single structure.
One of the benefits of asymmetrical arbors is that you can position each side of the arbor to frame your ceremony perfectly. You can place them further apart or closer together to create the exact shape you’re envisioning. This can be super helpful for wanting to create a halo effect at your ceremony for an architectural element at your venue or a stunning overlook view.
Considerations for Asymmetrical Wedding Arbors
Set-Up Logistics
Like classic wedding floral arbors, asymmetrical arbors are generally built on-site and require more on-site set-up time.
Wedding Ceremony Urn Arrangements
Wedding ceremony urn arrangements are a wedding ceremony flowers option with a ton of variety. They are classically set on columns framing the wedding ceremony.
Urn arrangements are usually a more cost-effective option and can be scaled to the number of pieces that fit your budget. The arrangements can vary greatly in size from petite to grand, and can also incorporate floor arrangements for more drama.
Considerations for Wedding Ceremony Urn Arrangements
Set-Up Logistics
Wedding ceremony urn arrangements are perfect for weddings with limited load-in times. Urn arrangements can typically be designed ahead of time, so it decreases your need for on-site labor.
Wedding Ceremony Floral Wall
A wedding ceremony floral wall offers the ultimate drama. The floral wall above was filled with David Austin Wedding Roses for the most design impact.
Considerations for Wedding Ceremony Floral Walls
Set-Up Logistics
Floral walls require a immense amount of product and on-site labor. For this reason, it’s crucial to have a very flexible load-in time at your venue and a team of floral designers to execute this vision.
Architectural Wedding Ceremony Floral Installations
If your venue has an architectural element you love, a floral installation highlighting it is a stunning option. This floral installation was framed around the fireplace of the Salon Bleu of Château de Champlâtreux near Paris.
We designed this enchanted garden floral installation specifically for Salon Bleu. Inspired by the intimate salon’s soft blue walls and intricate architectural detail in white and gold, the floral designer created a growing garden-inspired floral installation.
The floral arrangements highlight the most beautiful elements of the salon, trailing the floor and framing the historic fireplace and mirror as the perfect complement to the salon’s existing beauty.
This style is stunning for historic fireplaces, staircases, fountains, alcoves, and more. If you have something like this in mind, your floral designer is the perfect resource. As a master of their craft, your floral designer will be able to propose ideas that best highlight your venue that work both aesthetically and logistically.
Wedding Ceremony Aisle Arrangements
Wedding ceremony aisle arrangements are a beautiful complement to your focal ceremony flowers. Aisle arrangements are perfect for adding a touch of beauty to your aisle.
Depending on your budget and vision, aisle arrangements can vary from petite arrangements dotting the aisle to full, lush arrangements framing the entire aisle. You can also add arrangements to each side of the entrance of the aisle.
Considerations for Aisle Arrangements
Set-Up Logistics
Aisle arrangements are a great option for weddings with short load-in times. Because they usually do not have to be designed on-site, they typically have a faster, simpler set-up time. We find that aisle arrangements are a logistically simple addition to your wedding design that makes a lovely design impact for your ceremony.
How Long Does It Take to Set-Up Wedding Ceremony Flowers?
Hearts soar for lush wedding ceremony flowers, but executing your vision for your wedding is more involved than many couples realize. Like we discussed with the above ideas, the amount of set-up time varies greatly based on many factors. The main factors to consider are on-site labor, arrangement size, venue logistics, and design team size.
On-Site Labor
Logistically, some floral design options have to be created from scratch on-site, like arbors. These options take the most time. Some options like aisle arrangements can be made before the wedding and simply placed on the wedding day. These options require far less on-site labor.
Arrangement Size
The size of the design is also important to consider. Even arbors can vary greatly in size, and an arbor that is taller or wider will take more time to create. The same can be said for floral installations created on-site. The larger the installation, the more time it will take to build.
Venue Logistics
Your venue logistics can also be a determining factor. For example, an historic venue may require that a florist use a service staircase that takes more time, or a garden wedding may require more set-up time getting product and supplies from the vehicle to a remote area.
Design Team Size
The size of your design team will also affect timing. If you have a short load-in time, your florist will require more team members on-site to execute your installation in time.
For the lush floral arbors filling Pinterest boards, arbors and installations can take multiple hours to complete from start to finish. To stay on-schedule, it’s important to work with your florist to ensure your production timeline is reasonable for the unique details of your event.
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