Wedding Invitations

Flowers can represent certain traits, characteristics, and meanings. For example, a white rose symbolizes purity and a gardenia means joy. Consult with your florist or read some books on flowers if you would like to have any of your arrangements be symbolic in nature.

Have your florist provide extra flower buds and petals from your arrangements to the cake designer so that he or she can use them on the tiers of your wedding cake or to decorate the cake table.

Use ivy, ribbons, or simple greenery to enhance the ends of church pews or to separate the chairs from the wedding aisle.

Decorate the chairs of the bride and groom with green garlands or fresh flowers and ribbon to set them apart from the rest of the guests.

If you’re on a budget, note that fresh flowers will add greatly to the cost of pew or aisle decorations unless you can find a way to reuse them at the reception—for instance, to decorate the wedding cake table or the bride and groom’s chairs. Consult chapter 9 for more ways to save money on flowers.

Consider renting topiary trees, hedges, or other greenery to help hide unsightly areas of the reception hall or to accent areas that you want people to focus on. Tiny white twinkling lights or gardenias can be attached to the bushes for a softer effect.

Tall candelabras with their bases garnished in greenery or with vines and flowers climbing up the base, offer a dramatic effect and save on the cost of flowers.

When using candles, be sure your wedding site regulates the air conditioning properly, so that guests will not be showered in hot wax drippings.

If your wedding ceremony or reception occurs near a pond, pool, or fountain, consider floating flowers and candles in the water. The effect will be dazzling and romantic. Be careful about using candles at outdoor weddings unless they have a hurricane glass protector around them to prevent them from continually extinguishing throughout the night.