Jackson Free Press

Flowers make up nearly 10 percent of traditional wedding budgets, so reining in costs nearly always requires a look at the floral design. Typically, flowers adorn each member of the wedding entourage and decorate both the ceremony and reception venues. The flower choices and arrangements are a bride’s signature on the event, says floral designer Marian Bowen of Ridgeland’s Petals and Pails. For many brides, compromising on the floral design betrays their commitment to a vision that is sometimes a lifetime in the making.

Choosing wedding flowers in season is the best way to have fresh flora while remaining within your budget, by cutting down transportation and storage costs. Some striking choices are included in the lists below. Though some might find them initially expensive, don’t be discouraged. Flowers with large faces or dome shapes may require only a few stems to deliver a significant impact, making them

a better value.

SPRING

Daffodils

• Colors: pink, orange, white, yellow, bi-colors
• Features: medium blooms with cup and saucer shape,
• fragrant scent
• Meaning: new beginnings, chivalry, birth flower for March
• Price: inexpensive

Peonies

• Colors: pink, red, yellow, white
• Features: medium rosette-shaped blooms, fragrant scent
• Meaning: happiness, good fortune, determination, birth flower for April
• Price: expensive

SUMMER

Dahlias

• Colors: vibrant orange, pink, purple, red, white, yellow
• Features: medium to large blooms, fragrant scent
• Meaning: everlasting commitment, dignity, excellence
• Price: inexpensive

Hydrangeas

• Colors: soft blues and greens, white, yellow
• Features: huge dome-shaped blooms
• Meaning: perseverance
• Price: expensive, but large blooms mean a few go a long way

FALL

Chrysanthemums

• Colors: bronze, purple, orange, red, white, yellow
• Features: shapes vary, but dome-shaped blooms
• most familiar
• Meaning: excitement, truth, sharing, admirer, depending on color; birth flower
• for November
• Price: inexpensive

Sunflowers

• Colors: brown, orange,
• red, yellow
• Features: large face flower, durable
• Meaning: adoration
• Price: inexpensive

WINTER

Amaryllises

• Colors: green, orange, pink, red, salmon, white
• Features: large trumpet shaped blooms, thick stems, exotic
• Meaning: dramatic,
• beauty, pride
• Price: moderate to expensive, but each stem makes a
• dramatic impact

Poinsettias

• Colors: green, pink, red,
• bi-color or marbled
• Features: large, circular flowers
• Meaning: be of good cheer, birth flower for December
• Price: inexpensive to moderate

Roses never go out of style or out of season. For weddings, good floral designers choose only the highest quality, locally grown roses. Higher-end varieties, like the David Austins (an English rose), are not only beautiful to behold, they also release a captivating perfume. Red and white roses are always wedding appropriate, symbolizing passionate love and purity, respectively. If you are superstitious, beware of filling your wedding space with the yellow rose. It can mean jealousy.

Calla lilies can be bold in color like burgundy and bright red, or soft like butter cream and white. Individual blooms, separated from the long stem, work well for a corsage or boutonniere. Retain the long, green sturdy stem and stand upright in a similarly shaped vase or bend the stem to fit the shape of a round vessel as a reception table centerpiece. Though they tend to be expensive, their shape makes them irresistible to brides and designers alike. A single flower has a formidable presence with little need for enhancements, justifying the splurge on a few well-placed stems.

For an exhaustive list of flower choices and floral design options, start with websites such as marthastewartweddings.com, premierbride.com, theknot.com and David Tutera’s bridalguide.com. These resources don’t replace the advice of a real live floral designer, however. Ask a local florist—their expertise can help keep budgets manageable while bringing wedding dreams into reality.

Sources: Premier Bride Mississippi magazine, theknot.com, bhg.com, Marian Bowen at Petals and Pails (500 Highway 51, Suite G, Ridgeland, 601-856-4314)