Flowers can have such an impact on the final look of your wedding day! Floral designer Bridget Davidson, owner of Wild Rosamund, explains why it’s a good idea to choose seasonal flowers for your wedding day and why you should listen to your florist.

Most of us have a favourite flower but, unless you book your wedding date around its availability, you can’t necessarily expect it to be in season when you get married. But you can ensure you have THE most beautiful and romantic floral arrangements by asking your florist to use seasonal flowers for you. Here’s why:

Seasonal flowers capture the time of year

Nothing captures the season of your wedding more than the flowers you choose. An armful of vibrant tulips says spring, while summer is all about the softness and scent of roses, and autumn speaks of berries and golden leaves. Choosing flowers and foliages that are in season will give your day a beautifully natural, timeless décor that you’ll look back on and love no matter what floral trends come and go. And what about winter? Well, don’t be fooled into thinking winter means you’ll walk down the aisle empty-handed. A clever florist will still be able to create you something just as beautiful without the voluptuousness of high season flowers. Gorgeous arcs and trails of foliage matched with texture and detail can be just as romantic. For my couples, I save up and dry odds and ends of flowers and foliage throughout the year, so my winter designs are filled with textural details such as seed-heads, berries and shapely branches. 

“A clever florist will still be able to create you something just as beautiful without the voluptuousness of high season flowers.”

Your flowers will be at their most beautiful

When you buy flowers in season they are grown and cut when they are naturally thriving, so they are at their strongest, biggest and therefore, most beautiful. Tiny roses on weedy stems at Valentine’s Day are the consequence of them being grown and cut when nature is not ready, whereas roses in June and July are unrecognisable from their February counterparts. 

A word of warning: Just because certain flowers are still commercially available via your florist, doesn’t mean they are still naturally in season. Peonies, for example, have a cruelly short natural season of May and June only but, due to their popularity with brides, some growers hold back in cold storage stems they have cut several weeks previously, so they can artificially extend the season. These blooms will often be more expensive (due to storage costs) and, once your florist gets them into an ambient temperature, they will open, fade and drop much more quickly. Listen to your florist and if she/he doesn’t advise using a particular flower, don’t do it! Believe me, we would much rather offer you a reliable alternative than risk your big day flowers by using ‘seasonal’ flowers that aren’t what they seem to be.

Flower’s in season are cheaper 

On a budget-conscious note blooms bought in season will be cheaper than those out of season. This is due to basic supply and demand. As a particular species of flower will bloom at roughly the same time for all growers in the same geographical region, the market becomes flooded with them, so prices go down. This is why one moment there are no peonies, then suddenly they’re available cheaply everywhere, and just as suddenly gone again. Trust your florist to tell you what is likely to be in season on your wedding day, but remember, we’re not fortune-tellers and weather plays a big part in lengthening or shortening seasons in unpredictable ways. Be flexible and give your florist the freedom to substitute one thing for another if they think it’s for the best. A good florist will always inform you beforehand if they think this is likely to be the case. Some of my brides’ favourite bouquets have been the ones where they just gave me a colour scheme and complete freedom of choice. This has the added benefit of allowing your florist to express their creativity in ways you’d never have dreamed of if they’d been forced to stick to a list of preferred blooms. 

Seasonal flowers are more environmentally friendly

If a flower is blooming in gardens around you and you also have it in your bouquet, the chances are it could have been grown in the UK because it’s obviously in season here. If so, this mean fewer air or road miles and a shorter trip from field to florist and therefore a fresher bloom for your wedding – and long after. With the increasing popularity and demand for British-grown flowers, if you ask your florist to use only seasonal flowers, particularly in spring and summer, there’s a good chance they will be able to source them entirely from the British Isles. Great news for your wedding’s carbon footprint!

Seasonal flowers will remind you of your wedding day every year

When you see the cornflowers you had in a July wedding or the tulips you loved in March blooming in gardens the following year, they’ll always be a reminder of your bouquet and your wedding day. What better anniversary present than to allow nature to decorate the great outdoors with ‘your’ flowers every year?

“What better anniversary present than to allow nature to decorate the great outdoors with ‘your’ flowers every year?”

Bridget Davidson is the owner of Wild Rosamund, a wedding and event florist just outside Cambridge, whose work has been described as ‘decadent’, ‘sexy’ and ‘rock ‘n’ roll’ by clients. She combines British-grown flowers (where possible) with wild foliage and foraged material to create layered, textured floral designs full of detail and magic.