Roses are red. Violets are blue. Florists must keep up with the wedding trends too. Right now, that includes bolder designs that are unique and new, with more natural flower choices shining through.
“I am seeing brides and couples pulling back from the traditional muted tones and roses and everything that we’ve seen that’s been a part of wedding florals for so long and kind of leaning into more organic designs,” said Jay Sears, owner of San Luis Obispo-based Frugal and Foraged.
Sears described “organic” designs as much less rigid than traditional arrangements, adding that they might look a little like someone’s overgrown garden, where “things are just popping up, and you don’t see where it begins and where it ends.”
“I really like when brides decide to incorporate tablescapes with lots of textures, fruits and veggies, bright and bold colors,” Sears explained. “Those are some things that I’m seeing. It’s not a super structured design. It kind of looks like it’s organically growing.”
According to Sears, couples have also been choosing less traditional flowers for bouquets and arrangements. While the most requested bloom used to be roses, Sears said she doesn’t think there’s one single most-requested flower anymore, which she attributes to people having a much better idea of what they like and want.
She highlighted that modern couples seem to have a lot more trust in designers and planners to create unique and exciting designs for their wedding day. She appreciates the creative freedom that comes with this shift but explained that her utmost priority is to get a good understanding of what the couple wants and how she can achieve that for them.
“I always go back and forth with my brides,” Sears said. “‘If you see a picture you love, send it over. What do you love about the picture? Is it the shape? Is it the color, the flower?’ I try to really get to know my couple as much as I can because I ultimately want to deliver their greatest wish list dream come true for the best day of their lives.”
With so many other decisions to make for a wedding day, Sears noted that some couples don’t really have a specific vision or direction that they’d like for their wedding florals.
“It’s kind of nice when they come and they’re like, ‘We don’t really know,’” Sears said. “Then you can really develop that plan with them, and they’re more open to you actually helping them through their wedding day.”
For weddings that are on a bit of a tighter budget, Sears suggests incorporating arrangements that can be transferred from the ceremony to the reception. This might mean choosing a “grounded meadow” that surrounds the couple instead of a floral arch to stand under.
“When it’s on an arch, it can be harder to repurpose because it’s attached, but if it’s pieces that are at different heights or a grounded meadow, then those are really easy to pick up and move to a reception,” Sears said. “This has been really nice for people who are looking to save a bit of money.”
Susana Cardel, Santa Maria florist and owner of Flower Carriage, also encourages couples to repurpose ceremony arrangements and installations for the reception, noting that this advice is greatly appreciated by couples on a budget. More advice she gives is to choose blooms that are in season.
Though many brides want to incorporate their favorite flowers in their wedding arrangements, choosing a flower that is out of season can quickly inflate prices. Both Cardel and Sears try to advise people on what will be readily available at the time of their wedding and what might have to be ordered and shipped.
“Now everything is possible,” Cardel explained. “We can bring flowers from the other side of the world, but that will be more expensive.”
Another key thing to note about shipping flowers, according to Sears, is that there is much less certainty on the quality of the blooms. Flowers could arrive smaller than expected or damaged from being smashed in a box, and with this in mind, Sears is often hesitant to order out-of-season flowers.
“I don’t ever promise specific blooms to brides, but I do take note of all their favorites,” Sears said. “I try to give them everything that they want.”
Sometimes, florists have to get creative to accommodate a couple’s floral request. On one occasion, Cardel told a bride that she wouldn’t be able to have sunflowers in her winter wedding arrangements, but the bride insisted, even suggesting that Cardel use fake sunflowers instead.
At first, Cardel refused the request, saying it would feel like “cheating.” However, after more conversations with the persistent bride, she was able to find high-quality artificial sunflowers that she felt comfortable incorporating into the arrangements.
“What I did for her is I purchased the most beautiful sunflowers that looked real,” Cardel said. “I used the minimum here and there.”
This experience taught Cardel that when a bride wants something, “they want it.” Unique requests like this one come up much more often now, she said, noting the popularity of requests for single-flower bouquets.
“[One bride] just wants a lot of calla lilies for her ceremony and reception and personal flowers,” Cardel explained. “That’s the only flower that we’re going to use. That makes it easy for me, but it means we need a lot of those.”
Social media apps like Pinterest, Instagram, and TikTok might be to blame for the rise and spread of some of these modern trends. Cardel noted that such apps have enabled couples to explore a much wider variety of flowers, designs, and arrangements before even approaching a florist.
“They are more educated in the floral department,” Cardel said “They know what they want to do for the wedding, so they have more vision. They ask questions about flowers, but they are more open. I can see that brides come in prepared now, and I’m surprised they know names of flowers.”
Reach Staff Writer Emma Montalbano at emontalbano@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Feb 27 – Mar 9, 2025.