Wedding flowers and other wedding decorations: top tips

Choosing the florist
Finding the right florist is the first step towards gorgeous wedding flowers. Ask friends, your caterer and the venue for recommendations. Visit several florists and look at their portfolios or websites, so you can see which one is most in tune with your vision for the big day.

Choosing the flowers
To help you choose your ideal wedding flowers, spend an evening thumbing through wedding mags and tearing out images of flowers that appeal. They'll give the florist an insight into the kind of effect you're hoping to achieve with your wedding flowers.

Seasonal savings
When you're choosing your wedding flowers, ask your florist which blooms will be in season on your big day. Seasonal flowers are always cheaper. Out-of-season flowers are imported or specially cultivated and are therefore more expensive.

Beautiful bouquets
The bride's bouquet is usually the starting point for all the wedding flowers and the rest follow on naturally from there. Other wedding flowers for the bridal party traditionally include posies for the bridemaids, corsages for the mothers, and buttonholes for the groom, best man and ushers.

Wedding flowers for the ceremony
When it comes to wedding flowers for the ceremony, you may want to include some or all of the following: dramatic pedestal arrangements, pew-end arrangements, flowers round the entrance and/or fresh petal confetti.

Wedding flowers for the reception
It's a good idea to reserve most of your budget for the reception flowers, as that's where guests will spend most of their time. Wedding flowers for the reception mainly consist of table centrepieces and perhaps a couple of big arrangements, depending on the space.

Double up
Savvy couples make their wedding flower budget go further by reusing the ceremony flowers at the reception. Ask the ushers to transport them to the reception venue.

Atmospheric effects
Wedding flowers aren't the only wedding decorations—far from it. There are a host of other decorative features that will enhance the visual effect of your wedding day. Candles are one example. Burn scented candles during the ceremony, perhaps, or line the path to the reception venue with dozens of tiny tealights in votive holders.

Wedding favours
Wedding favours double up as wedding decorations and look irresistible at every place setting. Go for dainty sugared almonds, mini flower pots planted up with a single bloom, soaps or scented candles, or prettily packaged chocolates.

Finishing touches
Wedding decorations needn't be expensive to be effective. As well as wedding flowers, you can also dress up dinner tables with a sprinkling of confetti, fresh flower petals, or metallic glitter. And don't forget lots and lots of tiny twinkling candles, to add atmosphere.

Lighting up
Strings of fairy lights are cost-effective wedding decorations and look magical at night.