How to Choose Flowers for Your DIY Wedding Arrangements

This post is part of a DIY Wedding Flower & Decor series in partnership with Bloom Culture Flowers. In this series, you’ll find expert decorating and floral advice from Alison Fleck, design genius and founder of Bloom Culture. We hope you enjoy these posts and find them as valuable as we do!

When DIYing your wedding flowers, one of the most daunting things to figure out is what kinds of flowers you want or need. With Bloom Culture, we give you a flower recipe for each bouquet, centerpiece, arrangement, etc., you need. Think of a flower recipe the way you would a cooking recipe. It gives you all the ingredients and the quantities you need of those ingredients so that you can make an amazing soufflé… or jello, depending on your skill level. Either way, all you have to do is follow the recipe and voila, magic food appears! Same concept, no calories

Bloom Culture Flowers - How to Choose Flowers for Your DIY Wedding Arrangements

Pro Tips for Selecting Flowers for Your Wedding

Let’s get acquainted with all the floral “ingredients,” shall we? Here, we break them down for you to better understand their differences and importance in floral arrangements.

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Greenery:

Foliage with no bloom. Greenery is usually the foundation of an arrangement and creates the structure that supports the flowers and design.
Examples:

Salal/Lemon Leaf
Eucalyptus
Italian Ruscus
Leather Leaf
Nagi

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Focal Flower:

One central large bloom. The focal flowers can make up the bulk of the arrangement and create focus with scale and color.

Examples:

Roses
Peonies
Hydrangea
Dahlia
Protea

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Linear Flower:

Multiples blooms along one stem. Linear flowers help add texture and reach. They can make an arrangement feel more grand and add a different shape to the design.

Examples:

Stock
Snapdragons
Delphinium
Larkspur
Foxglove

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Spray Flower:

One stem with multiple blooms at the end of the stem. Spray flowers are really helpful in filling in an arrangement and adding a smaller scale bloom. It can help in adding pops of color with accent colors.

Examples:

Spray Roses
Mini Carnations
Lisianthus
Astrantia
Thistle

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Detail Flowers:

Delicate specialty blooms. Detail flowers are usually more expensive varieties and add a detailed more nuanced feel to arrangements. For budget friendly options we suggest only using some of these varieties in wedding party bouquets.

Examples:

Butterfly Ranunculus
Ranunculus
Anemone
Poppy
Scabiosa

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Filler Flowers:

Many small blooms per stem. Filler flowers fill in spots or holes in arrangements. These are usually smaller scale blooms and are great for making the arrangement feel more composed and professional.

Example:

Wax Flower
Baby’s Breath
Statice
Solidago
Queen Anne’s Lace

Putting it All Together: Ideal Floral Recipes!

Here are some example floral recipes for centerpieces.

Small Arrangement:

2-3 Focal Flowers
1 Linear Flower
1-2 Spray Flowers
3-4 Sprays of Filler Flower
3-4 Stems Greenery 1
3-4 Stems Greenery 2

Medium Arrangement:

4-6 Focal Flowers
2 Linear Flowers
2-3 Sprays
2-3 Detail Flowers
4-7 Filler Flower Sprigs
4-8 Stems Greenery 1
4-8 Stems Greenery 2

Large Arrangement:

6-8 Focal Flowers
2-4 Linear Flowers
3-4 Sprays
3-4 Detail Flower 1
2-3 Detail Flower 2
6-9 Sprays Filler Flowers
6-10 Stems Greenery 1
6-10 Stems Greenery 2

This is just a starting point; you don’t have to use all flower types in your flower recipes, but we usually use five different bloom types per arrangement, depending on budget. If we have a smaller budget, we can cut back to three types and beef up the greenery.

Working with Bloom Culture for Your Wedding Flowers

If you are still feeling overwhelmed, here are more resources to learn more about our approach to DIY Wedding Flowers!

Check out our DIY Floral Packages
Schedule a call to go over your needs with a Custom Consultation
Check out our DIY Guide

With Bloom Culture, you can get stress-free flowers and step-by-step instructions. Pick a collection or custom package and get your flowers delivered to your door. Every order includes access to full-length tutorials and a 55-page guide that covers everything you need to turn fresh bulk flowers into stunning arrangements. Our couples save thousands using our gorgeous wholesale blooms, tutorials, and DIY Guide. Ready for stunning, stress-free flowers? Let’s make it happen! – DIY With Confidence with Bloom Culture!

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More about Bloom Culture

Doing your own wedding flowers has never been easier. With Bloom Culture, we set you up with a guided approach and a step-by-step process. We give you flower recipes, a supplies list, a timeline, tutorials and so much more! We are your one-stop-shop for all things DIY Flowers and we can ship the flowers directly to your door! Because with us, DIY doesn’t mean do it alone.

Content designed, created, and written by Alison Fleck of Bloom Culture Flowers