Flower debate

I have been to a ton of weddings, simple and elaborate, and never once seen fake flowers. In reality outside of the forums it tends to be super rare for brides to have fake flowers.


Most fake flowers do not look real (from local craft stores) and those that do look kind of real are very expensive, usually costing more than fresh exotics or out of season flowers. 0
Is cost a concern? Fresh flowers are actually very inexpensive. You can order them via Costco.com (wedding bundles) or pick up bouquets in store, any local grocery store or diy via fiftyflowers.com all cheaper than Etsy or Joann.

My mom is the opposite. She urged me to do fresh flowers. She said “Why fake? Is your love fake? You married once, at least have the bridal bouquet made from real flowers. Is your love fake?” 😂 She is old fashioned and believes in old sayings, I can’t blame her. I too don’t see faux flowers anywhere close to look real. I want detail pictures of my wedding, so a close up bouquet would look terrible. I do see clay flowers look soooo close to real flowers. They are not cheap, but long lasting. See picture bellow. Yes, that is made of polymer clay! 💕

I’ve never seen fake flowers at a wedding and I love fresh flowers so I say stick to your guns! 💐

About a third of my married friends have done fake. If you have to do real, then look at going through a grocery store like Wal-Mart, Costco, Wegmans.

I have to echo Michelle’s sentiment - I have never been to a single wedding that has used fake flowers. I’ve heard of brides here on the forums saying they plan to use them, but I’ve never actually seen it done. After hearing so many people here say they were going to use them, I started thinking maybe that was the route I should go. So I went to several places to check out fake florals, and I have to say I was severely disappointed. It was very easy to tell they were fake, and the colors were not nearly as beautiful or vibrant as real florals (although, some good quality fake bouquets do photograph well). Plus, once I priced out the amount I would need in order to create the type of centerpieces and bouquets I wanted, they ended up being a lot more expensive than I would have imagined! I just didn’t see the point in spending that much money for a subpar product, which I would have to try to skillfully arrange myself (which I very quickly found out isn’t as easy as it looks!), then take up room storing them, then transport them all to the venue and hope they hold up. Then after the wedding, what do you do with a bunch of fake flowers?? In the end, I just found it much more advantageous to spend a little extra for more beautiful products, which I didn’t have to worry about storing, arranging, transporting, setting up, or figuring out what to do with them afterward. (Plus, I really love the beautiful aroma of real flowers on a table).
I would suggest going with your mom to a craft store so she can see and touch the fake floral options and actually price out what they will cost. She will probably be surprised! I would also contact a florist(s), tell them your vision and your budget, and see what they come up with for you.

You can also locate inexpensive florists who work with fresh flowers on thumbtack.com

You can rent silk flowers that smell and look like real flowers. They send them to you 2 days before the wedding and you send it back 2 days after and its fraction of the price.
*Something borrowed blooms
*Wedding flowers for rentHonestly, I didn't know they weren't real 😂

We did a combination of the 2. I agree with other posters that the ones you buy at craft stores do not look real. However, my SIL is a florist and event planner, and she insisted on doing our flowers. She has high quality silk flowers that look and feel exactly like the real thing. As another poster said, the high quality silk flowers actually usually cost as much as, if not more than, real flowers. Do whatever makes you happy, both in terms of aesthetic and budget.

Flower alternatives are becoming more and more popular these days!!! I don't think it's unheard of using fake flowers and if they fit the look you have in mind, go for it! You can look into buying flowers in bulk and putting bouquets/centerpieces together on your own, using wood flowers, or finding something completely different all together. There's so many options now and different ways to decorate!!

I had fake flowers all in my wedding and I got
Such compliments because they thought they were real! Aside from the other comments, I’ve never been to a wedding where they have real flowers. So I believe it’s all personal opinion, I was able to keep my fake flowers (bouquets, and centerpieces) and combine them and made a beautiful home decor that I can keep for the years to come. I personally don’t like the look of dried out flowers, but again personal opinion, so that’s why we did fake for sentimental values.

I've been to roughly 50 weddings and I've only seen fake flowers at a wedding once. Could I tell that they were fake? Yes, absolutely. Did I care? Nope! Honestly, you should do whatever you want and whatever fits your budget. Fresh flowers were important to us and we spent $6k on fresh flowers in all but we had a very formal wedding and sizable budget to work with. If you do end up going the fake route, then I would recommend at least getting real flowers for your own bridal bouquet, because that bouquet will be in a large majority of your photos.

I'm doing fake. I don't see the point in wasting so much money (because they're expensive) in something that dies so easily lol my mom is super crafty so she'll be doing my flower stuff and incorporating candles.

I've heard the same thing from a friend of mine, "real flowers are such a waste." She did fake ones for her wedding and while her bouquet looked nice, you could kind of tell that our bouquets were fake and I just love real flowers. They aren't a waste of money if you want them! So I think you should pick what will make you happiest. I originally was going to do fake flowers but then thought to myself, why when I LOVE real flowers? You can do real on a budget, as a few others have mentioned. I have been to 2 weddings with fake flowers, all the rest had real flowers at them.

My MOH is allergic to flowers and I'd rather have her there than have to pay thousands for real flowers so we'll be having mostly fake flowers. I truly believe it depends on you and how you feel about real vs fake flowers. I've been to weddings where both were used and I honestly couldn't tell the difference. I also know that this is some people's priority so it all depends.

I was fretting about my daughter's wedding last year and a friend mentioned her daughter's wedding. The flowers were beautiful. Turns out they were fake. She took me to Hobby Lobby (floral was 50% off). We put together exactly what my daughter wanted. We came home and assembled all the wedding flowers in 2 days. Spent $150. My 2nd daughter is getting married in the fall. I found everything she wanted on clearance. Larger wedding, more guests/tables. Found everything for $150, including floral for center pieces. Many fake flowers, especially in arrangements, don't look fake.