Fresh Flower Bouquet or Artificial? Which one is better?

I think it really depends on preference. I'm a big plant and flower person so for me it was important that they be live. I didnt ever even consider artificial. But that being said, it can get expensive either direction pretty quickly so decide what you feel more excited about and go from there!

I agree, it's personal preference and not really one is better than the other. Some fresh bouquets can cost up to $300. One economical combination is you can go fresh for your own bouquet, and artificial for the wedding party who holds them for the length of the ceremony and not more. Some couples also opt for wooden, silk, rented, or non-floral. One bride carried her purse, another a lantern.

For us, fresh was non negotiable. We priced both and weighed the pros and cons and decided that fresh was the best deal. We don’t want to keep faux flowers that trigger allergies from collecting dust and they will eventually sit forever in a landfill, where fresh is biodegradable. In order to get realistic looking faux flowers, we would have to spend alot of money, whereas there are countless options for budget fresh flowers from the grocery store florist to FiftyFlowers.com for DIY to the local (in major cities) flower wholesaler open to the public that also offers arranging and delivery.


Then you can’t compare the scent and texture of fresh flowers. It boils down to personal preference.

If you can afford it and assuming you’re going with a reputable florist, I would go with fresh flowers. IMO, there is no comparison. That said, there are some pretty realistic looking artificial alternatives out there these days.

I agree that personal preference is important and also if there are any circumstances that might warrant re-using the flowers. I got artificial because of that and because I fell in love with a bouquet on Etsy early in the planning process that pretty much determined our wedding colors and decor. Our bridal portraits are the next day, and our vendor could take my bouquet and refresh them for the photo shoot…for an additional $100+. I’m also planning to use my bouquet as decoration at the reception, too, so this way I don’t have to worry about wilting or whether they’ll survive the night in the FL heat. And I wanted to keep them after the wedding, and preservation kits cost an arm and a leg. But yeah, to get ones that look real, they pretty much cost the same as real flowers.

Definitely preference! We did all fake flowers. We bought and dyed wood flowers ourselves for our centerpieces. Did fake flowers on our arch and also the bouquets/ boutonnières were fake. I loved my bouquet and the fact that I can save it as is and liked the unique flower bouquets I got for my girls! Here’s some pictures of all the bouquets. I do think in some areas I saved money but I probably spent the same on my fake bouquet as I would have for real ones

It is a personal preference. Think about the pros and cons and your budget for both and go from their. I like the look and smell of real flowers We bought real flowers for my bouquet as well bouquets for my bridesmaids and boutineers for the groomsmen and flowers for the ceremony space. It ran us around $1000. Maybe a little more. For the reception my bridesmaids used their bouquets to decorate the head table and the flowers from the ceremony were used to help decorate the space. However I did use the artificial flowers that my venue had for my tables and I used candles to enhance the artificial flowers