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Home Blog 2017 Wedding Flower Ideas, Predictions and Trends
January 31st 2017

2017 Wedding Flower Ideas, Predictions and Trends

Written by
Floret

Even though the start of wedding season is still a few months away, wedding planning is in high gear for floral designers and newly engaged couples. While flower farmers plan for four distinct seasons, many floral designers observe just two: wedding season and wedding planning season. This is the time of year when Instagram feeds and Pinterest boards are flooded with ideas and inspiration for incorporating flowers into life’s biggest celebrations.

Will blush pink continue to dominate color palettes?  What new hues will see in centerpieces? Will bouquets be big and bold, or simple and elegant?  Will we see any new floral statement pieces gracing the aisles this wedding season?  While trends vary slightly from region to region, here are some of the hottest styles we see on the horizon:

FLOWERS

Fresh from the garden, seasonal flowers. For brides, there is nothing quite like clutching a bouquet filled with fresh, fragrant flowers grown with love and harvested by hand by a local farmer or designer with whom they have a personal connection. Thankfully, this trend is becoming more and more common, as awareness and interest in local, seasonal flowers continues to grow, especially among studio florists and style- and eco-conscious couples. A recent Slow Flowers survey and Industry Insights Report also confirmed the uptick in consumers’ and designers’ use of U.S.-grown and locally-grown flowers.

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Dahlias, dahlias, dahlias. If the extremely high demand for Floret dahlias is any indication, we’ll be seeing dahlias dominate late summer and fall wedding designs. ‘Café au lait’ is still the queen, but other big beauties such as ‘Labyrinth’ and ‘Peaches N’ Cream’ are increasingly being sought out by discerning designers.

ryan1Old-fashioned flowers as “new” favorites. The thought of using common zinnias, carnations or mums for wedding flowers used to make some floral designers and style-conscious brides shutter. But heirloom varieties and new flower cultivars with uncommon forms and colors have turned heads and helped to change minds and attitudes. Heirloom chrysanthemums, frilly scented heirloom carnations, and ruffly scabiosa-flowered zinnias have become in fashion. Farmer-florists across the country are fighting to get their hands on limited seed and plant stock to meet the increased interest and demand.

Flowers by special request. Armed with beautiful images curated from Pinterest and Instagram, brides increasingly are asking for specific and sometimes more obscure flowers for their bouquets. Perennial favorites include: garden roses and peonies, but more recent requests include ranunculus, dahlias, lisianthus, chocolate queen Anne’s lace, seeded eucalyptus and dusty miller. These specific requests can be a challenge—and an opportunity—to explain the seasonal nature and availability of certain flowers.

COLORS

Muted, muddy & moody hues. This year, we’ll see more subdued and muted monochromatic bouquets and far fewer multicolored bouquets in bright or contrasting colors. Shades such as dusty rose, milky coffee, champagne, buttercream, apricot and moonstone will challenge floral designers and flower farmers to source blooms in these complex colors.

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Another glass of red wine, please.  Whether you prefer cabernet, merlot or pinot noir, these delicious deep wine tones pair beautifully with a variety of color palettes, from bold jewel tones to soft blush pinks as well as many of the muddier hues mentioned above.  An outgrowth of the popular 2015 Pantone color of the year, Marsala, look for lots of dahlias, chocolate Queen Anne’s lace and other seasonal flowers in these more saturated hues to continue to appear in late summer and fall weddings this year.

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Gray on gray. Considered the “new neutral” within the home décor world for the past few years, gray has become a staple in floral design as well. Gray pairs well with most colors and is often combined with perennial popular blush pink. Gray will continue to hold court as a popular accent color, but could move towards center stage alongside crisp white. Look for bouquets with dusty miller, seeded eucalyptus, succulents, olive branches and other gray foliage to fill your Instagram feeds this year.

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Greenery as a theme. Pantone’s 2017 color of the year, Greenery, will be reflected in weddings, but in subtle, and less literal and overtly obvious ways. We predict we’ll see less focus of this specific hue of green, and more of the concept of using nontraditional greenery and foliage as a more prominent focal point in wedding decor. Greenery can be incorporated in creative ways, such as garlands of foliage stretching down the middle of Kings tables, sprigs of greens adorning place settings, greenery wreaths, chair decor and foliage backdrops for ceremony sites or photo booths.

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STYLE

Wild, ‘gathered from the garden’ bouquet shapes. Traditional tight, round balls of blooms are a trend of the distant past. Stylish brides are opting for large, lush, loose bouquets with more organic forms that tend to be bigger and wider than years past. The continued popularity of boho and gypset-inspired wedding décor also support this this organic aesthetic and design style.

jenwill-ryan-flynn-photography-seattle-corson-building-wedding-portraits-0034Luxe ribbons & unique finishing touches. A bouquet just isn’t a bouquet without a ribbon finish. Brides are looking for ways to make their bouquet more meaningful or stand out in a special way by requesting unique elements such as antique lace, a charm or cameo of a loved one, vintage handkerchiefs and multiple layers of long, ultra-luxe hand-died silk ribbon streamers.

Stylish floral wearables. Subtle, delicate floral hair accessories, have virtually replaced the big, bold floral crowns from years past. We’ll see more half halos, pretty floral hair “combs” and simple sprigs of foliage woven artfully into hairstyles this year. Another big trend will be elegant cuff wrist corsages that look and feel more like jewelry. These bangle-type bracelets will hopefully permanently replace the often reviled elastic wristlets popular at high school proms. Keep an eye out for other creative interpretations of traditional floral wearables on mothers, grandmothers and other wedding party attendants.  For the guys, this will mean mixing moreinteresting textural elements, including pods, berries & grasses alongside traditional focal flowers.

yilin2Bold and beautiful arches, chuppahs & hanging installations. More couples are choosing to say “I do” framed by foliage and flowers. Last year, we said foliage-focused backdrops would take center stage. They did. But so did arches & chuppahs. Look for a continuation of this trend for ceremony site décor. For reception site décor, we’re seeing lots of delicate foliage wreaths, floral chandeliers and other creative floral installations hung above head tables.

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Less rustic and more modern décor aesthetic. We’re witnessing an evolution in wedding décor that is greatly simplified, with clean lines and a more contemporary feel. This is part of an overall movement away from country chic (think: less barnwood and burlap) and more toward an urban, industrial look (more gunmetal, mercury glass and galvanized steel).

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A mix of high and low. Rather than a sea of carbon copy centerpieces, more couples are opting to mix and match their table décor. This entails alternating elevated bouquets, with long, low centerpieces, sprawling low profile compotes, or clusters of small bottles of single blooms. By choosing just a few larger statement pieces, the mix of elevated and low designs provide vertical interest without busting the budget.

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Sweet treats: cake flowers.  The trend away from oversized wedding cakes and more toward sweets tables has allowed for more opportunities to creatively incorporate flowers into cake designs and table decor. Look for live flowers serving as cake toppers and more flowers and foliage used to style cakes, donut and dessert tables.  Sounds good to us!

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What wedding floral trends are you seeing in your area?  Please share your thoughts and reactions in the comments below.

19 Comments

  1. Appropriate summer wedding ideas – theminister.net on

    […] summer wedding ideas Planning for a summer wedding needs a clever plan for the best summer wedding flower ideas. You should consider some beautiful summer wedding flowers. The roses will color your wedding place […]

    Reply
  2. amy wall 509-860-6986 on

    here in Washington brides are running out of money for flowers, so some weddings are extremely home made and full of baby’s breath. one wedding I did was heavy on greenery and I saved and bloomed out poppies for the bouquets. I also saved and bloomed some peonies! found vases, high low, painted gold. next year i’m going to focus on more succulent centerpieces! these will be grown in medium sized bowels or containers and used for several weddings!

    Reply
  3. Sarahu on

    I’m with Helen, I would love to see a feature on growing hardy greenery :) Your site and posts (and all the hard work from your team) is an inspiration. Here in Zone 8, we have difficulty growing the popular gorgeous peonies and fluffy dahlias, so wildflowers are really on-trend because they’ll grow through our three months of triple-digit temps!

    Reply
  4. Mitä tänä vuonna 2017 häihin? on

    […] Floret -sivusto ennustaa sesonkiajattelun nousua myös kukissa. Talvella jaloleinikki ja kesällä pioni. Dahliat nostetaan entistä enemmän esiin ja muutenkin ”vanhan aikaiset” kukat kuten krysanteemit, tsinniat ja päivänkakkarat tekevät paluun myös hääsidontaan. […]

    Reply
  5. Hope Vail on

    Hope on March 7th…2017
    Everything is lovely. I live in Florida and cannot grow a lot of the flowers grown up north and out west. Our temp’s get to hot so we are limited. I used to work as a florist and love to see the mixed bouquets, so wonderful. Your website is great and I enjoy looking.

    Reply
  6. janet on

    Hello, we love your blog, hope you don’t mind we just reposted on ours of course with a link credited back to you. hope you don’t mind?

    Reply
  7. Mags on

    Hi My name is mags and I am the floral designer at http://www.bumblebeeflowerfarm.ie/ I love the post and delighted to see the inclusion of edible flowers for wedding cakes. We have recently launched the edible flower aspect of our business and dahlias being edible so are very suitable as a safe decoration for wedding cakes.

    Reply
  8. tania muser on

    Hi i’m Tania Muser an Italian floral & event designer, http://www.taniamuser.com/ ,thank you for your post very useful. I’ll share in my Facebook page on Wensday since it’s the day where I always share inspirations about weddings. I love dahlia, here in Italy they are not so popular but anyway when I do floral desgin workshop I always try to use them. Last September I did the floral decoration for an English couple who decided to get married in Italy and the bride chose dahlia and it was really beautiful.

    Reply
  9. Sweet Briar Flower Shop Donna Townsend on

    I’m a small shop run myself in the foothills of the Adirondacks Galway NY I am so looking forward to purchasing some Dahlias this year 2017 will be lookin good with Dahlias in my Garden . for my use in the shop And beyond

    Reply
  10. Wendy Van den Bergh on

    I’m in South Africa and it usually takes a little longer for trends to filter down to us and take hold, but fortunately, our brides seem to have latched onto the wilder, more organic themes with enthusiasm but I’m still getting lots of interest in the greenery and wood-filled theme. I’m not a huge fan of bright colours, so the creams, greens, greys, peaches and apricots make me a happy florist. Sadly though, our suppliers are still way behind the mark and it’s near impossible to find things like Café au Lait dahlias, single colour dahlia bunches, peonies, Italian ruscus, seeded eucalyptus and David Austin-type garden roses. I live in constant envy of the overseas availability :)

    Reply
  11. Helen Skiba on

    ALL my brides this year want succulents and gray-greenery, which I’m surprised by since they ALL wanted that last year too! Growing enough hardy greens for tabletop runners is going to be a problem for me in Zone 5, unless anyone has great tips for growing eucalyptus FAST. I would actually love to see a feature on growing hardy greenery quickly. I’ll be foraging and buying a lot this year, because of the demand. Fortunately, I can forage a lot of conifer greens, but that aesthetic isn’t for every bride. I am excited for the complex muddy tones and finding the flowers to achieve that, as well as for inventive ceremony decor and hanging floral pieces – chandeliers, ho! I’m definitely seeing a shift away from monolithic centerpieces and toward mix-and-match table decor, but that could be because I suggest this to all my brides ;) Thanks for this great round-up of the trends!

    Reply
  12. Cali Walters on

    Were these all weddings you’ve done Erin? They were all beautiful florals! I had been wondering if you took on any weddings this year since I hadn’t seen you post any of your creations on social media the past season. And these trends make me wish I could redo my own wedding florals. I ADORE the butter creams and apricots.

    Reply
  13. Clare Ashcroft on

    We are based in England, but totally agree with all your predictions. We are certainly seeing the same trends with our 2017 bookings.

    Reply

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