Alternatives to flowers for your wedding

As non-traditional weddings have become more common, alternatives to traditional floral décor have also increased. Whether you have allergies and don’t want to be puffy cheeked in your wedding photos, or you simply prefer a minimal style, here’s some ideas to get your imagination going!

If your style is big and celebratory, balloons are the perfect alternative to flowers. With the variety of shapes and colours they can fit any theme and can be combined to even give the effect of flowers! While they may have a reputation for being more suited to birthdays or get togethers but with the right hand they can be sculpted into quite elegant displays and have significantly less to bring home with you afterwards!

However, if you’d prefer the look of real flowers- without the pollen, fear of wilting or dropped petals- silk flowers are an ideal alternative. While fully silk displays are infrequent, it’s not uncommon to a few amongst real flowers. They remain fresh forever and allow you to play around with flowers in impossible colours or out of season.

If you’d prefer the look of silk flowers but would like something more environmental, paper flowers work very similarly. While they do cost a little more than silk flowers and are slightly harder to source than silk flowers- which most florists would be able to find you- they’re well worth it if you like the papercraft aesthetic or want a bio-degradable option.

While they may not stand alone- unless you have a very distinct design direction in mind- felted flowers, crystals, feathers, books and statuettes can be used to create shape and weight within the displays. A handful of handmade felt flower in your bouquet or a few blush feathers amongst your roses can add some real flair! All these options can be combined with any type of flowers (or substitute) for unique and impressive displays or a spattering of candles for an atmospheric look- though you may need to substitute battery powered candles with some balloon displays!