Wedding Inspiration: Winter Wedding Flowers
We all know winter is a long season here in Canada. While we have to wait patiently for the ground to thaw again to have local field grown flowers (see our summer and fall flower posts for local flower inspiration!), it doesn’t mean that there aren’t beautiful options available for your winter wedding.
Carnations
Whether you love them or hate them, carnations, also January’s birth flower, are a great staple for floral design and there are a number of reasons why they work especially well for weddings. They have a long vase life and are also very hardy, making them useful in designs that might not have a water source such as table garlands or hanging installations. They come in a variety of colours and have a beautiful ruffled texture. I also like using the carnation petals for flower girls to toss as an alternative to roses. You can use them as the only petal to toss, or add them to your rose petal mix to give some variation in colour and texture.
Rosehips
In autumn, as the roses fade what’s left is the seed heads, or rosehips which make a beautiful addition to arrangements. They offer a range of warm tones from orange to red making them particularly good for using around Christmas time. They can also be used fresh or dried, though their colour will fade a bit as they dry. Their architectural shape makes them particularly good for adding a bit of edge or drama to your arrangements.
Winter Greens
Nothing says winter better than the scent and texture of evergreens such as cedar and cypress. With many varieties available (blueberry cedar and carolina sapphire shown below) it’s easy to add a bit of seasonal texture to your winter wedding arrangements. If you don’t want arrangements to feel too Christmas-y add in other, leafy greens to balance and avoid using colours like red and white together.
Lunaria
Also known as money plant or silver dollar plant, lunaria is particularly beautiful when it is dried. There is a rising trend in incorporating interesting dried materials in with fresh flowers and greens and lunaria is perfect for this. The delicate, almost translucent paper-like seed pods add a unique, wintry touch to any arrangement.
