For my alphabet blog series, B has already thrown up so many options to go for! Bride is the obvious one, band (wedding or gold!), banquet, but I am going for bouquet.
I went for a traditional bouquet of flowers with Freesias, vintage Roses and Ivy. This is a photo of me showing it to some of Jim’s MANY Aunites! To keep costs down and to be environmentally friendly, try to choose flowers that are local and in season. To learn a bit more about that perfect eco bouquet Jo from Organic Blooms gives us some tips and advice on what makes a eco bouquet.
“Our flowers are grown using organic principles (we are under conversion with the soil association). A cut flower crop can require a huge amount of resources, such as water, heat, light, cold storage and packaging. We offer a sustainable alternative to the standard cut flower bouquet – locally grown, with no air miles, no synthetic chemicals and no extra heat or light. We also select robust varieties and use a lot of wild flowers, perennials and herbs which cope better with fluctuating weather conditions and can be grown with less intervention.”
Organic Blooms offer brides a complete experience, rather than just a finished bouquet. Brides visit their site and see their flowers actually growing! Some even see the seeds being sown, which is quite unique and they find adds a uniqueness and personal touch to their bouquet. Jo adds that “they can only work with what we’ve got growing at the time of the wedding, so our best customers are those who want a seasonal mix, perhaps with a colour preference”
Photo: Nikki Kirk Photography
So if you are planning on an eco wedding Jo’s top 4 tips are :
1. Think about the time of year when you are planning your wedding – the summer months have the advantage in that flowers are freely available in the UK and you won’t need to rely on flown-in alternatives (‘grown not flown’)
Photo: Tash Park Phtography
2. Recycle, upcycle, or borrow containers for your flowers – Jam jars, milk bottles, tin cans, vintage crockery are all very popular nowadays, and can be personalised and made unique with ribbon, twine, hessian, fabric etc.
3. Hand tied bouquets and jugs, vases or jars use fewer resources than arrangements made in floral foam, which doesn’t biodegrade very well either.
4. Try and source things locally – reducing the carbon footprint/miles travelled for all the different components
There is also another option that I have come across on Pinterest! Have you ever considered not using flowers at all and doing something different? Why don’t you go for a button or brooch bouquet instead? One of our Paperless Wedding brides did just that and it did look stunning and she gets to keep it too!
Then you could also do something very different. These are some on the ideas that are now on our Pinterest boards.
Images: Pinterest
A big thank you to the team at Organic Blooms for sharing the tips and some beautiful photos with us. To find out more about eco bouquets do contact Jo and her team at Orangic Blooms on the below details.
