This post has been on deck for quite a while and now that my engagement season has taken a short break and February is starting to look like it might be a slow month it’s time to share it with you!

Back in July before I was an Edmiston and before the fall wedding season took over in full force I started blogging about what the wedding planning process looked like for me. As a photographer on the other side of the camera and experiencing what all you brides go though. I blogged about finding my venue, so today I want to talk to you about another huge aspect of planning – the flowers.

For our wedding we went with Stonecrop Farms and I can’t recommend them enough. (Pictured above is another wedding they did that I shot!) Gwynn is great and so much fun to work with, but I want to walk you through what the process was like for me to help you decide on the best florist possible. I also met with Best Wishes, DeRose, and even Kroger. Yep I did all the research from top to bottom.

Photo by Briana Moore Photography

To start go to the place where all wedding dreams come alive and planning starts, sometimes even before the engagement: Pinterest. Yes, pinterest can be a great resource in the beginning but can quickly become overwhelming. But for flowers it’s amazing. Start by searching bouquets with your wedding colors. Then search boutonnieres and “wedding flowers”. Pin everything you like and what jumps out at you. There are so many great ideas so just pin them all. Then go back through and narrow it down. I picked my top 3 favorites and saved them to a document. I then took copies of that to all my floral meetings and gave them copies – so they can see what your vision is.

Photo by Briana Moore Photography

Another thing I did was go to Home Depot and get paint chips in my wedding colors. I also gave these to my florist so that could match what colors I was thinking. If you don’t know what specific flower you want or don’t have much of a preference then I say hands down go with Stone Crop. They grow all kinds of flowers and then build bouquets by color and style rather than specific flower and they are always gorgeous. However, if it is your dream to have a specific flower in your bouquet Best Wishes or DeRose might be a better choice for you because they can order exactly what you want.

Photo by Briana Moore Photography

The reason I ended up with Gywnn is that she asked about the feel and look I wanted and then made suggestions to make that happen. She made the process easy and fun, and knew what to ask to figure out what I was envisioning.

There is also the option between real flowers and fake. Now I’ve seen some gorgeous silk bouquets and fancy ones with gems and sequins. It’s really up to you and the style you prefer.

Either way, the one recommendation I have for you is if you are going to splurge in one place, make it on the bridal bouquet instead of all the girls individual ones. It will be photographed the most, can serve as head table decoration, and really completes the overall bridal look!

So as you start to plan your wedding flowers what has the experience been like for you? Hopefully these tips can make it go a little smoother!