A few years ago the idea of choosing artificial flowers for your wedding would have been unheard of. Back then, artificial flowers looked fake! Nowadays, very little sets artificial flowers apart from the real thing, making them a feasible choice for your wedding bouquets. But which is better – artificial or real? Here, we look at the pros and cons of both choices:
The pros
You can keep artificial flowers forever – if you want to! Either save your bouquet as a lovely momentum of your big day, or split it up and use the flowers around the house in vases. Either way, they will be more long lasting than real flowers.
Artificial flowers won’t make you sneeze – unlike real flowers. Some flowers will leave you sneezing, sniffing and watery eyed, even if you’re not especially prone to allergies (and the same goes for your guests). I have horrendous allergies and had to choose a simple rose and gypsophila combination for my wedding – if I’d had my favourite asiatic lilies I’m not sure I would have made it to the ceremony, let alone up the aisle. This isn’t a concern with artificial flowers and so you’re not limited to certain types.
Image source: Groovy Ruby
You can take artificial flowers abroad – if you’re getting married away, they’re lightweight enough to just pop in your suitcase and you bring them home afterwards. If you instead ordered flowers from a local florist you’re likely to find you can’t bring them back through customs.
Artificial flowers are always in season – some flowers are only available during certain seasons – anemones in spring, camellia in late-winter to early-spring and autumn, cornflowers in summer/early autumn and so on. Other flowers are available year round but look their best in certain seasons – chrysanthemum in late summer/early autumn, delphiniums in June to October and so on. Artificial flowers look great all year round – you’ll have everything available to you and looking its very best no matter what time of year you get married!
Artificial flowers have more possibilities – real flowers can be pretty fragile and limit the ability of your florist to be truly creative. Bend them too much and they’ll mark or break. Artificial flowers are far more hard wearing and can stand up to a bit of tugging and twisting, giving your florist much more scope to bring flair to his or her designs.
Image source: Groovy Ruby
You can order artificial flowers weeks ahead of the wedding – unlike real flowers where the timing has to be impeccable (so they don’t wilt or die), artificial flowers can be ordered well ahead of time to ensure they arrive and meet all of your expectations before the big day.
Artificial flowers are always perfect – real flowers can show up bruised and bent with natural imperfections and the florist may decide not to replace them because of time or budget.
Artificial flowers are hard wearing – they stand up well to being carted around throughout the day and thrown on the floor by bored little bridesmaids and flower girls. Pick them up, dust them off and they’re good to go. Real flowers can get crushed and spoiled easily. They can also wilt horribly in warm weather.
Insects don’t like artificial flowers – which means you won’t be endlessly followed round on a hot summer’s day by enthusiastic bees and beetles.
Artificial flowers are cheaper – I paid around £250 for my wedding flowers which included my bouquet, three bridesmaids’ bouquets and four button holes. The same order would have cost me under £100 if I’d chosen identical good quality artificial flowers.
The cons
Artificial flowers have no scent – I suppose you could spray them with perfume but it wouldn’t be quite the same as the real thing. However if like me the scent sends you into fits of sneezes, this might not be a bad thing.
Artificial flowers don’t feel real – you’ll know they’re fake (as will anyone else) if you touch them. But how many people go up and touch your wedding flowers?
Weighing up the pros and cons, I really wish I’d had the option of artificial flowers for my own wedding. There are so many good reasons to choose them and they look so real, there’s just no good reason to pick real flowers any more in my mind.
Check out our range of artificial wedding flowers in the shop!
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