Hello everyone!

I have been seeing a lot of people lately that are debating on whether they should get real or fake flowers for their wedding bouquet. There are pros and cons to both, and today I am going to go over all of them, so you can make an informed decision on which is best for you!

Real flowers

Pros

It is hard to beat the amazing smell of fresh cut flowers.

In my opinion, real flowers just plain look better.

Real flowers photograph better no matter how close you get to them!

There is just something about real flowers. The way they move in the breeze, the softness and the beauty is just really hard to replicate.

Real flowers can be pressed or preserved to make a gorgeous reminder of the day that you said “I do”

Cons

If your florist is late getting to the venue, it is a pretty huge deal! (do your research when choosing a florist!)

Real flowers are not huge fans of the heat. You will probably need to keep them in water and in the shade until right before it is go time!

You could be allergic to your flower of choice. You should probably spend some time around any flower that you are considering for your bouquet. 

Fake flowers

Pros 

Fake flowers are non allergenic! You do not have to worry about sneezing your way through your vows. 

Depending on the size of your ceremony, your guests may be between 8-70 feet away from you. At these distances, fake flowers would probably be pretty hard to spot.

Fake flowers can be bent around and arranged in ways that might be a little bit challenging for real flowers. If you have a wacky idea of what you want this may need to be taken into consideration!

You can get them in a variety of colors. If you need a teal flower to match your wedding colors it might need to be fake.

You can get flowers that might not be in season! If you are determined to have a specific flower in your bouquet, this may be the way to go.

With fake flowers, you can have your bouquet several weeks in advance. That means you have time to style it and make sure that it is as perfect as possible on your big day.

Having a summer or middle of winter wedding? You don’t need to worry about these bad boys wilting half way through the ceremony.

You don’t have to wait until the day of your wedding to see your gorgeous flowers!

Fake bouquets are usually quite a bit lighter. You are going to be carrying it around for most of the day. A heavy bouquet will give you quite a workout!

It can be one heck of a keepsake! Your bouquet will still look great when you celebrate your 50th anniversary!

Cons

At indoor ceremonies, the entire room can become filled with the amazing smell of flowers. But if you do all fakes, that will be missing unfortunately.

You can add scent to fake flowers but it doesn’t last very long. This means you will have one more thing to do in that last little rush leading up to your wedding.

Some fake flowers (especially cheaper ones) look really….. well… fake. You want to make sure that you can not see the texture of the fabric when looking at the flowers up close. Your photographer will be taking some pretty close detail shots of your flowers, and seeing that texture kind of spoils that shot.

Fake flowers will not be saving you a lot money (not good quality ones anyways). Look to spend as much if not more on those silk flowers! I would not recommend browsing the dollar store for your flowers unless your budget is just that tight. Remember, you get what you pay for!

You may need to check with your venue. Some venues do not allow fake flowers! There are venues on the ocean in San Diego that restrict the use of fake flowers because there is a chance that they could blow into the water and harm the sea life. Be sure to ask first if you decide to go this route! 

Well, I hope that this made your decision a tiny bit easier! Still can not decide? There is always a third option of doing a hybrid arrangement with some fake and some real. It is your wedding day, do what works best for you! Flowers are really important for your wedding and crucial for gorgeous photos. But don’t stress out either way! At the end of the day your guests will just be happy to share in this moment with you.

Happy planning!

-Dustin