Pinterest: Love or Hate?
Happy New Year lovely people.
This time of year is the busiest time for wedding enquiries. Christmas and New Year feel like a distant memory and couples feel that urge to get down to the serious business of wedding planning.
Shower bouquet in lilac and whites. Image by Ryan Welch photography. Venue De Courceys Manor
Wedding consultations and Pinterest'.
Consultations are booked and couples come armed with their wedding inspiration pictures, ultimately pinned from Pinterest. I LOVE the beautiful inspiration pictures and when my clients share their boards and images with me, it really helps me understand the look they want for their wedding. However, and this is a big however, I cannot and will not duplicate another florist’s work.
I CAN:
Look at your inspiration photos to get a clear understanding of the look and colours you want.
I CAN NOT:
Recreate the exact flowers of an inspiration photo.
Bridal shower bouquet in lilac and whites. Image by Ryan Welch photography. Venue De Courceys Manor
Why I can’t copy Pinterest wedding flowers.
There are a few reasons for this.
1) Flowers shift in availability– a lot. A perfect example is the very popular wedding flower, the Peony. They are only in season for a couple of months of the year in late Spring. Show me a bouquet filled with Peonies for a winter wedding and I am afraid it is just not going to happen (unless you want to pay mega bucks for a substandard flower). As a florist I love the passing of the seasons, each season brings with it a variety of wonderful flowers and I want my creations to reflect the season you are getting married in.
Just one reason for my Pinterest: Love or Hate relationship.
2) Nature is not a certainty and each flower can not be a carbon copy of the next. I might be able to purchase a garden rose in a perfect shade of soft pink at my supplier one week and then it’s not available the next; or perhaps that shade of soft pink you love that I purchased last week is more of a dusky pink today. Trust your florist to offer an alternative variety of flowers in the correct shade of colour. Or better yet, let Mother Nature do her thing and go with the flow!
3) Some of the images I am shown on Pinterest are from photo shoots and whilst they are completely gorgeous to look at, they are not practical to have as bridal flowers. By that I mean they are not hardy enough to last out of water, wouldn’t last in certain weather conditions or would be impractical to hold in a bouquet all day. After all, I hope my brides love their flowers enough that they never want to put them down. A good florist will be able to direct you to alternative flowers whilst being sympathetic to the overall look you love.
4) Lastly and perhaps most importantly; we florists are artists at heart: we don’t want to plagiarize each other. No two florists will design a bouquet exactly the same, and while we look to each other for inspiration, most floral designers will not want to cross the line of copying or duplicating a photo of another florist’s work. I try not to imitate my own work, never mind that of another florist.
Lilac and white wedding flowers. Image by Ryan Welch photography. Venue De Courceys Manor
In conclusion - Pinterest: Love or Hate.
Using Pinterest as an inspiration tool is undoubtedly a great way to communicate with your florist about the flowers, styles and colour palettes you love. Yes, please bring those images along to help illustrate the look you like but let it end there.
It is at the point you must trust your florist.
It’s your florists job to create your dream wedding flowers: something entirely original, customized and personalized for YOU. Not just a copy cat image from someone else’s wedding day. Be yourself and have a wonderful, unique day.
What do you think? Where do you sit on camp Pinterest: Love or Hate? I would love to know your thoughts.
As always, thanks for reading.
If you are planning your dream wedding with the help of Pinterest ;-) and you would like to discuss your wedding flowers get in touch here.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Anne-Marie, the face of Petal Power
Hi! I'm Anne-Marie, Petal Power is me!
I run my weddings and event floristry business out of my studio in Creigiau, Cardiff, South Wales.
I hope you have enjoyed reading this blog.
If you want even more prettiness take a look back at my page. You will find information on the latest beautiful weddings I have been lucky enough to be a part of.
Also, you can keep up to date with essential advice, craft ideas, my favourite seasonal wedding flowers and more.
You can find out more about me and my work here.
Anne-Marie xoxo
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ARE YOU GETTING MARRIED?
I have created a page just for you.
It’s only natural that you have a load of questions when planning your wedding flowers.
Some of the most common questions that keep cropping up I have already answered. You will find this page helpful; to read more CLICK HERE
I have written so many blogs, take a few moments and have a good look.
But if you are wondering exactly what is involved when you book your wedding floral designer you can read more here.
I still have some availability for this year and next year. If you have booked your wedding date get in touch to discuss your wedding flowers.
I look forward to speaking to you.