Hitched Guest Editor Olivia Bowen Reveals Her Favourite Wedding Flowers
From wedding bouquets to bridal flowers, Hitched Guest Editor Olivia Bowen reveals her fantasy wedding flowers…
If you’re like me, then you probably find choosing wedding flowers very difficult. With so many colours and arrangements to choose from I’d have probably spent my entire wedding budget on flowers alone if it hadn’t been for Hitched!
My first piece of advice for couples choosing their flowers is to start by narrowing down your options. The best place to start is to download the Hitched app, search ‘Florists’, then filter your results according to your location. That simple step has just saved you hours of scrolling, so thank me later!
Now, my job as Guest Editor was to take a look through the Hitched flower vendors and share my favourite bouquets to inspire you as you plan your own weddings.
When it comes to selecting flowers, I will always choose my favourites: roses, lilies, lisianthus, and delphiniums. I love to pick them in pastel shades of light pink, white, and cream - they just look so elegant!
And, of course, there’s nothing like strong smelling flowers to give your wedding venue a wonderful scent, which is why I also love lavender. Plus, it reminds me of my grandma, and I have a lavender flower fairy tattooed on my leg to celebrate her, so it feels quite special to me.
There are hundreds of gorgeous, women-owned small businesses listed on Hitched, and seeing what each one has to offer was such a treat! But I had to pick a favourite, and the luxury London-based Wedding Flower Company stood out to me the most.
Not only has it won three Hitched wedding awards, but it also caters for every flower-related query you could possibly wish for - from flower head-dresses and buttonholes to car decorations and classic bridal bouquets.
Wedding Flower Company is based in London and is owned by Cathy Ewing, an experienced florist with over 12 years of experience in providing bespoke flower arrangements and bouquets to weddings and events in real life and on film.
I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to tell Cathy all about my favourite flowers. We talked about my favourite colours, shades and scents, to create the perfect personalised bouquet - and it’s absolutely gorgeous!
When explaining the creative process behind building the bouquet, Cathy explains: “I went for a scent, as that’s what Olivia loves. I went for peach, which is the Pantone colour of the year!”
I’m so glad she did this as I love pastel tones, plus it’s perfect for spring!
Olivia Bowen’s Floral Trend Predictions
Speaking of seasons, let’s dive into the floral wedding trends I think we’ll see this year, and the Hitched vendors that can bring them to life.
Colourful Spring Flowers
I feel like the era of minimalism is behind us, and this year couples are going to get excited about bold, bright colours for their wedding flowers. Think blue, red, yellow and purple!
Sonning Florist is a florist based in Reading, and the owner Heather Reilly explained what flowers she thinks will be popular for weddings over the next year.
She shared that Pinterest Trends revealed users looking for inspiration for “bright wedding flowers” and “spring wedding flowers” have increased by 60% month on month. “Some of my personal favourites are double tulips, anemones, ranunculi, daffodils, muscari and blossom,” she reveals. You heard it here first…
Preserved Flowers
When I got married, I was so gutted when I had to say goodbye to my wedding flowers! Obviously we gave them away to friends and family so they didn’t go to waste, but I just wanted to keep them forever.
Loads of other couples feel the same way, which is why this year I think we’ll see a massive demand for flower preservation. With the right service, you can keep your flowers looking fresh for years to come - plus, getting them pressed into coasters, keyrings or charms make gorgeous gifts to surprise the newlyweds with after the wedding.
Hitched has some amazing flower vendors, but my favourite is Nogard Creations. The owner, Laura McGrath, explains that “preserving your wedding flowers is a fabulous way to keep the memories of your special day. After spending so much time choosing your bouquet as well as the financial cost, it seems such a shame to throw them away after a week!”.
I totally agree with Laura, so why not make your flowers work harder for you by preserving them into something beautiful? Or, if you’d rather have preserved flowers make a feature your big day, florists like Wild Jar create stunning dried floral centrepieces from pampas grass, ideal for bohemian weddings.
Peachy Pink
As I mentioned earlier, I love my bouquet from Wedding Flower Company because Cathy combined my favourite flowers with this gorgeous shade of peach - which also happens to be Pantone’s Colour of the Year!
I think that’s a big hint that we’re about to see a lot of peach at weddings this year. For more inspiration, F For Flower is a florist in West London that has loads of peachy pink bouquets on their storefront if you’re leaning into this trend for your wedding!
Maybe couples could match the bridesmaid dresses to the peach bouquets, or mix the flowers with real peaches for some fruity centrepieces?
Tall Stems
Just like the colours are going to be brighter, I also think the flowers will be taller and bigger than ever this wedding season. As much as I love a cute little bouquet that doubles up as a centrepiece, I am such a fan of bold, larger-than-life flower arrangements that really make a statement.
I’m thinking bouquets balanced on pedestals, tall columns wrapped in ivy, and maybe even flower walls covered in brightly coloured blooms that the wedding party can take photographs in front of.
London-based florist, The Floral Decor, has some incredible examples on their storefront of big, beautiful arrangements that they’ve made for previous weddings. After all, it’s your wedding day - go big!
Cascading Bouquets
This year, more is more. I am obsessed with cascading bouquets - I just love how flowers like amaranthus and jasmine trail down towards the floor. I think it looks so elegant, especially with really bright flowers in purple and pink, you can double them up as hanging centrepieces.
Into the Wild florist in London has some gorgeous examples of natural, overflowing flower arrangements that reach from floor to ceiling. I’m obsessed!
Curious about how much these wedding flowers would cost? Check out our guide on how much wedding flowers cost.
For more inspiration from Olivia Bowen, discover all her favourite wedding vendors from her recent article with Hitched.
