Are flowers important?

talimonet

I don't love them, and I don't want to break the budget.  Is anyone doing non-floral decor instead (I will definitely have a bouquet, at least).

tldh

Love flowers but can't justify spending money on a floral decor.  Only MOH and I will have bouquets.  FI, BM, FOB will have corsages.  MOB will have corsage.

Peavy

Only if they are important to you.  If you don't care, nobody else will, either.

suz62984

For me personally, flowers are really important. Flowers are my hobby and I used to work for a garden center. I don't go around thinking that they are important to everyone though. I would never judge anyone that didn't have flowers at their wedding. I would say, hey that was a neat idea for the BMs to carry _____ instead of flowers.  Don't break the budget just because flowers are traditional.

unplainjane

i think it's nice to have flowers for your bouquet and groom's boutonniere but if you don't like them don't spend a lot on them. for your centerpieces if you don't want to use flowers i find candelabras really nice. you may be able to rent them or buy used ones inexpensively.

Catwoman708

They are customary, and a gift to your wedding party, but certainly not mandatory.  It's a matter of your personal tastes and opinion.  If they aren't important to you, then you don't need them. 

You might want to ask your attendants and the moms if they would miss them terribly if you didn't do flowers.  I doubt the guys would have much opinion on them one way or another, and they might even be relieved not to have to wear them. 

You don't have to carry a bouqet, you can carry a prayer book or bible, a fan, a bouquet of feathers or crystals, or nothing at all.  The guys can wear pocket squares instead of bouts.  BM's don't have to have bouquets.  I remember years ago, BM mostly wore corsages, not bouquets. 

seanewton

Flowers are not very important to me, so I chose to mostly decorate with reusable items. We are doing lanterns for our centerpieces, and draping fabric on the gazebo where the ceremony will take place. I ended up finding a ridiculously good deal on flowers through a friend of a friend, so even bouquets/boutonierres/corsages aren't costing too much.

My philosophy with budgeting and planning this wedding was that I would spend money on the things I really care about, and everything else has either been downsized or eliminated. It is your party, spend money where you want to!

lgoldberry

My theory from the beginning of planning my wedding has been to find the nicest site I can afford, and then go cheap on all of the little things that are not very important to me (like flowers and invitations).  If your site is beautiful you will need less flowers.  The courtyard, view during the ceremony and even the bathrooms are already beautifully decorated at my site, so I really don't need to buy flowers to decorate those areas.  Through a family friend who loves to throw huge parties we have access to about 15 ornate hurricane lamps and silver trays so we are using that for the centerpieces and surrounding it by other tea candles (that you can buy very cheaply!).  We may possibly put a few roses in little tiny vases around the tables depending on our budget at the end (with 1 to 3 tiny vases per table), but that is it for flowers for the centerpieces.  It is saving me a ton of money.  I only have to buy the bouquets, corsages and boutonnieres, and I am keeping those very simple.

Erika Limpin

You can do a great candle arrangment centerpiece.  An idea is floating candles in vases filled with water.