How to Choose Wedding Florals by Season

It’s no surprise that florals are one of the most defining elements of a wedding day design. While some celebrations might forgo blooms for the sake of curating a particular aesthetic (and keeping down the budget), most couples will want to adorn every moment of their nuptials with stunning florals to curate a romantic, beautiful environment. Although weddings can take place any day of the year, there’s no denying that certain flowers are best suited to decorating events in particular seasons.

Floral designers emphasize that when crafting your wedding vision, you must take seasonality into account. “While there’s no hard and fast rule of sticking to certain flowers in certain seasons, most florists will agree, seasonal is always best,” explains floral and event designer Maxine Owens. “The freshness and quality of the flowers are at their height, so blooms will be larger, extremely hearty, and will last longer.” Using florals at their peak can also add to the overall feeling of your celebration. “We love working with seasonal flowers and foliages—we find it really grounds the event in a time and place,” shares Marta Knudson of Sophie Felts Floral Design.

Of course, if there’s a particular flower that you absolutely need to have at your ceremony, most planners and floral designers can find a workaround. You just need to take into account that your budget (and carbon footprint) could bloat exponentially. While peonies might be a wedding floral favorite, Knudson explains they could double in cost from $12 to $25 per stem outside of its short peak season that lasts from May to June. 

“Out-of-season flowers typically are imported from regions with temperatures suitable to grow those varieties,” notes Owens. “These countries can often be thousands of miles away from their delivery destination. Additionally, flowers can be grown in expensive controlled environments for temperature regulation. This not only increases the cost to grow the product, but also increases the amount spent on packaging and refrigerated transport.”

Being open about your vision and your budget is essential to help your planning and floral design team make the best choices for your wedding day arrangements. “Once that is determined, we would see how best we can achieve it by recommending flowers based on the time of year they are getting married so it can fit within their budget,” says planner Sneh Diwan of Diwan By Design. “As an alternative, if a couple really wants a specific flower that is not in season or within their budget, we propose silk flowers as an option.”

If you want to choose the best blooms for your wedding day, read ahead to see what floral designers love to decorate with each season.

Spring

If you want to put florals to the forefront of your nuptials, consider booking a venue in April to early June. “Spring provides the most abundant options for cut flowers,” advises Owens. “My favorites here include lilacs, peonies, poppies, tulips, and fritillaria.” Knudson adds that ranunculus and spirea are also excellent choices for a spring wedding arrangement.

Summer

At a summer celebration, designers absolutely love to incorporate hydrangea to create volume, while foxglove and delphinium can add height to a floral display. Cosmos, clematis, scabiosa, and sunflowers can bring a fresh and organic feel to an arrangement, while garden roses are an elegant alternative to peonies as their season ends in early June.

Fall

If you’re hosting a wedding in the fall, your floral designer will likely advise you to incorporate stunning dahlias into your arrangements. Owens adds that “marigolds, chrysanthemums, and celosia take my heart in fall.” Want to host an autumnal wedding full of foliage? Snowberry can add a charming white pop to a greenery display.

Winter

While winter may provide the coldest temperatures, there are still beautiful flowers that bloom during the season. In addition to seasonal foliage, floral designers absolutely love to adorn a winter wedding with anemone, hellebore, and amaryllis.