One of the questions that I had while Brian and I were planning our wedding was whether we should choose real or fake wedding flowers! I reached out to several local wedding florist and received prices that I thought were probably typos! They weren’t! Up until then, I’d always said I wasn’t a big flower person! I didn’t really like flowers! I’d never been a fan of receiving flowers from Brian or anyone else for that matter! I hadn’t even really thought about needing flowers at my wedding until I realized that I would probably need a bouquet for myself and my girls! Or centerpieces! Or maybe even flowers at the alter! Or boutonnieres! Fake flowers sounded great as it seemed like a way to save some money at the time! But I had to ask myself a few questions that I believe you should too if you’re on the fence between real or fake wedding flowers!

What is our flower budget?

After pricing real and fake flowers, I realized that there would be a pretty decent cost associated with both! I suggest first deciding on a budget for flowers along with other decor! You don’t have to have flowers at all, but I do think that they are a great addition!

Is there a “real” difference?

Over the years, we’ve gotten this question from a few of our brides! Can you tell a difference between real and fake flowers in the photos? My answer isn’t as straightforward as you may think! I have photographed fake flowers that look so real! I’ve also photographed fake flowers that look completely fake! I think it really depends on your preference! As a wedding photographer who loves pretty details, I love when our brides have real flowers! Some of our brides love having a big beautiful bouquet full of roses while others are okay passing on it! I do think that if you want to have photos with your beautiful wedding rings inside of your bouquet, real flowers are a must!

So did I do real or fake flowers?

I did a mixture of real and fake on our wedding day! There was a hanging rose piece over our heads during the ceremony that was filled with fake roses. My bouquet along with my girls bouquets were real. The guys boutonnieres were also real and so were all of our centerpieces and aisle flowers!