Have you ever thought about what happens when your wedding is done? What happens to all of the flowers? Flowers are in bouquets, centerpieces, table decorations, ceremony decorations, and various other places. Plus, you probably spend hundreds, if not thousands, on them. What happens to them?
It’s really up to you! Plan ahead and make arrangements ahead of time. You have a few options:
Donate
You can have your flowers donated to a nursing home or to a hospital. Consider donating the bouquets, centerpieces and large arrangements to bring happiness to many. If you donate to a nursing home or a hospital, you will know that you’re brightening someone’s day with beautiful flowers. Who doesn’t enjoy looking over and seeing something pretty?
Look for a local company that handles distribution of these bouquets to nursing homes and hospitals. In Knoxville, there is a company called Random Acts of Flowers that takes donated floral arrangements, and rearranges them into smaller arrangements that fit nicely in a patient’s room. See if your local area has something similar!
You can also donate flowers to the church you were married in. When I was married, we donated 2 huge floral arrangements that were used during our ceremony to the church for Sunday morning worship. Plus, our names were in the bulletin and noted that the flowers were given in honor of our new marriage.
Preserve
I mentioned that the bridal bouquet is often times preserved. You have options! You can have them freeze dried and displayed in a nice shadow box or lantern centerpiece. You can also choose some of your favorite flowers and have them pressed and then placed on a nice display for remembrance of your wedding day. You’d be surprised at how many options you have with floral preservation!
Let Guests Take Them
If you want to go the simple route, allow guests to take the centerpieces home at the end of the night. I know I’ve been to a few weddings where this has happened, and I always try to snatch one up! Have the DJ or band make an announcement as everyone starts to get ready for the send off. If you’re going to go with this option, let your florist know and ask them to provide a roll of kraft paper so that the guests take just the flowers, and not the vases they were displayed in.
Whichever route you choose, lean on your florist for their recommendation. They have all sorts of local connections for flowers after a wedding or funeral. Plus, she might even have some better ideas than me!
Do you have another idea? I’d love to know! Please comment!