Did you know that flowers were in short supply or is this yet another Brexit moan...
If you have booked your wedding with your local florist have they mentioned this to you?
Before you start panicking and imagining that you will be walking down the aisle holding a bunch of foraged twigs, let us examine how this happened and some solutions to put your mind at rest!
Covid has caused a knock-on effect in many industries as I'm sure you are aware, and the flower industry is amongst them.
With the postponement of 1.3 million weddings over the course of 2020, the wedding industry has been working its sparkly socks off, not just trying to keep their own businesses afloat, but endeavouring to fulfil all the additional requests once weddings were allowed to take place again. Requests for flowers is so high at present that it is often impossible to order specific varieties and the favourite bridal colours of white and blush pink are particularly difficult to obtain, especially during the peak wedding season months of May- September.
Demand is exceeding supply, an age-old economic issue.
2022 weddings are predicted to be at a record 2.47 million in the UK, double the average number, this puts pressure on the growers to produce flowers to twice their normal volume.
It's something that can't be rectified overnight, flowers need time to mature and often growers just don't have the space or manpower to double their capacity.
Add that to the fact that sadly, many suppliers went out of business during the pandemic, which limits the supply available to florists.
The majority of cut flowers are flown into the UK, often as cargo fillers on passenger flights. The quantity of flights as we know has been greatly impacted. Along with transport problems, terrible growing conditions globally, lack of labour to pick and pack flowers it's no wonder that the flower industry is suffering. This of course has an impact on prices
Of course, we can source flowers locally, from small growers or flowers from the farm. These growers can supplement your supply but unless they have large heated greenhouses the season to buy from them is short and quantities limited. We just need to change our expectations to cope with this issue.
The situation will change, of course, it's not all gloom- but it will take several years to recover to what the market was producing pre-pandemic.
What can we do to ensure your wedding flowers are up to your expectations?
1. Manage your expectations - Florists Choice.
The key is to manage your wishes so that you are not overly keen on certain varieties of flowers. We realise that many couples now rely on Pinterest for luxurious images - try to keep a realistic view of what can be achieved and take your florists advice, know your budget and let them help you get the best.
Be flexible and trust your florist to choose for you, using your chosen colour scheme.
If you can allow your florist to scan the markets for you they will be able to buy the nearest to your wishes. All flowers are beautiful and have their own worth.
2. Using flowers in a clever way
If you have booked a wedding flower specialist, they will have a huge knowledge of not only commercial flowers, but blooms that resemble each other. For example, when peonies are out of season, garden roses can often be substituted. When Dahlias have finished blooming, large Chrysanthemums can be used, and often you may not even be aware of the difference.
3. "Flexing" & "Duplexing" Flowers
A clever florist will be able to change the appearance of specific flowers so that they can actually look like another. By reflexing tulip petals (peeling them backwards) for example, the flower can be made to look like an open rose. A reflexed Chrysanthemum can be made to look like an open gardenia.
By creating Duplex flowers (the art of wiring two separate blooms into each other) they can create a unique bloom that can sometimes look better than the original!
Ask your florist for alternatives - as an industry we thrive on being creative!
Further reading - https://www.chirpee.net/post/the-soaring-cost-of-wedding-flowers
Would you like wedding flower advice? Contact us today, we are happy to help.
Steph & Tim x
www.chirpee.net
To read the full article from Floranext: check out the behind-the-scenes gossip...