Top Trends for 2025 and 2026 Winnipeg Wedding
I love this quote encouraging couples planning their weddings: âYou canât please everyone, so please yourself. Trying to make every family member and guest happy can lead to a wedding that doesnât reflect you two as a couple. Focus on what makes you happy.â So my friends, if you donât like what I have to say here, thatâs TOTALLY FINE. You do you, my friends. Make your wedding the greatest it can be, for you.
And before I get too far, the wedding trends I forecasted last year (and the year before, TBH), are still totally relevant: sculptural floral design, creative floor plans, focal design moments, mono-bloom bouquets (I see this fading out, but I donât know why â I still love it!), meandering aisles (still looking for someone to let me dig into this for them!), unique draping, and a few bows touches here and there!
And now, letâs get into the pretty and inspirational! (And PS â if youâre newly engaged, congratulations! If youâre new here, welcome! Here on the blog, I share a deep look into my real weddings, along with sharing planning advice and tips!)
I always love forecasting wedding trends, so here we go!
Writing my annual wedding trends post is one of my favourite posts to work on. Itâs fun to see how many of my couples are digging into âtrends,â and TBH itâs also kind of fun for me to hate on trends that other people are talking about. Not all trends are good trends, friends.
Photo above by Brittany Mahood Photography
As always, before I jump into some of my favourite trends that I hope weâll see continuing into 2025 and beyond, here are a few things that are always at the top of my list:
Environmental Responsibility
Quality Over Quantity
Locally Grown Flowers
Doing Things Your Own Way
I love this quote encouraging couples planning their weddings: âYou canât please everyone, so please yourself. Trying to make every family member and guest happy can lead to a wedding that doesnât reflect you two as a couple. Focus on what makes you happy.â So my friends, if you donât like what I have to say here, thatâs TOTALLY FINE. You do you, my friends. Make your wedding the greatest it can be, for you.
And before I get too far, the wedding trends I forecasted last year (and the year before, TBH), are still totally relevant: sculptural floral design, creative floor plans, focal design moments, mono-bloom bouquets (I see this fading out, but I donât know why â I still love it!), meandering aisles (still looking for someone to let me dig into this for them!), unique draping, and a few bows touches here and there!
And now, letâs get into the pretty and inspirational! (And PS â if youâre newly engaged, congratulations! If youâre new here, welcome! Here on the blog, I share a deep look into my real weddings, along with sharing planning advice and tips!)
Mocha Mousse: The Pantone Colour of the Year
Iâll admit something here: normally I hate the Pantone colour of the year. And maybe I hate the colour itself less than the way people use them. Typically I just find the Pantone colours of the year to be so saturated, and then wedding vendors with no design sense (oops, but Iâm just being honest) take it in the most literal way and make crap with it đŤ
But this one!! I like this one! Though again, I think I like the mocha mousse less than I do the things that we can add to it. Iâm seeing the mocha tone look amazing with chartreuse and bright shades of green, mauves, even with richer burgundies.
Sculptural Floral Ingredients
Last year I highlighted sculptural floral designs as a trend; this year, Iâm getting more into the detail of it by telling you that itâs all about the INGREDIENTS.
As floral designers, we canât create the unique and funky shapes youâre inspired by, without using unique and funky ingredients. If this is what youâre looking for, then you need to hire a designer who actually gets it. This is where a lesser designer will falter.
Iâm seeing lots of calla lilies, lilies, clematis, gloriosa lilies, antherium (yes, still!), nerine, helleboresâŚunfortunately, all the things that are expensive đ
Moody Ambiance
Where great lighting, rich colours, and a desire for a chic, elevated vibe combine, we can create a really moody ambiance. Iâm not sure what has spurred this trend on, but itâs here and definitely not going anywhere.
A few tips for achieving a moody ambiance: Lighting will be key. The overhead lights should be dimmed or off, with uplighting and spotlighting made a priority. Add in table lamps and candles to boost the ambiance.
Deep colours work really well to naturally lend a moody feel to a design, as do long tables and signature cocktails.
Rounded Shapes
Circular altars surrounded with florals, curved meandering aisles, round guest tables arranged in a serpentine shape, rounded die-cut wedding invitations or table numbers, or scalloped edges on a veil â what weâre looking for is ways to soften the hard edges that might feel a little too harsh.
Pattern Play
I know this is going to stress a lot of you out. But maximalism pattern play is a really fun trend that weâre going to see taking centre stage â but in larger markets. In Winnipeg, this is going to be really hard to accomplish because our rental options are so much more limited.
So how can you make this happen in a smaller town? Pattern play will be best accomplished through stationery and signage pieces, and bold colour florals/mismatched vessels. Throw a fun table number into the mix, and see what you can find for coloured glassware, and thatâll make a big difference!
Cottage + Granny Chic
I see the cottagecore trend of a few years ago moving more into a granny chic vibe, retaining those kind of sweet, old lady elements: nubby linens, soft floral patterns, pastels, woven or rattan textures (lamp shades, chair backs, and so on!).
Think charming, English countryside wedding. Like if Iris from âThe Holidayâ got married at her sweet little cottage.
Even better if you can hold your ceremony in an overgrown, outdoor ceremony, with a flowing dress with some lace touches, and mismatched ceramic vases.
Old World Opulance
This one comes to us from my friend Kayla at Kayla Lagos Weddings:
In 2025 we are seeing the revival of old world opulence and the Rococo era. Think, ultra feminine, pastel, Bridgerton garden party! For tablescapes we will continue to focus on gold and brass accents through cutlery, candlesticks, and dinnerware. Floral arrangements will be abundant in pastel colour palettes on guest tables and in ceremony spaces. We will see lots of intricate details like lace, bows, ruffles, pearls and ditsy floral prints in things like stationery, linens and accessories. Intricate piping on cakes and dessert tables, as well as ruffle cake layers is also continuing to trend. Linens will be very important this year in lots of draping and choosing tablecloths with florals, texture and pastel tones to bring the whole look together. In wedding attire the continuation of bows is important along with pearl accessories, coloured embroidery and drop waist gowns. We are so excited to see how this trend and these elements are interpreted in 2025!
Unique Draping
Iâm straight up recycling this from last year because itâs not slowing down. This one is a bit harder because it really hinges on your venue, but Iâm seeing a lot of really interesting, unique draping installations and Iâm HERE for it. Why?
Draping can create a really cool ambiance, and completely change the vibe of the space. Dreamy, modern, organic, cleanâŚall things possible with drapery. And no unsightly venue walls to contend with.
Images Above: Dress, Table, Champagne Tower
looking for a wedding floral designer in winnipeg?
We can design an incredibly beautiful wedding for you, trendy or not.
Flowers are the best way to make a statement at your wedding. Whether you already have a specific vision or want me to dream up something custom just for you, reach out to Stone House Creative for stunning bridal bouquets, truly unique ceremony backdrops, and beautiful floral centrepieces to create the perfect ambiance for your wedding!
Modern Architectural Inspired Wedding at the Leaf
Itâs finally time to share SO MUCH DETAIL from this architecturally-inspired editorial I designed at The Leaf!
My vision was something chic, sculptural, and heavily influenced by the use of a single type of flower (in this case, white lilies). The slatted wood wall in the mezzanine area of The Leaf was absolute perfect backdrop for the strong lines I wanted to create.
Itâs finally time to share SO MUCH DETAIL from this architecturally-inspired editorial I designed at The Leaf!
My vision was something chic, sculptural, and heavily influenced by the use of a single type of flower (in this case, white lilies). The slatted wood wall in the mezzanine area of The Leaf was absolute perfect backdrop for the strong lines I wanted to create.
Iâm going to start with a very quick visual overview of the design elements, and then get down into some nitty gritty of the pricing for you!
Photos by Keila Marie Photography
Arenât these details just perfection! Iâm so grateful to all of the wedding professionals who helped me bring this to life. It takes a team, friends!
The tabletop was a labour of love to design. Pretty early on, I decided that I wanted to use Planned Perfectlyâs toffee linen and Union Tableâs matte black flatware with ribbed glassware, but I hemmed and hawed over the place settings. Iâm so glad I chose the speckled plates because they add such fun!
Multiple sculptural floral centrepieces are featured down the table, accented with ribbed olive green candles, black trays with fresh fruit, and chains of hyacinth blooms, which added some really fun, modern whimsy.
How much do you think this bridal bouquet costs?
Bridal Bouquet Ingredients:
Freesia
Tweedia
Hellebore
Mini Cymbidium Orchids
Allium
Looped Hyacinth Chains
And finished with hand died silk ribbon from
Tono and Co
BRIDAL BOUQUET COST: $435
This bouquet was a bit of a trial for me â because it wasnât at all what I had planned on. Almost none of the flowers that I ordered for it actually came in! I envisioned a bouquet that was on the smaller side, with a chic, highly textured design, with these hyacinth chains as a major focal point. Thatâs basically the only element that came together the way I had originally intended.
That being said, sometimes we have to roll with what we can, especially when weâre working with live, perishable product! The lime cymbidium orchids were perfect for tying through that bright chartreuse tone I needed, and while I didnât plan on using the white freesia, I loved the warm yellow in the centre and the linear stem shape.
Most of my bridal bouquets arenât this high cost, but the ingredients I used are mostly premium product and that comes with a higher price tag.
I love wandering around the Tropical Biome at the Leaf, but I didnât want Erikaâs portraits to feel too âwedding photos at the Leaf.â Keila took my vision of clean, bright, fine art meets tropical and played up the atmosphere and the way it supported Erikaâs modern column gown, rather than going too typical and obvious.
This is the Aesling Sagrada gown. Itâs chic, minimal lines paired with the dramatic (detachable!) cape is what drew me to it. It was perfect for this architectural vision!
Get the Look
The arch was my personal focal point; I wanted something strong, something modern, and choosing to focus on just one ingredient type is not at all common, but forcing myself to stick to just one element allowed me to really play up the star shaped flower.
I tucked in a few double lilies for a softer texture here and there, which were absolutely divine.
Add in a set of minimal black chivari chairs, and youâve got quite a cool ambiance thanks to that slatted wall and lily arch combo! If thereâs a piece of architectural interest at your venue, consider how you can play it up.
THIS CAKE. Jenna did an amazing job, as always!! This wafer paper design feels feminine, structural, and really strong all at the same time. I honestly cringe at the thought of how long this must have taken her to make! The vertically applied wafer paper is reminiscent of that slatted wood wall I took so much inspiration from, and I love the way she curved it around the cake, and added some delicate movement to it. Cake perfection.
I remember gasping when I opened up the stationery suite from Rae + Dot. They used a speciality printing technique called blind debossing to add a three-dimensional ribbed texture to the paper, again perfectly hearkening back to the slatted wood wall that I love so much. I had requested a patterned envelope liner, and suggested that an architectural take on a lily bloom would be cool. The line drawing with the warm toffee paper was AMAZING.
Isnât Erika absolutely gorgeous? She ALWAYS is, by the way. Itâs kind of irritating how beautiful she is. Jessica Kmiec went pink and glowy on her, and Bailey pulled her hair back with these striking pearl hair pins. Chic, modern, goddess. Yeah baby.
Erika also helped me set the table and helped me clean up, and Iâm so grateful to you đ
Keila Marie Photography ~ Stone House Creative ~ The Leaf ~ Planned Perfectly ~ Union Table ~ Jenna Rae Cakes ~ Rae and Dot Studio ~ Love note Bride ~ Jessica Kmiec Artistry ~ Bailey VanderVeen
Hire a Talented Wedding Floral and Event Designer in Winnipeg
Not to toot my own horn (too much), but I happen to be really good at this. Iâd be thrilled to design an incredible atmosphere and accompanying florals for your wedding.
A Springtime Floral Dream ~ Reverdie Workshop
Earlier this spring, before wedding season kicked off, I travelled about an hour outside of Montreal to attend Reverdie, a floral design workshop. Hosted by Trille Floral (a Canadian designer) and Winsome Floral (an American designer), the experience was quite amazing.
Iâve always believed that hands-on floral design education, and inspiration, is of utmost importance. Itâs been a few years since Iâve been able to attend a workshop, and it was worth every penny and every moment. Let me tell you about it.
Earlier this spring, before wedding season kicked off, I travelled about an hour outside of Montreal to attend Reverdie, a floral design workshop. Hosted by Trille Floral (a Canadian designer) and Winsome Floral (an American designer), the experience was quite amazing.
Iâve always believed that hands-on floral design education, and inspiration, is of utmost importance. Itâs been a few years since Iâve been able to attend a workshop, and it was worth every penny and every moment. Let me tell you about it.
Photos by Grace & Ardor Co
When I started working in flowers, I was quite apprehensive about actually designing. In fact, it was quite a long time before I was âallowedâ to design. Despite that, I received some really wonderful hands-on design training and solid basics and mechanics from several of my colleagues, who I still consider to be some of the best designers in Canada. When I left that retail shop, and then eventually started Stone House Creative, I made it a priority to continue investing in hands-on and online design training. Itâs really cost me quite a lot of money, but I donât regret it at all.
A strong sense of basics, design elements, colour theory, and flower care are all of high importance in floral design. Without these, you canât figure out your own style or create pieces that both look good and hold up. So to all of you who may be interested in floral design, please donât hesitate to receive hands-on training. Yes, itâs an investment. But just as I wouldnât trust a dentist who hasnât gone to dental school, I wouldnât be comfortable with a floral designer charging for their work without investing in any actual training (and yes, obviously I understand that thereâs an enormous difference between a medical professional and floral design).
Reverdie was a 4 day experience, set at a beautiful European-inspired chateau and vineyard where we all were able to stay on-site. The first afternoon, we met and got to know each other, and then sat down for a welcome dinner that was absolutely incredible.
We sat at the long table above, with a simplistic and inspiring design of simple spirea arrangements and warm toned candles and linens.
On day 2, we sat for 2 design training sessions before letting loose into the flowers: centrepiece arrangements, and bouquet design.
Above is the arrangement I created. Trille and Winsome have a slightly different process for designing arrangements than I do, so it was cool to give that a shot and see the final product. The tulips were absolutely incredible, so I wanted to make them the real focal point and let them do their thing. I love the wonky lines that tulip stems create, and this cinnamon-and-butter palette was so lovely for spring.
Love these table designs? Let's talk about what makes them amazing.
1: Repetition of Elements
The overall tablescapes here are quite straightforward: a pairing of candles, a floral moment // A pairing of candles, a floral moment // A pairing of candles, a floral moment...you get the drill. If you're unsure how to design a great tablescape, keep it simple!
2: Florals en Masse
Our first two dinners had striking floral centrepieces, and possibly what's most striking is that we have just one ingredient, en masse. This is a design tactic that always feels clean and elevated to me. If this is something you're drawn to, be sure to tell your designer as most of us don't expect that you're wanting this.
3: Curated Colour Palette
You know I love colour -- and hopefully you've also heard me say that you don't need to go super vibrant to indulge in colour. Each of these dinners features a different palette, and different accent colours, and we can take inspiration from all of them: whites with warm neutrals, vibrant pink with complimentary mint tones, and saturated yellows. Take a look and decide what draws you in most: monochromatic, highly saturated, or complimentary tones!
On day 3, we took part in 2 different group installations: one outdoors at a chapel, and one indoors to create an incredible meadow.
Obviously I cannot choose a favourite, but I will say that the high volume of yellow forsythia branches that we use has me completely inspired. Clustering in pockets of varied pinks and creating height and depth made this feature come to life.
For our final dinner, we used each of our centrepieces down the length of the table, again paired with taper candles and also with the most exquisite handmade plates by Kels in the Studio, a New Brunswick potter. It was a really full table, making it slightly less practical but Iâll tell you what, it was SO nice to be able to be a guest at our own table instead of always setting it for someone else! We also repurposed many of the forsythia pieces that we used alongside the chapel into the window sills, as well as around the base of the cake table. This is the kind of oomph that goes a long way in creating an environment, rather than just designing pretty floral centrepieces, and if thereâs opportunity to repurpose florals (read: there must be enough time to make it happen), then this is definitely a way to do it!
Iâm so grateful to Courtney and Cara for this beautiful experience. It was restful, inspiring, and so peaceful. Many of us students were also moms of young kids, so the group was in need of some rest. It was such a wonderful respite! If youâre a floral designer looking for a workshop to attend, definitely consider Reverdie (or their annual fall workshop, Autumn in New York). It was magical.
Workshop Hosts: trille floral & winsome floral ~ grace and ardor ~ elegant productions ~ chateau ste agnes ~ pearle by katrina tuttle ~ kels in the studio~ paper chain stationery ~ scribble and script ~ ana capbatut ~ alexis burkhardt Hair ~ victoria roggio beauty ~ just iced custom cakes ~ glow the event store ~ the studio house~ native ribbon co
LOOKING FOR A WEDDING FLORAL AND EVENT DESIGNER IN WINNIPEG?
We can design a beautiful, unique wedding environment for you. Find out more about our floral services by inquiring below!
Call me biased, but flowers are the best way to make a statement at your wedding. Whether you already have a specific vision or want me to dream up something custom just for you, reach out to Stone House Creative for stunning bridal bouquets, truly unique ceremony backdrops, and beautiful floral centrepieces to create the perfect ambiance for your wedding!
My Favourite Wedding Bar Moments
One of my favourite details at a wedding is often the bar floral moment. The bar is one of the busiest places at your wedding, and with lines forming, it makes sense to add some kind of floral or styling touch to tie through your design elements or personalize in some way, in a place where guests will actually take notice and interact with it.
One of my favourite details at a wedding often is the bar.
One of my favourite details at a wedding is often the bar floral moment. The bar is one of the busiest places at your wedding, and with lines forming, it makes sense to add some kind of floral or styling touch to tie through your design elements or personalize in some way, in a place where guests will actually take notice and interact with it.
First things first: donât feel that you need to go huge or super creative to create a beautiful moment at your bar! As these images I had saved on Pinterest show you, thereâs a huge range of what can be done. Yes, we can go allllll out with the florals and line the entire bottom of the bar with them, but a small arrangement coupled with your bar menu or a single-ingredient arrangement can also do some seriously heavy lifting!
Photo Credits from Left to Right: 1: The Goodsmiths, 2: Mulberry & Moss, 3: Candice Edinger, 4: Jenny Quicksall / Tularosa Flowers
Below youâll find a few of my personal favourites of Stone House Creative designs, along with some details on why I thought it worked!
Incorporating Signage
The bar moment that made me a little famous on Instagram! It seemed like every florist in North America wanted to know how I designed this (foam-free!) and Iâm hoping I can replicate this at a wedding because it was SO fun. From the bold colours, to the way the florals wrapped around the absurdly cute menu sign, it all worked so well. Special shout-out to the two-toned carnations for doing so much work here!
Event designed by Kayla Lagos Events
Joel & Justyna Photography / See it all here
Personalized and Fun
Soiree Event Planning designed this super fun bar front with Two Fold Paper Co, and I loved the personalized feel. We went heavy on the florals, lining the entire top shelf of the bar backs with stem vases and small arrangements. The joyful burst of colour was the perfect compliment to this rock-n-roll meets rainbow wedding.
Lush Florals with Bar Menu
The bar at the Pavilion is HUGE so we can really do a full, dramatic moment like this one. For this wedding, Alana gave me free reign to create something lush and full, with the only request being to incorporate her bar sign and its cute copper stand. I love that the floral surround works to draw attention to the menu, and not compete with it. After all, we all know why your guests are at the bar â give them the info they need in an aesthetically pleasing menu, and make a statement with the flowers alongside it!
Brittany Mahood Photography / See it all here
Simple and Textural
For this wedding at the Assiniboine Park Pavilion, we simply wanted a beautiful arrangement. It didnât need to be huge, it didnât need to be a major statement â just something really pretty. I chose the terracotta vase for its shape (so chic and fun!) as well as the colour, because it complimented the warm tones in the flowers SO well. As with the rest of the flowers for the wedding, I used a lot of texture, with berries, trumpet-shaped calla lilies, fuzzy kangaroo paw, and a few coral dahlias.
Ariana Tennyson Photography / See it all here
Go For Height
Sometimes itâs nice to go up! This taller arrangement (featuring the most beautiful locally grown hydrangea, dahlias, and amaranthus) didnât compete with the bar menu, but rather worked with it. The only bummer was the bartender who kept pushing it all off to the sideâŚdonât they know the aesthetics are important?! đ (and yes, they actually had a ton of space for working, Iâm not that impracticalâŚall the time lol).
Brittany Mahood Photography / See more here
Brittany Mahood Photography / See it all here
WHABAM
Now this bar really had its momentâŚand it was all repurposed from the ceremony! We designed a floral nest for the ceremony, so we had a lot of pieces to work with. When I walked into the room, I immediately felt like the scale of the bar was off â the pretty rounded bar front and the black bar backs just felt too small underneath the large truss structure with hanging chandeliers. We didnât have a specific plan for how we would repurpose the ceremony florals, and with Harlow Eventsâ blessing to do whatever the heck I wanted, I started by placing 3 large floral pieces across the top of the bar backs. Amazing. We added another piece to the centre of the bar, to help the bar menu (and later, the wedding cake) stand out a bit more, and then flanked the sides of the bar with more pieces. It was pretty amazing, if I do say so myself!
Cutie Bar Meadows
This was another bar piece fully repurposed from the ceremony! I love the scalloped trim on the bar sign (playfully named after the coupleâs dog) and the whimsical, wildflower inspired arrangements added to the charm.
Casey Nolin Photography / See it all here
Kass Donaldson / See it all HERE
Florals + Drapery = Win
For this cocktail style wedding reception, Soiree Event Planning created a great floor plan with variation and movement throughout the room. There was an immediate desire to create a focal point in the room with the bar, so Planned Perfectly was brought in to create a cool drapery moment on the ceiling (which was pretty tricky to do in this room!). I loved that the drapery brought a lot of attention to the bar.
We went pretty simple with the flowers on the bar top itself, clustering a couple of smaller arrangements on either end of the bar. That freed us up to go a little more dramatic above the bar, creating a floral cloud that hung above. It smelled soooo good and a hanging element is always a cool element to incorporate into a design!
Put a Name On It
While the floral arrangement here is modern and fun, the bar itself is a major focalpoint. The family handmade it, giving it an adorable small town dive bar name and feel. It doesnât hurt that this bride is one half of Rae & Dot and sure knows what sheâs doing when it comes to branding and modern design.
The florals were paired with a duo of sandstone pillar candles, which was a simple way to round out the overall look.
Picture & Poet / See it all here
Multi Coloured Maximalism
This colourful wedding featured a large horseshoe shaped bar, which gave us lots of opportunity to create focal floral moments. This was just one of them, a modern design style featuring soft pink and lavender contrasted with bright orange and yellow, with some cute fruit styling tucked in. One of my favourite elements was the carnation chain on the left.
Rachwal Photography / See it all here
Mega Bar
We affectionally called this âmega barâ during our planning meetings with Soiree Event Planning, and the name stuck. There are so many great things about this design!
This wedding was during covid, so there was a desire to keep the lines moving and as short as possible â so, three separate bars it was! I love the floral wrap on two outside the bar fronts (which, of course, matched their dance floor decal and the coupleâs wedding invitations by Robin Egg Blue Design), with the bar menu decaled onto the middle bar front.
And then, of course, the floral moments! We separated the bars with these clear plinths, which added such a great design element. We added arrangements in gold urns on top of both plinths, as well as floral arrangements INSIDE the plinths, which tied back to the seating chart which also featured florals on and in plinths.
Brittany Mahood Photography / See it all here
The Aperol Spritz Truck
This one is sort of an honourable mention, because the truck wasnât the bar itself â but how stinking CUTE is this!? Of course we added a little moment inside the truck, on a very narrow shelf (itâs always important to know what kind of space youâre working with). This cute truck was from Mottola Grocery.
looking for a wedding floral and event designer in winnipeg?
We can design a beautiful wedding for you, with no detail forgotten about.
Whether itâs an intimate wedding for 30 or a celebration the likes of which have never been seen before, reach out to Stone House Creative for stunning bridal bouquets, truly unique ceremony backdrops, and beautiful floral centrepieces to create the perfect ambiance for your wedding!
Need help with your full event design? Iâll guide you through your colour palette selection, floor plan creation, and collaborate on all the design elements that will make your wedding YOURS. Full and partial event design services available.
How to Have Sustainable Wedding Flowers in Manitoba
It should come as no surprise to you that weddings as a whole can be rather wasteful events. After all, most weddings are very large parties with large guest lists, so even if thereâs just a bit of waste per guest, anything times 150 guests adds up pretty quickly.
It might, however, come as a surprise to you that the floral industry can be very wasteful. From huge amounts of plastic packaging, to all of the environmental harm caused by chemicals in large scale farming, to the ramifications of shipping flowers from all over the world, and moreâŚthereâs a lot of room for improvement.
I know that many of us are actively looking for ways to reduce our footprint and waste. Our weddings donât have to sacrifice that!
How to Have Sustainable Wedding Flowers
It should come as no surprise to you that weddings as a whole can be rather wasteful events. After all, most weddings are very large parties with large guest lists, so even if thereâs just a bit of waste per guest, anything times 150 guests adds up pretty quickly.
It might, however, come as a surprise to you that the floral industry can be very wasteful. From huge amounts of plastic packaging, to all of the environmental harm caused by chemicals in large scale farming, to the ramifications of shipping flowers from all over the world, and moreâŚthereâs a lot of room for improvement.
I know that many of us are actively looking for ways to reduce our footprint and waste. Our weddings donât have to sacrifice that!
So, here are some of my top ideas for having sustainable wedding flowers in Manitoba!
-Hire a florist who prioritizes locally grown flowers. This means probably getting married in July, August or September if youâre getting married in Manitoba so youâll have the best selection of blooms.
Now friends. Just like thereâs greenwashing in other industries, there are florists and/or online floral suppliers that want to make it seem like theyâre more of an earth-friendly option than they are. âSeasonal flowersâ means almost NOTHING if they canât tell you which farm from Manitoba grew their flowers. Basically everything is in season when you buy it in Ecuador and ship it across the ocean. This becomes a particular issue with websites that market themselves as cost-effective (like Costco or a particular online âfloral shopâ starting with C and ending with alliaâŚ) because there is literally nothing remotely locally grown through them. Promise you.
-Back to locally grown flowers. If you are open to it, give your floral designer free reign over the flower selections. This gives them the confidence to choose the best options for you and using entirely locally grown flowers.
-Rent, donât buy. You do not need to purchase your own vases. I repeat, you do NOT need to purchase your own vases (or linensâŚthe number of people who buy their own linens and then attempt to resell themâŚwhat on earth is the reason when you can rent them?!). Just rent them from your floral designer. No extra shipping, no extra packaging, and a lot less work on your end, too. If you do have some really cool vessels in mind, Iâd love to suggest that you have them made by a local, small batch artisan like Meg Does Pottery.
-Ask your florist not to use floral foam. Youâve likely noticed this dark green stuff in arrangements before â but Iâve got some bad news for you: floral foam is basically the devil. It is a plastic, itâs non-biodegradable, itâs made with toxic chemicals. Itâs killing aquatic life. Itâs baaaad. But, itâs also not necessary! Be clear with your floral designer that you do NOT want them to use any floral foam for your wedding, and then listen to them when they say what types/styles of designs they can do for you without foam. Foam has made floral design annoyingly easy (and honestly, lacking in skill), and a lot of the design styles that have been trending in wedding design rely on foam. Allow your designer to lead the conversation towards what will be best for you.
-Ask your florist what their compost protocols are. Locally grown flowers arenât grown with intense chemicals, so theyâre able to composted in home composters. However, imported flowers ARE grown with a ton of chemicals that arenât compostable by all facilities. Iâve always been told that Winnipegâs facilities canât handle the chemicals (though my neighbourhood has never been on a compost route anyways) so I started working with Compost Winnipeg a few years ago, as they can properly handle it. Itâs been AWESOME. I went from producing 2-3 large garbage bags of trash every single week to maybe 2 bags a month.
-Avoid dyed or preserved flowers. Weâre finally on the other side of the âdriedâ flowers trend, which was sadly filled with flowers that werenât actually dried, but cranked full of chemicals to bleach, artificially dye, and then preserve them. You donât just get neon pink bunny tails, my friends. In the end, things that are dyed and preserved generally canât be composted, which means youâre taking natural, compostable materials and turning them into literal trash.
LOOKING FOR A WEDDING FLORAL AND EVENT DESIGNER IN WINNIPEG?
In case you couldnât tell, sustainability is important to us at Stone House Creative.
Call me biased, but flowers are the best way to make a statement at your wedding. Whether you already have a specific vision or want me to dream up something custom just for you, reach out to Stone House Creative â and weâll make it as environmentally friendly as we possibly can!
