9 Wedding Flower Mistakes Couples & Planners Make (and How to Avoid Them)
My approach has always been to make the floral planning process clear, collaborative, and genuinely enjoyable for my clients and planners, so you feel supported, confident, and grounded in reality from day one. I like to shoot it straight!
So before you fall down another Pinterest rabbit hole or second-guess your floral ideas, I’m here to clear a few things up.
Here are the most common mistakes I see couples (and yes, sometimes planners!) make when choosing wedding flowers, plus how to avoid them. Everything below are truly honest insights that come from real inquiries, consultations, proposals, and events I’ve designed over the years. I hope you find this helpful!
The Most Common Mistakes Couples and Planners Make When Choosing Wedding Flowers
1. Starting with Pinterest instead of the venue
The venue and its distinct personality sets the tone for everything your creative vendor team does to refine and elevate a vision. Light, flow, architecture, and natural surroundings all impact which colors, shapes, and arrangements will fit the space best.
For example, a design that looks breathtaking in a European villa might fall completely flat in a modern loft or outdoor garden.
What to do instead: Let the venue lead. Ask your planner and florist to consider the space and suggest design anchors, installations, tablescapes, and focal points that maximize impact.
2. Letting inspiration photos set unrealistic expectations
Every photo you see on The Wed and Pinterest is beautiful, and was created for a very specific space, budget, season, and install timeline. Trying to recreate it is not going to be the best fit (or sometimes even possible) for your specific event. Plus, your wedding should not be a carbon copy of someone else’s… right?
What to do instead: Use inspiration photos as a feeling reference, not a blueprint. Your florist’s job is to translate that mood into something custom for you, your venue, the season, and your vision.
3. Choosing aesthetics over feelings
For so long we focused on designing for the camera. But you and your guests experience your wedding in real life, moving through it, sitting in it, dancing in it. Floral design is a powerful tool that can guide the flow, create intimacy, feel immersive, and make people pause in the moment. Movement, texture, scale, even scent matter.
What to do instead: Before you open Pinterest, ask yourself: “How do I want my day to feel?” Ask your florist to prioritize high-impact moments and experiences based on this.
4. Underestimating how much flowers actually cost
It’s easy to see florals as just another line item on the budget. But the truth is: Flowers are often the most visually dominant design choice for a wedding or event. And when done thoughtfully, they do much more than fill space. Design-forward wedding florals will:
Set the tone
Define the mood
Transform your venue
Create an unforgettable experience for you and your guests
What to do instead: Think of florals as a design investment. Check out my post that breaks down how much weddings really cost in the San Francisco Bay Area here — including an easy downloadable guide you can use.
5. Forgetting about scale
Too small is underwhelming; too large is overwhelming. For example, an aisle marker does not work when it’s repurposed as a centerpiece because it’s designed to be viewed from above, usually one-sided, and often way too high to serve as a centerpiece. Balance is everything!
What to do instead: Ask your florist for their recommendations on scale and proportion. Have table measurements and venue layouts handy (another reason it’s so great working with planners!), or if your florist has experience at your venue they’ll have good intel.
6. Clinging to flowers that can’t survive the conditions
Some of the most popular flowers on Instagram and Pinterest are also sadly the most fragile (of course!). And what those photos don’t show is that wedding flowers often need to look fresh for 8-12+ hours, throughout transportation, long install timelines, waiting time, room flips, etc. Additionally, add in unavoidable variables like outdoor heat, direct sun, and wind, and your flowers are just fighting for their lives! Ha.
What to do instead: Ask your florist for recommendations for what will perform best and is a good fit for your palette and style.
7. Overloading on too many ideas
It’s not that couples don’t have great taste, but too many good ideas competing for attention waters down the overall impact of the design. When everything is “special”, nothing is, ya know!? Mixing too many styles, colors, and design directions ultimately creates chaos and confusion.
What to do instead: Narrow your inspiration board down to 10–20 very well-curated images that truly capture your vision; this is your “north star”. The fewer images you include, the easier it is for your creative team to understand your direction.
8. Assuming repurposing always saves money
For sustainability reasons, I love resourcing floral arrangements when it makes sense. Paired with potential cost savings, it can be a win-win. But in reality, the labor and logistics sometimes outweigh the benefits.
Moving installations requires extra staffing, time, logistics, careful handling and transport, and sometimes even redesign and additional flowers.
What to do instead: Ask your florist to evaluate repurposing based on real logistics, not just an idea, so you can make a decision that’s both beautiful and practical.
9. Ignoring sustainability
With sustainability at our core, we believe design can be both beautiful and responsible. Where your flowers come from, how they’re grown, and how they’re installed all matter, for the planet and for the people behind them.
The reality is that the floral industry still carries a significant environmental footprint, from imported blooms and chemical use to toxic single-use materials like floral foam. These are often invisible, but they are very real.
What to do instead: Work with a florist who values conscious sourcing, foam-free mechanics, and waste-reducing practices.
Ok, there you have it! Let me know your thoughts or questions in the comments below.
Let’s Create Something Unforgettable
Ready to see how design-forward florals can elevate your wedding? Inquire here to start exploring your options for a floral experience that’s anything but expected.