Environmentally Friendly Wedding Florals

Couples wishing to have a more eco-friendly wedding with consideration for the natural environment have a heavy task at hand. Weddings come with travel emissions, waste, and other environmental costs we often overlook. It is a pleasure to work with countless couples from across the country who come to Shiraz Garden and ask how to be mindful of the environment and waste for their wedding day.

Photos by Ashley Eubanks Photography

Planning + Floral Forever Beloved Co

One of the easiest choices is choosing a no-foam florist.

• What is a no-foam florist? We’re glad you asked!

• These florists specialize in creating arrangements that are environmentally friendly in that they do not include wasteful foam.

• We talked to our favorite no-foam florist, Caroline with Forever Beloved Co, to get the scoop on this amazing floral choice!

WHY DO YOU DESIGN as a NO-FOAM FLORIST?

The biggest reason I do it is because I learned that way from a florist who was very concerned with the environment. Foam doesn’t compost and is terrible for landfills. Greenery doesn’t need to be in a water source. And lots of flower varieties will stay fresh outside of water for half a day. Flowers that do not last outside of a water source (roses, hydrangea’s, dahlias) can still be used beautifully with the help of a water tube to keep them fresh! The water tubes are reusable and easy to prep. Even better my kids always love helping me with that part.

I have only used foam one time and it was terrible. It leaked water and you can’t adjust flowers. Once it’s in it’s in! And that type of static design is not always good for me as a florist. I like to adjust. Chicken wire allows me to move and remove and replace flowers with ease. And again, these materials are reusable.

WHAT TO DO WITH FLOWERS AFTER THE WEDDING

Pre-covid it was a common practice at Shiraz Garden for our staff to donate wedding flowers to local nursing homes and other places to brighten up peoples’ day. Our staff, and other event staff usually, are always delighted to take home flowers too! That isn’t a possibility right now, but we love Caroline’s creative and pro-active approach:

I always talk with couples about what to do with the flowers after the wedding. Even if the family want to take home flowers there is still often a large amount left-over. I bring rubber bands to the event and after the wedding I bundle as many buds together as possible and make little bouquets for guests and the bride to take with her, too. This way they are easily accessible to people to take home and enjoy for a few more days.

Because the ceterpieces are assembled with chicken wire and not foam the couple is able to give the flowers to guests to take them home as well.

And to help make any large alter pieces more eco-friendly and less wasteful, I purchase a plastic urn and spray paint it to match the couple’s theme. Then the couple is able to keep the urn and I encourage them to use it pushed in their garden or at their front door with flowers for decoration.

I have more and more couples concerned about waste of weddings and are delighted to hear that I don’t use foam and they can still take home most of the flowers.

If there are flowers that don’t end up going home with guests or event staff, we encourage our couples to designate someone to collect the remaining flowers and compost them or find a great place to donate (hospitals, nursing homes, schools, etc) if possible with current restrictions.