Hello, hello,
It’s me, Matthew, I can’t believe how long it’s been since I wrote something. I used to write once a day, way back when, now it’s like once a year maybe!
I just wanted to say thank you for all your continued support and love, especially with everything going on right now. It's been an extremely weird year, but just know weddings will come back with a vengeance and we’ll all be dancing together soon!
Whilst in lockdown I have found myself with a new hobby. It's always been there but this time it’s different, maybe it’s because I’m not travelling in my job as a luxury wedding planner or maybe it’s because I’m giving them more love than usual by actually sitting down and talking to them. Yes, you’ve got it, my house plants!
Inspiration
The other day I counted about 32 plants in our small house. Crazy, I know, but each of them right now is doing so well. Normally in the summer months, we’re travelling so I can’t get into a routine and unfortunately my little friends die. However this year, they’re all loving life, and I’m really enjoying looking after them! Hey, I'm even becoming a dad and propagating for the first time ever! If you want baby spider plants or baby money plants, let me know!
Haha, you’re probably wondering why in hell am I talking about my plants, and 'This is his comeback article?' but bear with me (Grrr!). No, the reason I’m here is to give you my opinion on two options for your wedding decor. You don’t need flowers, plants are just as powerful in creating something magical! And, with all that is going on, I’ve felt more love towards the green beasts and have been thinking actually plants could take over the wedding scene in the near future. So I wanted to compare notes and write something that would have you thinking, “ahhhhh, what, really?!!!!”
On a side note, we also watched the ‘Big Flower Fight’ on Netflix, and what the contestants did was astonishing. It really opened my eyes to the power of plants and organic materials that can be used to create masterpieces. Definitely worth a watch, if you have nothing better to do 😉
Okay so here it goes, I’m going to list the pros and cons then, evaluate the two options at the end. It would be great to have you here throughout, and have your opinion at the end, can you stay with us?
Photography by Bubblerock
Plants
Pros
- Eco & all-natural
- No waste because you can give them away as favours
- Easy to care for
- Can be set up early and easily
- Variation of sizes, and options
- YOU CAN CHOOSE UNLIMITED AMOUNT OF BEAUTIFUL ECLECTIC POTS!!! (That’s the perfect reason)
- Less money, though depending 😉
- Weirdly, you can create anything with plants - I know that’s hard to envision, but think about it? My life dream is to have every building in a city covered in plants. So if that’s a thing you can have that at weddings
- Live forever 🙂
- The power of creating a living ecosystem after the wedding for nature - for instance, you may have a plant arch, and after the wedding, this could be re-used in your garden, and kept and you would be supplying other natural inhabitants, with a home and food!
- Perfect for the organic, natural and green weddings - but I think they have a class/luxury to them, depending on the plants you choose.
Photography by Bubblerock
Cons
- They’re not flowers, the tradition of flowers goes back many, many, many years!
- Need watering to survive, like you may be super organised and set up in advance, but you may forget to water them, which will be sad if they’re all dead on the wedding day!!!
- More DIY - though I do want to become a plant architect and do luxury plant setups and designing - the team laughs at me and they say that’s the job of a gardener, but I think there is nothing out there like it!
- Soil, you’ll always need soil to care for the plants, and this could be messy over the dining table.
- Not so many colours
- Can’t be very creative with them like flowers, as they’re not singular stems - but hey I do think you can be creative and still get a huge wow!!
- Even though I put pots as a pro above they can also be a con, as they may not be the right fit/design for the project, and it’s too late, all the plants are potted and ready to go!
- Heavy, and not easy to move - depending on the size
Photography by Adam Alex
Flowers
Pros
- Endless options for colours
- Loads of options for design
- Limitless possibilities of type/species of flowers
- Easy to work with
- Can take your breath away!
- Smell/scent
- Insects love flowers, and if outside they’ll be happy for the day! Some could say this is a con because you don’t want insects gatecrashing… (although I LOVE insects so this point doesn’t bother me ;-)) But certain flowers attract certain insects, and having butterflies and bees come along I think it’s lovely! I would ask your florist what insects are attracted to what flowers.
- To make sure they don’t go to waste and make them last longer, donate them to a charity/hospice after the wedding so people can appreciate them for a little longer
- Dried flowers are eco friendly 🙂
- Artificial flowers can be used time, and time again - a lot of hanging installations are made up of artificial flowers and real flowers, as they give the same effect from above
- Flowers have the power to work with all design projects, if it’s a modern wedding, rustic, or classic, flowers can do all.
Photography by Pablo Laguia
Cons
- They require to be set up on the day
- Die quickly - some last less than a day if out of water
- Oasis is not good for the planet, non-biodegradable, and it’s the perfect use of creating wedding flowers - chicken wire is a good option, but harder for florists, as it takes more time.
- Flowers come with an expense, not just the flowers, and the stem costs, but the labour, travel, and also the import, depending on where you get them from.
- Everyone has an opinion on flowers, but certain flowers bloom in certain seasons/conditions, so what you think you may know is wrong. Talk to your florist to see what is available for when you’re getting married.
Photography by Adam Alex
Plants vs. Flowers
You also have the possibility of mixing flowers and plants together which combines the pros from above. For instance, you may have a flower hanging structure above, and plants down the middle of the table, or flowers and plants mixed along the table.
Look, there is no bad choice here, either a plant wedding, a flower wedding, a mix of them, or even nothing, everything is about you. No one can say otherwise. I just wanted to share my opinions and show you that anything is possible. Also, I want to help the planet. The great thing is you have loads of options, and if you want to run anything past us, then we’re all ears!
A little tip - if you want to help the planet ask your florist/designer the options they have in making your wedding more eco friendly and understand the materials they’re using to get to the final product. Every little helps!
As you know, anything is possible and it’s your wedding! So don’t feel pressured into anything that you don’t want to do. Follow your gut, love, and you’ll make the right decisions, hey if you want pigs to fly, let’s talk!!
Huge love and thank you for reading my comeback piece, love you all loads and loads. I would love to see your indoor plant garden. Here is mine! -
-Matthew xx
