Repurposing Wedding Florals

Everyone’s talking about it: repurposing florals from your ceremony to your reception to double-duty your floral funds. Tips and tricks from myself and Melissa of Little Blue Bird Events incoming!

Items that can be repurposed:

• Pedestal type arrangements on pillars/ground

• Half-circle altars/ground installations made in pieces

• Freestanding arch with install (make sure to keep reading for pointers on this one)

• Aisle pieces/markers

• Welcome signs 

Move them to:

• Sweetheart or head table (behind or beside seating on pillars, on the ground in front of the table, arch behind seating)

• Bar accent piece

• Memory/guestbook table at reception

• Seating chart accent

• Ground in front of cake table

• Photobooth or portrait area (make sure to check your contract with your photobooth company if they provide the backdrop or props)

• Catering/buffet tables

In the following example, the altar pieces on both the clear cylinders and the ground arrangements were repurposed at the sweetheart table. (Photos by O’Malley Photographers, full wedding feature here)

At the same ceremony, florals lining the aisle were used as table centerpieces for the reception. (Photos by O’Malley Photographers)

Things your designer will keep in mind when helping you repurpose:

• Shape of the piece:

  • One sided tall pieces shouldn’t be used for a round table since they’ll be viewed from all sides.

  • Most arch swags/installations are made to be viewed at a certain angle, which makes them tricky to just take off an arch and move to a table. I have taken an arch swag off an arch and laid it flat on the sweetheart table; with some minor modifications to the bottom/new front it made an excellent long and low centerpiece.  

• Locations/timelines with no cocktail hour or time to transition: You want that “Wow!” moment for your guests when they first see the second space of your event. You’re not going to get that seamless transition if the final pieces are not in place when guests move on to that second space because there was no time. 

• Right moving crew: Some pieces can be easily moved by your day-of coordinator, other pieces may need adjustments to the florals and should be moved by your designer (like the arch swag to long and low centerpiece example above!) Some florists factor this into the pricing upfront, others charge a separate amount based on the extent of the work and length of time between delivery and when repurposing is moved. Although you aren’t paying for more florals by having more pieces, you might still have additional cost even if you’re re-using the same florals due to labor costs.

“Although you aren’t paying for more florals by having more pieces, you might still have additional cost even if you’re re-using the same florals due to labor costs. ”

In the example below, the aisle pieces are both one-sided and would be too tall to use as a centerpiece. They’ve been used to add more drama to the backdrop behind the sweetheart set-up, and could also have been used in front of the table, as bar accent, or anywhere else seen on one side only and slightly taller. (Photos by Julie Natalie Imagery, full shoot feature here)

This ceremony accent in the photos below was moved from the intimate ceremony space to the roll bar on the couple’s getaway ride. This is an example of a move that you’d want your designer to repurpose for you, as you want to make sure someone has the tools to carefully remove it from location A, and again the right tools and supplies to install on location B. Some stems and florals may also need re-arranging to accommodate the change of angle in which it is viewed or photographed. (Photos by Julie Natalie Imagery, full shoot feature here.)

Items that cannot be repurposed:

Not everything in your ceremony can be repurposed to the reception, sometimes size, time limits, and overall mechanics mean that once the item as served it’s purpose in the ceremony it’s screentime is finished for the day.

• Large arches or installations: A large/heavy arch or installation is not able to be moved, even sometimes with a big crew. This is especially true for if you are changing elevation or up and down stairs. Not only is it heavy overall, but usually larger floral installations are front heavy, using weights to secure the piece in place at the base; this makes it really tricky to be moved as one piece.

• Single blooms being redesigned into entire arrangements or into budvases (single stem “meadow” trend): This could be something that is different across designers/florists, but I personally do not dis-assemble pieces to re-arrange for the reception. I’ve been asked on more than one occasion to do an aisle meadow, the trendy look where single blooms of flowers are stuck into the ground individually down the edges of the aisle, then asked if those same single blooms can be used in the reception after the ceremony- either in budvases or full centerpieces. I think this comes down to a respect for time and the art in floral arranging. As a designer, I’m not just randomly throwing stems into vases; even budvases are designed intentionally according to flower height, shape, and texture. Even with assistants helping to complete the work, it’s a time rush to ask that new centerpieces are created within such a short window of time.

“As a designer, I’m not just randomly throwing stems into vases; even budvases are designed intentionally according to flower height, shape, and texture. Even with assistants helping to complete the work, it’s a time rush to ask that new centerpieces are created within such a short window of time.”

• Bridesmaid bouquets: This one can seem like a hot take, but repurposing bridesmaid bouquets is just not a good idea. Bouquets which have been out of water, fidgeted and shook around, laid down to rest on their side throughout the day, are not looking their best by the time the ceremony is over. While there are always exceptions to a rule, you can choose a less traffic area to place a bridesmaid bouquet in a vase if you’re not sure what to do with them. This can be a bathroom or maybe a hallway table!

Here’s an example of the exception to the rule. In this wedding, the bridesmaids bouquets were used only for the ceremony and a few quick photos after. They were not out of water or handled for very long, so they were repurposed with an appropriate size vase for the bouquet type in the middle of the other table centerpieces. (Photos by Rhiannon Mim Photography)

Bridal Bouquets

One item I haven’t touched on yet is how to repurpose your bridal bouquet. This piece is designed to be perfect from every angle and featured throughout the day. If you plan on repurposing it, make sure that your florist is delivering the bouquet in an appropriately decorative water source where it can be placed back into throughout the day, and after the ceremony if you want to display it. While it might seem perfect to use this on the sweetheart table, it’s likely that the height of the bouquet in a vase is going to block any view of the couple at the table. If you’re not worried about keeping the flowers in a water source, you could lay the bouquet on it’s side, but keeping out of water isn’t going to guarantee that they’re going to look still in their prime throughout the whole night- think about if tired blooms are going to be visible within the frame of photos of you sitting at the sweetheart table during speeches.

A great way to repurpose the bridal bouquet like this wedding below is to use the decorative vase to make it a centerpiece on a high traffic accent table. This was used next to a photo station area and by the cake area. (Photos by Ryan Kenady Photography, full wedding feature here.)

Our favorite pieces of advice for repurposing florals:

1) Does your venue have a view or an instagramable interaction piece (maybe a fountain or a fireplace?) This is great spot to repurpose florals from earlier in the day by adding to an area where your guests will want to snag a photo.

2) Invest in larger scale items that can have a larger impact in one spot and don’t get moved but do get double use- this is usually doable if you flip the same space and don’t have a point A to point B. Think backdrops!

3) Consider gifting your florals after your event as a way of repurposing:

• Ensure that none of the vessels were rented and need to be returned first, but designate your coordinator to distribute or communicate ahead of time to have guests take home your florals to enjoy.

• After event strike-down, designate someone to collect the florals (this is a service myself and many other florists will do) to donate to a cause that is special to you (make sure to check your florist’s contract for any re-use specifics, example: reuse prohibited for another event.)

The ceremony backdrop in the below photos was used not only for family and couple’s portraits, but it was also accessible during cocktail hour and guests enjoyed it as a photo backdrop! (Photos by Meredith McKee Photography)

All photo examples provided were coordinated by Little Blue Bird Events and florals by The Copper Dahlia.