When planning a you’re wedding and it’s time to figure out what you want for flowers one of the first things most people do is type into the search bar on Pinterest “wedding flowers in A-B-C color” or “X-Y-Z style wedding flowers”
We humans are visual creatures by nature and Pinterest (or any other wedding focused site) can be a wonderful source for brainstorming and figuring what you would like and wouldn’t like in regard to your wedding flowers. But there is one big elephant in the room couples should keep in mind: photography editing.
Now keep in mind this not a slam on professional photographers, who like all other artists have their own specific styles and aesthetics when it comes to their art. The broader problem here is a lot of folks do not take into consideration how much editing may have been done to the beautifully curated photo they found online.
The pictures above show the same exact bouquet, the one taken by the florist on the left has minimal, if any editing and showcases come beautiful peach, cream, and soft coral tones. On the right the professional photo shows off a much different color palette—lots of bright whites with touches of soft blush and peach.
Now, if you were going to speak to a florist and looked at the image on the right, fell in love with it but received a bouquet more like the left would you be disappointed? This is why communication with your florist is so important! A professional eye can still identify specific varieties of these flowers just by their size and shape without even considering color, which could then lead to disappointment on the big day when the colors don’t match up. This is why sometimes even though it may seem silly, I ask A LOT of questions—
“Do you love these flowers specifically or is it the aesthetics of the photo that grabbed you?”
“The photo you’re showing me while beautiful, is heavily brightened with lots of filters washing out the color. Were you expecting a bouquet of mostly white flowers with a little color or would you like more contrast?”
“White flowers are not always pure white and I can’t control nature, the photo editing here makes them appear much brighter than they would be in person, are you okay with this?”
“Yes this photo is heavily edited but we can make a few changes to make this color scheme match more with the photo you’re showing me—let me pull you some other flower options.”
It would also never hurt to ask yourself these questions while looking online to save time on troubleshooting down the road. It’s also a good rule to note that like photographers, florists are artists with their own design styles, specialties and niches. It’s always best to work with someone that understands your vision for the big day!