The Top 5 Wedding Flower Mistakes Couples (and Planners!) Make
I remember what it was like to be engaged, attempting to plan and budget for a wedding when I had ABSOLUTELY no idea what anything could cost, or what order I should do things in. Luckily for me, I happened to work at a wedding magazine so I had the right information available to me.
Now that I’ve been working in the wedding industry for 15+ years (I’m not that old, I’m sure…I’ve just spent my entire career in weddings!), there are a handful of things that I see couples (and some wedding pros, too!) make mistakes on that I can offer some help on!
Photos by Michael & Melanie
I remember what it was like to be engaged, attempting to plan and budget for a wedding when I had ABSOLUTELY no idea what anything could cost, or what order I should do things in. Luckily for me, I happened to work at a wedding magazine so I had the right information available to me.
Now that I’ve been working in the wedding industry for 15+ years (I’m not that old, I’m sure…I’ve just spent my entire career in weddings!), there are a handful of things that I see couples (and some wedding pros, too!) make mistakes on that I can offer some help on!
Here are some of the most common mistakes that I see couples (and their wedding planners!) making when they get into wedding planning:
1) Getting Hung Up on Specific Flowers
I always want to know a client’s favourite flowers, and the flowers that they absolutely don’t like. Some of you have a list of these prepared, and some of you really don’t care that much. Both of those are good! The problem lies in getting too bogged down in a “must-have” flower. Hopefully we can accommodate that, but the reality is that there’s never a 100% guarantee that I can make it happen and I would really hate to break your heart! We never know if there’s going to be a big storm, or a shipping problem, or some celebrity wedding that takes the entire stock of a certain flower that week.
The other reason why I don’t want you to get hung up on specific flowers is because, sometimes, your choices are boring. SORRY! Most of the time when I see this, it’s in planners’ design boards.
So what do you do? All I need you to do is find a few images of bouquet shapes that you like, and colours and textures that you like. I don’t need you to choose the flowers — I’ve got that, and while I love your suggestions, if a planner has talked too in-depth with the client about the flowers before connecting with the floral designer, we end up pigeon-holed into something that can be pretty boring and has already been done before. We want to design something unique and gorgeous for you, and giving us the reigns is going to work out a lot better.
2) Focusing on Design, Without considering the venue
If only every venue was designed to be gorgeous from top to bottom. The reality is, they’re not. I’M TALKING TO YOU, GOLF COURSE CARPET!!! The golf course I had my reception in had purple and ORANGE carpet, and I’m not even joking. What do we do with that!?
There are some venues that I think “meh that feature is so ugly that we should just ignore it,” and there are other times when I absolutely know we need to work with something, rather than against it. And that’s where Pinterest does us dirty. You find these gorgeous ideas that you want to implement in your wedding design and you set your heart on them, and then I have to be the bearer of bad news to tell you: the ceilings in your venue are too low for this. Or, there are posts in your reception space that mean we can’t do this. Or, your venue doesn’t allow us to stake anything into the grass so we cannot do this. Or, since your venue has no natural light, this feature isn’t going to be noticed unless you add professional lighting.
So what do you do? You’ve got to let the venue lead. First, go for a good walk-through of the space and have the venue coordinator provide you with some sample floor plans. Rely on your planner and your florist to offer suggestions that will work with the space and highlight the best parts of it.
*Make sure you’re aware what your venue’s restrictions are, too: can we use real candlelight or only faux? Are they overly specific on what you can do with the floor plan? Are you allowed to suspend or hang anything?
3) not paying attention to Scale
This one is a big personal pet peeve. In my opinion, this is what sets apart “floral designers” from FLORAL DESIGNERS. Same goes for wedding planners and designers. If you’re not considering the scale of the space that you’re working with, or the size of arch that you’re designing on, the height of the ceiling and how low you need to hang the florals above the dinner tables, then you aren’t doing the design justice and it’s going to fall flat.
Hanging a floral installation too high? No one’s going to notice it and the money you spent isn’t serving you. Designing an arch piece that’s too small for the structure? It’s going to underwhelm. Even when we repurpose the ceremony flowers to the reception, we need to think about scale. The large urn arrangement at the front of your ceremony is probably gorgeous from the front and sides, but the back is likely mostly greens to keep your costs manageable, so we can’t repurpose that piece to the centre of an escort card table without everyone seeing the back (some florists refer to this as the “underwear check” — we don’t want you to see our underwear!).
So what do you do? Ask your florist for their recommendations on scale and size, and what might need to be budgeted for a particular piece in order to achieve what it needs to. Maybe that ceremony urn needs to have florals all throughout the back so you can repurpose it. Give us all the floor plans and measurements that your venues provide so we can make the best suggestions possible.
4) Forgetting about setup and logistics
We’re pretty lucky here in Winnipeg that the majority of our venues allow us ample time to set up (some of my colleagues in major cities in the US or Toronto regularly work in venues that only give them 2 hours to set up!). Nevertheless, the logistics of setting up are crucial to making your event work and will also impact your budget: does your venue have a loading elevator or do we need to carry things up a few flights of stairs? Do we only have a couple of hours to set everything up AND flip the flowers from ceremony to reception? If your ceremony is at one location and your reception at a second location, are guests heading directly to the reception? That means that it’s harder for us to repurpose items.
So what do you do? Ask your venue for loading and set up information to pass along to your planner and florist (and anyone else coming to set up: rental companies, linens and draping, lighting!) so they can properly account for the size of staff they will need, and quote your accordingly.
5) Underestimating How much flowers cost
Arguably, this is the biggest problem. And I know — you’ve never done this before. You don’t know what you don’t know. That’s okay! But it does mean that you’ll have to do some research, and NOT the kind of research that involves reading all the major wedding blogs “budget guides.” Because they’ve been saying that the average wedding costs $30K for the entire 15 years that I’ve been working in the wedding industry, not updating to reflect inflation, while also only publishing weddings that cost 6 figures.
So what do you do? How do you research what wedding flowers actually cost? Talk to your local florists. Pricing is not always an easy thing to quote because every wedding has a custom list of wants and needs. Choose a small handful of florists who you are interested in, and before sending an official inquiry, ask for their minimum spends or average client spends. Ask “what ballpark range do I need to budget to achieve something like ______ this wedding in your portfolio?” That will go a much longer way to helping you figure out what your budget range should actually be.
For example, my minimum for full service floral design begins at $5000, but my average client spend is around $7500. At the same time, many of the weddings in my portfolio have spent upwards of $15,000 on their wedding flowers. There are a lot of florists who offer set packages for smaller weddings, or an a la carte offering, where you can get their signature design style but without the added cost of customizations. There is something out there for every budget level, but arbitrarily deciding on a number without having a clue if it’s a relevant budget to what you want isn’t going to make it easy on anyone.
To help you out, here are a few past blog posts that highlight pricing info:
Hire a Talented Wedding Floral and Event Designer in Winnipeg
Not to toot my own horn (too much), but I happen to be really good at this — and more than just designing, I’m really good at balancing logistics and budgets with your dreams.
I’d be thrilled to design an incredible atmosphere and accompanying florals for your wedding.
Intimate, Colourful Weekday Wedding at 529 Wellington
An intimate Monday vow exchange wedding in the park. An elegant dinner at one of Winnipeg’s most iconic restaurants.
For Claire and Lee’s late summer wedding, we let the colour do all the talking, layering in flowers and candles to create visual movement, depth, and a really fun ambiance for a twinkling, elevated dinner party.
An intimate Monday vow exchange wedding in the park. An elegant dinner at one of Winnipeg’s most iconic restaurants.
For Claire and Lee’s late summer wedding, we let the colour do all the talking, layering in flowers and candles to create visual movement, depth, and a really fun ambiance for a twinkling, elevated dinner party.
Photos by Brittany Mahood Photography
There was no formal wedding party, but I did design a small bouquet for Claire’s sister — and look at how PERFECTLY the girls’ dresses go with the floral palette!!! I always provide my clients with a colour palette in their proposals, and it brings me so much joy when the family or guests have very obviously chosen attire that fits within that palette. My husband’s family accidentally all wore shades of the same three colours at our wedding, and our family photos are dynamite.
“Lauren, I knew there was a reason you were my first and only choice for florals, and at the wedding I saw that reason with my own two eyes. Everything was just absolute perfection!”
The Flowers
Quite literally everything was all about the flowers here. Claire was SO excited and so invested in the flowers, to the point where she was having stress dreams about me accidentally using eucalyptus and then creating her own memes to send to me. I love Claire :)
Her specific request was “Flowers so delicious they’re good enough to eat.” Juicy yummy here we come!
Bridal Bouquet Ingredients: Pretty much everything was locally grown! Zinnias, dahlias, cosmos, sweet pea, and even the orchids were locally grown in Manitoba, with a few ranunculus added in for the fluff factor.
The Ceremony
Leo Mol Sculpture Garden is one of my very favourite places in the entire city. It feels so transformative, like you wander through the trees and you’re transported somewhere else. It’s quiet, intimate, and so inspiring. And for smaller guest lists, it is the absolute perfect wedding ceremony location. While we were setting up for this wedding, all the vendors were charmed by an otter flipping around in the pond!
Covering up the view with an arch is a no for me at Leo Mol, so I often suggest to couples that we go for ground-based florals here. These are also so easy to repurpose over at the reception, and easy to install in the short setup timeline that Assiniboine Park gives us.
We kept the juicy palette, adding in more greenery both to use as a base mechanic that takes up a lot of space in the arrangements, and to tie together with the natural vine-covered setting. I had the most glorious Manitoba dahlias, marigolds, and zinnias, paired with bright, rich roses.
The Reception
The perfect late summer dinner party, set at 529 Wellington. I love that Claire and Lee planned this reception like they did the rest of their wedding: fuss-free, but still elevated.
Claire really gave me creative freedom here! We obviously wanted to keep that juicy colour palette front and centre, and since the guest list was so small, we had a lot of budget flexibility. I also needed to stay realistic about the amount of space that I had to work with.
I elected to feature 2 larger, rectangular floral arrangements on each table, interspersed with taper candles, bud vases, low floral frog arrangements, and votives. The glow of the coloured candles perfectly complimented the colour of the florals, creating an engaging ambiance.
Looking for a Wedding Floral Designer in Winnipeg?
Florals shape the feeling of a celebration. Our design philosophy sees colour, movement, and composition working together to create deeply intentional floral experiences. We see florals not simply as decorations, but as essential elements that define atmosphere, emotion, and visual cohesion.
If this is what you’re looking for, Lauren would love to connect with you!
Why You Should Create a Design Board for Your Wedding (and How To!)
So many of my clients come to me saying, “I’m a really visual person and I’m having a hard time picturing the wedding.” And a large part of me wants to say “you don’t need to visualize it; I can, and it’s gooood.” But obviously that is completely unhelpful to you 😝
So what do you do? How can you communicate to your vendors what it is that you want your wedding to look and feel like to make sure you’re all on the same page?
A mood board, also called a design board.
Are you one of those “visual” people?
So many of my clients come to me saying, “I’m a really visual person and I’m having a hard time picturing the wedding.” And a large part of me wants to say “you don’t need to visualize it; I can, and it’s gooood.” But obviously that is completely unhelpful to you 😝
So what do you do? How can you communicate to your vendors what it is that you want your wedding to look and feel like to make sure you’re all on the same page?
A mood board, also called a design board, is the perfect tool for you.
Before we get too far, please know that I don’t expect you have to have a multi-page document outlining every single element of your wedding. That only works for a small segment of the population (I’ve noticed that most of them seem to be teachers!). And to be honest, sometimes those multi-page docs can actually stifle your vendors’ creativity if you’re not leaving any room for our ideas or suggestions (though one of my clients this year created the most incredible multi-page doc to share with vendors as well as her family and wedding party, and it’s essentially everything that a person could need to know about the wedding, including the timeline, contact info, wedding party attire, and so on, along with her design inspo boards!).
Instead, I’m going to suggest you create a single page visual reference to get everyone on the same page. Rather than getting nitty gritty, think of this as a high level overview that communicates a few things:
-colour palette
-level of formality
-overall vibe and atmosphere you want to create
-descriptive words
I always ask clients, “how do you want the wedding to look and feel?” and they often pull up a few images that show a certain design or they use a few buzz words. That’s not really what I’m asking.
I want to design BEYOND what you’ve seen on Pinterest, because that wedding was designed for someone else. If you can find a way to communicate how you want to feel while you’re sitting at your own wedding, that’ll go a lot farther in helping your vendors to get to know you and creating something just for you.
That being said, you’re going to include some images from weddings in your mood board. But take this advice as you do: notice patterns in what you’re drawn to and edit out what no longer is interesting to you! This can be a living document.
A FEW TIPS:
-Canva is so great for mood boards! This is what I build all my client design boards on. Pinterest also has that new collage/shuffle feature which could be very cool for you.
-Turn off AI generated images on Pinterest. Some of them aren’t bad, but I don’t want you to fall in love with a flower that isn’t real (this is becoming SO much more prevalent) or with the scale of something that literally isn’t possible.
-Get specific with the wording of your Pinterest search terms. Sometimes I’ll even add in “2025” to it: “outdoor wedding ceremony with pastel flowers 2025” to get something more recent.
-Look at things other than weddings to inspire you: hotel lobbies or great restaurants are always a go-to for me. Is it art that sparks something in you, or editorial fashion shoots? Locations from your travel bucket list! The dream sunset! These types of images often help to convey the emotions and feelings more than a typical wedding photo.
-Include some colour swatches, knowing that we will likely make additional suggestions for adding depth and visual interest. I also like to talk with my clients about the amounts of each colour that we’ll use — maybe the bulk of the flowers are mauve and lavender, with 15% peach, 10% coral, and 5% chartreuse added in to amp it up.
-I’m a words person, but I generally find it so helpful when people can communicate their style or ideas with a few descriptive words. Often I’ll pull a few threads during our conversations, asking questions to get you there, but if you can have that prepared, that’ll get us where we need to go!
Here’s an example of a design board I created in Canva, based on the most gorgeous church I saw in Rome, Sant’Ignazio of Loyola. The moment I walked in, I was in awe — and that’s saying something, because obviously we were in Italy and every single building is gorgeous.
I started with a photo I took of the interior, which inspired the palette of moody blues and greys, with touches of golden caramel and burgundies. I imagined designing this wedding with velvet linens, in a rich, historic style setting. Then, I added a few images of flowers that I knew would work, this gorgeous light fixture that I’m drooling over for my own home, and a few inspiration images that set the ambiance that I would be going for, if this were my wedding.
once you’ve got your design board, what do you do?
Share it with your creative vendors AND OPEN YOURSELF to their ideas. Let them have some time to think on how they can add to and further your design, tweak elements that may not be realistic in your venue or within your budget, and ask them for their best advice and creative ideas on how to achieve it.
Then? Step away. When you’re confident that everyone is on the same page and working together to create something amazing, hand off the reigns to your creative vendors. Let us work our magic.
LOOKING FOR A WEDDING FLORAL AND EVENT DESIGNER IN WINNIPEG?
If what you’re looking for is a designer to guide the vision for your wedding, come and ask me any questions you want — I might just be your girl. I offer custom designs, creative and unique design boards that communicate the vision, have countless testimonials that speak to the creative trust the client had in me, and I also just love what I do.
Reach out to check your date!
Bold Winnipeg Wedding at Deer & Almond
Restaurant weddings are some of my very favourites. It’s so much fun to work in a space that already has its own aesthetic and vibe. Deer & Almond is one of Winnipeg’s most treasured eateries, and was the perfect location for Sharyne and Gavin’s bold evening reception.
Sharyne and Gavin are both artistic and creative (he’s a photographer), and would you believe me that they started out wanting a French countryside-inspired, white and green wedding? In her initial inquiry, she said “I've also taken a look through your instagram account and we could probably be swayed to some brighter and funkier colours.” — cue my happy tears :)
So I swayed them! We did originally talk about the whites and greens, but it honestly didn’t feel right in the restaurant. The space has some vibrant, joyful tones and we decided to move that direction.
They were married in a private ceremony the week prior, and this was their celebratory dinner with a small group of friends.
Photos by Michael & Melanie
Restaurant weddings are some of my very favourites. It’s so much fun to work in a space that already has its own aesthetic and vibe. Deer & Almond is one of Winnipeg’s most treasured eateries, and was the perfect location for Sharyne and Gavin’s bold evening reception.
Sharyne and Gavin are both artistic and creative (he’s a photographer), and would you believe me that they started out wanting a French countryside-inspired, white and green wedding? In her initial inquiry, she said “I've also taken a look through your instagram account and we could probably be swayed to some brighter and funkier colours.” — cue my happy tears :)
So I swayed them! We did originally talk about the whites and greens, but it honestly didn’t feel right in the restaurant. The space has some vibrant, joyful tones and we decided to move that direction.
They were married in a private ceremony the week prior, and this was their celebratory dinner with a small group of friends.
Photos by Michael & Melanie
We decided to pull together a few different softer peaches, corals, blues, and lavenders, and punching them up with saturated red and small hints of lime. This came from a combination of inspiration images, and Sharyne wasn’t sure how to tie them together. I could see it right away — the perfect reminder that even if you can’t visualize it, your creative professionals can!
The Flowers
With this as my colour palette, you know I had a lot of fun with the flowers! The wedding was in mid-June, so we didn’t have much in the way of locally grown flowers available to us yet — all I could get my hands on were the pansies. But OH how perfect those little lavender pansies were!!
Of course I had to use my favourite red roses, nina. They’re just the most delicious, vibrant colour. I had ordered lavender anemone to pair with them, but they came in kind of fuschia. Would I have preferred the lavender? Yes. But sometimes, a problem becomes its own solution and the brightness of the fuschia worked really well with the space.
We wanted the centrepieces to be smaller in footprint, but with an architectural feel and a little more vertical in shape.
The Hanging installation
As with most restaurant weddings, we did not have a lot of tabletop space to work with. The focus is on the food and the drink, which is awesome! But Sharyne loved the idea of having some sort of focal feature in the space, and when we realized that we could use the slatted wall at the front entrance, the idea was set: a hanging floral feature moment, with their sweetheart table set in front of it.
I wanted to design something sculptural, with strong lines, and a unique feel to it. I always love using allium in designs — those are the large purple “balls” that really command attention. I also decided to tuck in some strands of threaded gladiola, and we used stems of phalaenopsis orchids to get the right lime green (which is really hard to find in the flower world!).
Even better, this piece was also entirely foam-free. I built it on a chicken wire structure, and some of the flowers were water-tubed and others went right into the chicken wire (and ps, we reuse all the chicken wire and water tubes that come back to us, too!).
Looking for a Wedding Floral Designer in Winnipeg?
Flowers are the best way to make a statement at your wedding. Reach out to Stone House Creative for stunning bridal bouquets, truly unique ceremony backdrops, and beautiful floral centrepieces to create the perfect ambiance for your wedding!
How Florals Can Be a Part of Your Corporate Event Strategy
The number 1 mistake businesses make when planning an event? Not thinking strategically.
Event Photos by Danny Shumov
You’re not just hosting an event to host an event. You’ve either got a product to launch, gratitude to share, or a PR splash to make. Adding flowers to your event increases the pretty factor, yes. But let’s get a bit more strategic. The worst thing would be for you to spend a chunk of money on your event, hoping to build some great traction for your company, but you plan a forgettable event.
The number 1 mistake businesses make when planning an event? Not thinking strategically.
Event Photos by Danny Shumov
You’re not just hosting an event to host an event. You’ve either got a product to launch, gratitude to share, or a PR splash to make. Adding flowers to your event increases the pretty factor, yes. But let’s get a bit more strategic. The worst thing would be for you to spend a chunk of money on your event, hoping to build some great traction for your company, but you plan a forgettable event.
“With the right guidance, florals become more than decor — they become storytelling elements, brand touch points, and moments your guests won’t forget. Safe might feel comfortable, but bold leaves an impression.” Quote
My suggestion: shift your view of event florals away from copy/paste decorations, but as essential elements that define atmosphere, emotion, and visual cohesion. Let me show you how.
Brand Activations
For the launch of MPG’s exciting collaboration with Winnipeg-based Indigenous artist Jackie Traverse, they planned an inspiring evening at the Winnipeg Art Gallery to unveil the collection. They reached out, wanting to add a floral installation that would bring the clothing to life.
The result was a meaningful interaction between the brand and their guests, while celebrating Jackie and her work.
I chose a bold colour palette that played off the vibrant tones of the clothing, and we played with the scale of the installation — guests were greeted by the mannequins and floral immediately upon exciting the elevator on the Penthouse level of the WAG.
We worked with playful, unexpected combinations of texture, colour, and scale to tell the story — choosing some Manitoba-grown blooms wherever I could, adding moss to create a floor for the mannequins to stand on, and tucking in a few faux butterflies to reference the butterflies in some of Jackie’s designs.
Brand Launches
Winnipeg is so proud to be Mondetta’s hometown. This fall, they launched a luxury menswear brand, Modern Ambition, with its flagship store located in True North Square. Their creative strategist, Natasha of Studio Giorg, reached out to bring me into the design mix for their kickoff events.
They hosted several events, including this VIP dinner in the polar bear tunnel at the Assiniboine Park Zoo. I was tasked with the event design, from floor planning to rental selections and, of course, floral design.
VIP guests included Scott Gillingham, mayor of Winnipeg, Wab Kinew, Premier of Manitoba, and Jim Moore, Creative Director-at-Large of GQ Magazine. We needed to work within this intimate space, creating opportunities for conversation and celebration.
A few key elements:
-As a menswear brand, they wanted to play into a warm neutral palette with touches of burgundy and red throughout.
-There were a lot of hands involved in the overall planning process, as the Mondetta team were all very excited about the launch. I created a series of digital mockups (a few seen below) to allow them to discuss the aesthetic direction, colour palette, rental options, and so on. This way, we were all on the same page.
-The florals and tablescape transformed the tunnel, creating an elevated, photo-ready dinner (featuring a collaborative meal crafted by 3 of Winnipeg’s top chefs!) that knocked guests’ socks off.
Event Photos by Danny Shumov
CLient Parties
Outside of conferences, client parties are probably the most common corporate events that take place in Winnipeg. Whether as an appreciation event, a holiday shindig, or a retirement party, let’s start thinking outside of the very basic “white floral centrepiece on a table.” That box is NOT checked. If you want to ensure your clients have any memory at all of your event, and want to get them out to next year’s event, then we need to make some impact.
-Add a welcome sign and make it a design moment. Especially if you’re hosting your event in a large facility, this can become both functional and a beautiful way to welcome guests in.
-Don’t skip a statement at the bar. At these events, clients are going to be lining up for a cocktail so this is a must-have.
-Add a lounge. Large sit-down tables can be a social nightmare at these types of client events, but adding in a lounge with soft seating makes a visual statement and creates a more comfortable, casual way for guests to mingle.
Event Photos by Janine Kropla
This event was designed by Soiree Event Planning, with rentals from Collective Event Rentals and Planned Perfectly.
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Stone House Creative is a floral design studio known for transforming inspiration into a unified, expertly considered visual direction. The brand leads clients through a clear, design-driven process that prioritizes palette decisions, spatial cohesion, and intentional detail. Clients choose us for our ability to simplify complex ideas, articulate what will make the greatest impact, and deliver an event that feels cohesive, expression, and uniquely reflective of your brand.