THE BLOG

You might be surprised to hear us talking about faux flowers. But as sustainable florists and educators, we’ve found that using faux flowers can actually be a huge benefit to us, our clients, and the planet. Keep in mind, we’re not replacing fresh blooms! We’re just complementing our designs with high-quality silk stems. Keep reading to learn the best ways to use faux flowers as a florist who cares about sustainability, quality, and artistry. 

Where we DO and DON’T use Faux Flowers 

Faux flowers will never be the focal point. We only ever use them in impact-driven installations that will be enjoyed from a distance. Think of a ceremony archs, hanging installs, or photobooths. In these designs, we pair faux flowers with real greenery to create bold, beautiful installations that guests will not interact with directly. 

We don’t recommend using faux flowers in centerpieces or anywhere guests will be close enough to touch the blooms or tell that they are silk. However, if you’re worried about hydrating your blooms throughout a long, hot day, faux flowers are a great alternative! For example, if we’re designing a wedding with hydrangeas in the peak summer heat, we will use silk flowers.

Surprising Benefits of Faux Flowers for Florists and Clients 

Calculating Weight for Hanging Installations 

Being an event florist includes more engineering than most people imagine. Part of our job is designing hanging floral installations which are often placed over dance floors or head tables. To do this safely, we need to calculate the weight of our flowers. Faux flowers make this easier and safer. 

Mitigating Heat & Hydration 

In addition to our sustainable practices, we are known for creating beautiful floral installations for tented weddings. And if you’re unfamiliar with a tent in the New England summers, it can get hot. So we’ve learned to consider how fresh blooms react to heat and how much hydration they require. We often use faux blooms in hanging installations in tents to ensure that the installation looks fresh all night. 

Affordability 

There’s no way around it; faux flowers cost your client less money, especially for large installations. Many of these jaw-dropping arrangement require upwards of 100 stems to create. If it’s $17 for a single fresh ranunculus, you don’t need to be good at math to see how expensive a single, large-scale install can be. Using faux flowers allows your client’s budget to spread further. 

Adding to Your Rental Inventory 

Tha last (and most overlooked) benefit of using faux flowers as a florist is that they add to your rental inventory! As sustainable florists, we prioritise reusability. Silk stems allow us not only to reuse the same item multiple times, but to add them to our rental inventory so couples can rent them out for years to come! 

Sustainable Florists and Foam-Free Educators 

Our job as florists isn’t just to create beautiful designs, but to understand the ecological impact of our work. Using faux flowers can actually help us do both! But it takes time and practice to learn where to source faux flowers and how to use them to complement your designs. And it’s our goal to make that easier. We’ve created an approachable, easy to understand, free resource for florists who want to learn how to use faux flowers in their installations! Click here to download the freebie, and explore our other educational resources for florists!