WEDDING FLOWER ADVICE - How To Get The Best From Sustainable Wedding Flowers, By Norfolk-Based Floral Designer And Farmer, WildFolk

26th April 2020


WildFolk creates wild, romantic wedding arrangements for couples across East Anglia. Each arrangement reflects Founder Natalie’s deep love of the natural world. Her weddings work in harmony with nature. She grows and sources her flowers from local farmers and forages from the beautiful countryside near her rural South Norfolk home.

ADVICE - How To Get The Best From Sustainable Wedding Flowers, By Norfolk-Based Floral Designer And Farmer, WildFolk - Aurora Grey PhotographyAurora Grey Photography

Care and consideration of the environment is evident at every stage of a WildFolk wedding. On the flower field, a wormery turns food waste into compost, companion planting and a wildlife pond attracts good predators and rainwater feeds the flowers. The WildFolk flower field in the height of summer is literally humming with nature. In arrangements, table flowers include herbs to add soft scents, bouquet ribbons are botanically dyed and spare flowers become petal confetti. Natalie refuses to use plastic in large scale installations and flower crowns – everything can be reused or returned to the Earth after a WildFolk wedding. 

ADVICE - How To Get The Best From Sustainable Wedding Flowers, By Norfolk-Based Floral Designer And Farmer, WildFolk - Joshua Patrick PhotographyJoshua Patrick Photography

Sadly, this is not the norm. Most florists buy imported flowers grown in a chemical environment. The flowers are so full of pesticides that they are toxic to bees and aren’t recommended for use on the compost heap. Often, they are then arranged into plastic foam that splits into tiny microplastics, which end up in our oceans and rivers. The only end goal for weddings created this way is to send everything to landfill - the weird and uncomfortable truth behind beautiful flowers in thousands of weddings every year. 

ADVICE - How To Get The Best From Sustainable Wedding Flowers, By Norfolk-Based Floral Designer And Farmer, WildFolk - Rebecca Claire PhotographyRebecca Claire Photography

Going locally grown for your wedding has the advantage of looking and smelling great whilst being incredibly sustainable. But there are difficulties – particularly if you approach the task backwards. When planning your wedding it is best to speak to your local farmer florist BEFORE you start planning your wedding. They can advise you which flowers will be in season and what sort of colours will be available at the start of your planning process. It is very easy to scroll online to find images of what you like and form attachments to certain colours and styles but these are often unobtainable if you want to be eco-friendly and seasonal. For example, there is a current trend for muted florals. The coffee toned roses taking the wedding industry by storm are imported and grown in chemical conditions. With trends for colours changing rapidly, flower farmers can’t be expected to keep up as it takes a year to grow something. By the time they have grown more muted colours, that trend could be out. 

If you start off with a flexible mindset instead of a fixed Pinterest board you’ll be able to do right by the planet with your floral choices!


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