{Green} What Inspires Me: Eco-Friendly Florals

If you're crafting your own wedding, handmade florals can add a special touch. First I must caution you - it takes a lot of time. We tried a few tutorials and came up with some spectacular mis-shaped wads of paper that looked as if we'd plucked them from the recycling bin. We also came up with some gorgeous pinwheels. The one from our step-by-step DIY walk through got demolished by our cat. They also took a really long time. Needless to say, you only saw one pinwheel at our wedding. We opted for a combination of Real Touch Silk and locally grown, real flowers.

Those weddings that chose to do something different for their florals grab my attention. Maybe it's the effort that goes into dreaming up and bringing that vision to reality that I appreciate. (If you're curious what goes into making these flowers, check out My Favorites posts from the past two weeks which showcased tutorials for fabric and paper flowers.)

The obvious place to start is with the bride's bouquet and the groom's boutonniere. 

Credits: Top Row (from left to right) - Paper Bridal Bouquet handmade by Wire & Paper and Ring Shot, photographed by KIM+PHIL Photography, spotted on Weddings Fresh. Fabric Bridal Bouquet, photographed by Candice and Mark of Mark Brooke Photography, spotted on Green Wedding Shoes. Bottom Row (from left to right) - Fabric Boutonniere, photographed by Candice and Mark of Mark Brooke Photography, spotted on Green Wedding Shoes; Paper Boutonniere photographed by KIM+PHIL Photography, spotted on Weddings Fresh; Paper photographed by Pat Furey, spotted on Project Wedding.

Besides on the wedding party, flowers can appear almost anywhere, sprinkled throughout your venue to tie your day together.

Credits: Left Images (top to bottom) - Branches with Paper Flowers and Butterflies, photographed by Emma Case, spotted on Love My Dress; Giant Paper Flowers, photographed by Ali Degraff Photography, spotted on Green Wedding Shoes. Center Images (top to bottom) - Paper flowers made from book pages, spotted on Ruffled, top photo photographed by Feather Love, bottom photo photographed by Jenna of Flutter Glass. Right Images (top to bottom) - Table styled by Lo Bjurulf of Agent Bauer, spotted on Bustled Blog; Paper Flowers, photographed by For You Love Me, spotted on Ruffled.

Other places paper flowers or fabric flowers can appear: around or on the cake. At individual place settings. Or on the ring bearer's pillow.

Credits (from top to bottom, left to right): Photograph of Bride and Groom Cake Topper, photographed by For You Love Me, spotted on Ruffled; Cake flowers, photographed by James Bass, spotted on The Sweetest Occasion; Floral napkin rings, photographed by Caspix Photography, spotted on Ruffled; Ring bearer pillow, photographed by Ben and Maddie Haisch, spotted on Green Wedding Shoes.

One thing you should note. If you're not using treeless, responsibly made materials or out-dated phonebooks or old books, substituting paper for real flowers might not be better for the environment than choosing locally grown, pesticide-free flowers. With the exception of the giant paper flowers, most of the brides and grooms featured used scrap materials.