Recently at our Bride and Groom Garage Sale, I had a discussion with a very good friend who was shopping who spoke about how she could not believe there were so many silk flowers for sale and that she thought silk flowers were a no-no for a wedding. She spoke about how she thought that she would rather splurge on real flowers than on other parts of the budget. This got me thinking. I am wondering how other people weigh in on this subject. Real vs. fake? Which flowers do or do not have a place in a wedding? People, I imagine, will take a strong stance one way or another, so let's look at the pros and cons of both.
Silk Flowers:
Pros -
- Relatively inexpensive when compared to fresh flowers.
- They will not wilt so you can buy them in advance of the wedding.
- You don't have to choose your flowers based on what is in season at the time of your wedding.
- You can buy them used and sell them when you're done using them.
Cons -
- Unless made to look very whimsical, silk flowers can often be spotted by look, touch, or smell.
- Good silk flowers are very good, and bad silk flowers are very, very ugly.
- Some silk flowers can cost just as much as fresh flowers.
Fresh Flowers:
Pros -
- Hiring a florist takes the artistic guesswork out of arranging a floral centerpiece.
- Flower centerpieces make great gifts to guests at the end of the evening.
- Fresh flowers look and smell great and add a lot to the ambiance of your wedding.
Cons -
- Fresh flowers are often much more expensive when compared to silk flowers.
- When selecting the specific blooms for your flowers, you will often be restricted to what is in season at the time of your wedding.
- Fresh flowers are at the mercy of the elements of weather; hot or cold weather could impact the look.
And now here is a little test. The following pictures of flowers are a mix. Some pictures show real flowers, and some pictures show fake. Can you tell the difference? Get out a piece of paper and take the quiz. There are five pictures of fresh and five pictures of silk. The answers are at the end of this post!
#1 - Fresh or silk?

#2 - Fresh or silk?

#3 - Fresh or silk?

#4 - Fresh or silk?

#5 - Fresh or silk?

#6 - Fresh or silk?

#7 - Fresh or silk?

#8 - Fresh or silk?

#9 - Fresh or silk?

#10 - Fresh or silk?

Answers:
1 - Silk
2 - Silk
3 - Fresh
4 - Silk
5 - Silk
6 - Fresh
7 - Fresh
8 - Fresh
9 - Silk
10 - Fresh
How'd you do??? Post your results on our Facebook page!