Not Leaving Flowers in the Church

I've not seen it happen before but I will be moving our pedestal.

However, I am a Friday wedding and there are 4 weddings the day after me so I don't feel like I am depriving the Sunday service of looking pretty - if I leave them, they will actually be in the way to an extent.

The same might apply to you - there may be another wedding after you for example.

I know of one church that "lets" you take them for the reception, but they must be returned before the sunday service......

apart from that one i really don't know

At our church it is assumed that you will be leaving the flowers in place for the enjoyment of everyone after you. Although I can see why you would want to remove them for your reception.

Best thing to do is to ask the church what their preference/policy is.

I know of one church that "lets" you take them for the reception, but they must be returned before the sunday service......

apart from that one i really don't know

It's normally up to the discretion of your minister... some will allow you to take them whereas others will expect them to be left in Church as a donation. Best have a chat with him to see what his/her rules are.

Yes I think I'll have to talk to him. My pedalstals are costing £250 each so I really don't want to leave them, I want to get as much time out of them as possible, and they'd look beautiful at the reception. I'd happily donate some money so that the ladies that usually do the flowers can come in after and put something else together, maybe they'd be happy with that. I asked my friend if she'd told the Priest she was going to take them and she didn't, they just did it. I feel really uncomfortable with that so I'll have to definitely speak to him first.

Whoa we want to take ours and they are only £50 - if they were £250 I wouldn't even consider not taking them.

I know, they make up half of the flower budget! The church is very big and also very plain so we wanted very bold and very big arrangements, but because of this I want as much use from them as possible!!

Our church is the same:

We have a total of 24 pews to fill plus there is another row to the left of this pic which we wont use.

Our plan is to have one large pedestall and then to make the place look brighter, white pew ends, on every other pew - it's a cheaper alternative for us.

I don't have a picture of ours, but its also big like this with lots of pews! we've decided to try and bring the focus to the front and have pew ends just on the front pews, and then the two pedalstals. We probably won't even half fill the church so I don't want to draw attention to all the pews all the way back! Its the church I've been to my whole life though so didn't want to change the wedding to the smaller one they have in the town.

Im not getting married in a church so havent really come accross this before. I dint realise that some dont let you take them ?

The way i see it is they are your flowers and you are paying for them so take them with you!

If you feel you want to, maybe leave some of them behind for the church?

I know each church is different but some charge an awful lot of money so don't feel guilty for taking them.

I was bridesmaid for my SIL2B last year and instead of having to pay for flowers for the church she let them know her colour scheme in advance, made a donation to the church and the ladies made some beautiful arrangements that would stay in the church but fit in really well with the wedding. She just had some ribbons on the pew ends and when we got to the venue we used our bouquets as extra decoration.

I am not marrying in church, but I think it is cheeky that they expect them to be left as a donation- it's not like it's free to marry in church!

I did ask the Priest about this but he said the ladies didn't like doing flowers for weddings because they'd had some complaints from brides previously that they'd got it wrong. They must've encountered some real bridezillas!

I took nearly all the flowers from my church at my first wedding and took them along with my topiary trees and my decorated archway to my reception. I left 2 large pedestals for them at the alter for the sunday service and we even had ushers go to the church first thing in the morning and collected any litter to make the church look tidy outside. Tbh the church didn't mind at all as it saves them getting rid of them and they're used to having flowers, also there could be a wedding on after yours and would be even more in the way.

I think that you pay enough for them and don't forget pay a hefty donation to the church also. They're your flowers, not the churches! I even used the tied pew ends to go on the backs of some of the chairs in the reception, I spent nearly grand on my flowers and will never forget the smell of my wedding day! Got the wrong groom but the flowers were awesome! xx

Unfortunately, some churches are cheekier than others I've provided church flowers in the past where I've had stand up fights with vicars when they've insisted that the pedestal stands (the wrought iron stands that the arrangement is displayed in) belonged to the church and that I was attempting to steal them! Luckily, I had my shop name printed on the underneath side to prove they were mine so there were some very embarrassed looks on vicars' faces! A lot of church ladies are fast becoming as expensive or more expensive in some cases at providing church flowers than your local florist so it's always a good idea to get a comparison. Whilst most church ladies are excellent flower arrangers and brilliant at doing the flowers, if you want something made in a specific way, they may struggle because they don't have floristry training and this is when wires get crossed about what a Bride would like and what she actually gets on the day.

It might also depend how many weddings the church has on the day, and if yours is the first, middle or last one!

We need to leave the flowers in our church, but we are benefitting hugely from marrying just after Easter - the lovely church florist is going to keep the Easter flowers going for us which basically fill the whole church - around the font, in the windows etc - and we don't have to pay anything extra for those (and we chose our colours to fit in with Easter flowers as well). So we are more than happy to leave our pedestal for the Sunday service - and we are regular churchgoers anyway and will be really happy to share our flowers with everyone.

That said, our pedestal isn't costing £250 - that is an incredible price!

We are leaving only one pedestal arrangement in the church and taking everything else. If you do plan on taking your flowers I would let them know as when there is a wedding in our church the ladies who normally make the church arrangements dont get flowers in. After the sunday service the church flowers are divided into smaller bunches and taken to those in hospital/nursing homel or unwell at home. I will pleased that some of the flowers from our wedding will cheer up so many people.

Jx