Seasonal Sustainable Wedding Flowers – what to ask when finding your ‘eco’ wedding florist

Seasonal. Sustainable. With varying accuracy these words now get used a lot to describe a florist’s work. In the last two years there has been awareness of the huge carbon footprint, chemical use and one-use plastic addiction of the floristry industry and a lot of florists are now moving towards a more sustainable business practice. There is also a lot of talk. So much so that it’s hard to know what is genuine ‘movement in the right direction’ and what is marketing (greenwash).

Our environmental values have been a part of our business from the off, informing our choice to only use flowers grown in the UK. We know from research that these have a much lighter carbon footprint than those that are imported. For as much of the year as possible we use our own flowers, because these have the lowest carbon footprint of them all and – because we grow them! – we know exactly how they’ve been grown. No pesticides. No fertilisers and no preservatives or post harvest treatments. We grow as sympathetically with nature as is possible, putting huge effort into all elements of our business from the compost we use to the wrap we buy and the printers we use. The mechanics we use are simple, traditional ones that were used before floral foam was invented! Personally, I’ve never touched the stuff so not using it isn’t difficult, but it’s an un-biodegradable plastic and needs to be avoided. There are now ‘degradable’ alternatives but designing without floral foam has to be the aim of a sustainable florist. We aren’t retrofitting values to our products or trying to amend our ways.

All this means that if you choose us to florify your wedding, it will be done with the environment at the forefront of our mind. However, we only supply flowers in our area of Cumbria, so I thought I would write a blog to help couples in other areas who are looking for seasonal, sustainable wedding flowers. What should you look for? What is sustainable? What questions should you ask? What is nonsense?!

1.  Provenance.  

Where does the florist buy their flowers and do they know where the flowers are from?

I think this is the first question you should ask. In my opinion a sustainably focussed florist should be able to tell you where the flowers are from and be seeking the most sustainable flowers they can.

Locally grown flowers are best. They have the lightest carbon footprint. British flowers are next. Some are grown using chemicals, but the health and safety and the employee’s working conditions are regulated. Imported flowers have a high carbon footprint, unregulated chemical use and varied ethical employment conditions. There are ‘good’ growers, who are certified organic or use another labelling system (More coming on that!) but essentially an ‘eco’ florist should be able to tell you what they use and why.

And the local ‘market’ (Wholesalers) doesn’t mean ‘ethical’ or ‘local’ or ‘quality’. Really it just means convenient! The flowers may be ethically grown or quality, but it shouldn’t be assumed that they’re environmentally friendly. I’ve noticed a growing number of florists using ‘the local flower market’ to infer ‘locally sourced’ when they aren’t locally grown. (A lovely ‘grey area’ to linger if you’re not the real deal?) Most wholesalers sell imported flowers with a tiny fraction of british stock. It’s really important to ask where the flowers are from.

Here are Cumberland Flower Farm we can tell you where each stem is grown. If a florist is claiming to be ‘seasonal and sustainable’ they should be using flowers with the lightest carbon footprint. They should be actively seeking those flowers and they should know the provenance of the flowers that they do use, even when they’re buying from their local wholesaler.

In winter there is some question mark about what flowers have the lightest carbon footprint, as British grown flowers may also use heat and light. Its important to know that heat and light are used abroad too. And not all flowers are ‘equal’ in their requirements. So in January, British tulips require much less heat (and no light) than roses grown in greenhouses in Holland for example. And roses grown in Kenya, might have the advantage of tropical heat and light, but they are grown in temperature regulated greenhouses, require refrigeration, use unregulated chemicals, vast amounts of water (where water can be scarce) and then flown into this country on a long haul flight. In this instance ‘which is least bad?’ is probably the question you need to ask. For me, British Tulips have the most unanswered questions, and the shortest journey. So I use them. But they aren’t roses! If you want roses in winter ask about their provenance and make it known to the florist that their provenance matters to you.

If your florist knows where each stem is from and they can justify that choice in terms of  the environment; TICK!

2. Seasonal.

This is a very tricky term as it is used in many contexts! But when you’re looking for a florist for your wedding, you should be looking for somebody who can take advantage of what’s in season because its most likely they’ll be available from the UK.

Seasonal doesn’t mean that they will be local, or indeed British.

Roses for example are available year round from international growers. I have them between the end of May and November. Not consistently, as they flower in ‘flushes’, but that’s when I should be able to include them in wedding flower arrangements. I would say they’re ‘in season’ in the summer and autumn months. But just because another florist is using roses between May and November does not mean that they are sustainably sourced. There are a few larger growers of roses in the UK and sourcing British roses in the summer should be possible.

The same goes for peonies, narcissi, hydrangea, ranuculus, chyrsanthemums. (Nearly everything actually 😊 ) They’re available from British growers in their British season. But they are also available from other countries too. So seek out seasonal flowers, but ask your florist ‘where are they coming from?’ as well. Seasonal doesn’t mean local. (Another grey area!)

Our approach is to not guarantee any specific flower for your wedding, because their availability (and their ‘season’) is so dependent on the glorious British weather which is increasingly variable! A seasonal florist will talk about this to you – or mention it in their marketing – as it's so important to them. Look out for this!

Perhaps if you’re in the planning stages of your wedding and have yet to set a date, this is something you need to consider too. If you want peonies, for example, you’re looking at a late May/June wedding! (and what a joy they are!) Peonies outside of this period will be imported.

 3. However, when florist’s say they’ll “use British flowers where possible” this means something else!!

This means that they’ll guarantee those flowers and source them from a British grower if the wholesaler has them.  If the wholesaler only has dutch nigella, you’ll get that. For me, this jangles my ‘seasonal and sustainable’ alarm bells!!  If this terminology is used – and it often is – you  should decide if provenance is important or not. A seasonal aesthetic is not necessarily ‘seasonal’ (Blame Instagram!) or sustainable. Question these words!

4. How will the florist arrange your flowers?

Floral foam has to be the least environmentally friendly way to arrange flowers and a sustainable florist will be using mechanics that don’t require this stuff.

There are ‘biodegradeable’ or ‘eco’ alternatives now, but when it’s possible to create beautiful designs without it, why use it? Ask about their use of floral foam.

The ribbon, tape and fastenings of bouquets, buttonholes and corsages are minimal, but are an area where ‘environmentally friendly’ choices can be made. We use hessian and jute as they biodegrade very quickly, and paper tape. We’ve just developed a plastic free wrist corsage technique… hurrah… so know that they’ll all be ok in the compost bin! Ask about these things and make sure you ask for the plastic free option.

Similarly ask about the vessels and containers that they’re using. They should be reused many times, and not one use.

5. ‘More is more’?

I read an Instagram post that declared this the other day and shuddered. Designs that use flowers cleverly to create beauty without excessive use of flowers are infinitely better for the world than opulent use of flowers. Our future requires us to think ‘Less is More’.

Your wedding is one day and the flowers will be in situ for around 24hours. They will be seen by you and your guests for less that 12hours. We all want our wedding to be WOW, but a sustainable florist can achieve wow with creative use of seasonal foliage and flowers. It doesn’t have to be MORE. It really doesn’t….

6. And if you do want to ‘go big’ ask your florist how they will dispose of the flowers afterwards?

Will the flowers be reused? Will the flowers be gifted to a care home? Will the flowers and foliage be composted?

We encourage our couples to gift the flowers to their guests. One of the loveliest memories at our own wedding was guests grabbing jars of flowers from the tables as they ran for the last bus. Buttercups, sweet peas, sweet William and mint. All grown by me.

Anything that comes back to us is composted on our field. (In fact our business waste is tiny because we recycle or compost almost everything!)

In writing this blog I’ve identified lots of areas I would like to provide further information on. Floral Foam being one!

As conscious consumers we should be questioning where things come from and how they are made. Your wedding flowers are no different. Your wedding is one day and the carbon footprint of the flowers alone could easily outweigh the food, transport, shopping package choices you make this year if you don’t ask the right questions and choose the right florist.

You might find that there are more florists able to provide seasonal and sustainable flowers in the spring and summer months, when British flowers are abundant. We’ve now done several weddings in the winter and are able to offer wedding flowers between November and March if you accept a more limited colour scheme and very limited flower choices. (Still beautiful though………)

The good news is that there are lots of great florists who only use their own flowers or British flowers. Would a directory be of any use? Maybe that’s something to do too…

-Harriet x