Floral wedding arches; the bigger the better and the alternatives
The wedding arch can be used as a gate to welcome guests into a church or wedding venue and really brings a room to life. They can also be used as a backdrop for behind a ceremony table or top table, as a perfect welcome entrance and even repurposed later on as the perfect photo area for your guests – a prettier area as opposed to the traditional photo booth.
I would say 50% of my couples choose the floral arch option for their venue decoration. Having a wedding arch is the perfect way to impress your guests and equally suits both a rustic and glamorous style wedding.
Whether you are having a church wedding or a civil ceremony, having the same arrangements on the chairs and at the altar or ceremony table ties the whole theme together.
Arches can create a perfect focal point for your wedding – guests will be drawn to them, photographers find them a great backdrop, and event planners are often grateful too for having something to direct guests through towards the next part of the day.
How to use arches at wedding venues
One of my recommended venues - Crockwell Farm, has the luxury of two different areas to get married. The ‘Orchard Pavilion’ is the perfect place for a full floral arch; nestled in amongst the mature trees the pavilion is the focal point for the ceremony. Here I have created so many arches from full ones which run all over the front section to asymmetrical designs which have a slightly more relaxed feel.
Arches can be versatile too. In this country, we cannot always guarantee the weather, and in 2021 I had a metal arch custom made so should it rain the decision could be made to move the arch inside into their gorgeous ceremony barn – I think there is no better way to decorate such a room than bringing the outside inside with flowers and greenery and this was the perfect way to do it.
How to use arches at Churches
Having a floral arch as decoration as you enter and exit a church is something to consider when booking a religious ceremony. The floral arrangement looks picture perfect and gives the church a summer feel, which will be beautiful in the wedding pictures.
Be aware it is important to always do a site visit before you set your heart on this, as unless the fixings on the outdoor stonework is there then this may not be possible. If this is the case then fear not I can offer floral columns that can be placed on either side of the doorway that arc over to give you that perfect arch feel!
You don’t have to have the archway at the entrance either. One of my couples chose to bring the outdoor in and had their archway placed mid-way up the aisle in church. This gave the beautiful building a real statement piece.
What are the different types of arches?
As I mentioned, if you are at a church and the entrance doesn’t have the fixings, you can ‘cheat’ and used floral columns to get the same effect. Not only do we stock floral columns but we also have a Moongate arch, which is a circular arch. This gives a different dimension to a flower arch as you can experiment with different flowers and foliage, and it’s almost like a spotlight frame on you.
To personalise your arch you can decide what shape you want, but also play with accessories and flower choices. white floral arch arrangements have a stylised look which is seriously glamorous and is my absolute favourite, but you can add many accessories to an arch such as lanterns at the base, voile material, hanging tealights in amongst the flowers to make it your own.
Top tips when considering a flower arch for your wedding:
Decide between you what your theme will be – do you want wildflowers? Will you match the bouquet? Do you want something a little different like hanging lights, soft voile material incorporated, Neon initials or lanterns at the base of the design?
Flower arches have a fabulous impact, but with such a large variety your choices can seriously impact your budget. To give you an idea, a flower arch can cost anything from £395 - £1000 plus.
Remember not all structures can be moved about during or after the wedding ceremony due to their weight and stability. If the fixings do not allow consider your options for the location of the arch and where you will want it to feature during your wedding.
If you would like to include a floral arch on your wedding day and would like to have a chat about how to approach it, do get in touch. Or you can head to my socials for more inspiration.
