Simply put, styling blooms are loose blooms + greenery from your florist that your photographer will use in your styled detail photos.  These blooms should be the same ones found throughout your wedding design – in your bouquet, in the boutonnieres, in the centerpieces, in the floral arbor, etc.  Incorporating these styling blooms into your detail photos ensures that your wedding day images all tell a cohesive design + color story of the day.

Some florists provide styling blooms automatically, as part of your floral investment.  Some florists may charge a small fee for them.  Either way, it’s a really good investment that will make a big impact in your styled detail photos.

The most important thing to remember is that these styling blooms should be on-site at your getting ready location BEFORE your photographer arrives for the day.  If your styling blooms are not on-site when the photographer arrives, your photographer will most likely have to start shooting your details without florals.  Detail time is very limited and styling takes a lot of time, so having everything together in one spot when your photographer arrives is key.

If your florist asks what kind of blooms you want for styling, these are a few of my favorite flowers to style with:

• Spray roses
• Garden roses
• Ranunculus (especially Butterfly Ranunculus)
• Lisianthus
• Stock
• Dahlias
• Tulips
• Peonies
• Sweet Peas

As a general rule, having more floral + greenery options are always better than less because this allows your photographer to get more creative with floral styling.  Smaller flowers are better than huge ones – in general, large structured roses aren’t going to work very well… but smaller, softer spray roses + garden roses are great!  If we’re able to get 3+ of each major (semi large) bloom, that’s ideal since most photographers will utilize the Rule of Three design principle when styling.  With smaller blooms, having 6+ is amazing.  The more, the merrier!

If you or your florist have any questions about what will photograph best, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your photographer.  We all style differently and prefer different things – these are just a few of my tips for my own couples.