Behind the Celebration
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Choosing your wedding flowers should be one of the fun parts—but between budgets, Pinterest boards, seasonal availability, and approximately one million beautiful flowers to choose from, figuring out where to start can feel a little overwhelming.
So, instead of giving you our advice, we went straight to an expert.
Sunshine of Flowers by Sunshine is one of Flora’s preferred wedding vendors and a familiar face around our venue. She regularly designs weddings at Flora and has transformed our space with everything from romantic ceremony installations to colorful tablescapes and statement florals.
We asked Sunshine some of the questions couples are actually asking when planning their wedding flowers. Here’s what she wants you to know.
Planning your wedding? Schedule a tour or connect with the Flora team.
Start with the moments you care about most—not specific flower varieties.
Your ceremony, sweetheart table, bouquet, and other highly photographed spaces are often great places to prioritize your floral budget. From there, trust your florist to recommend seasonal flowers and designs that fit your vision and investment.
Most importantly? Don’t create a wedding for Pinterest. Create one that feels like the two of you.
Her answer had nothing to do with flowers.
“I always start by asking them to envision their wedding day. When they look back on it years from now, what moments do they picture the most? Is it the ceremony, their sweetheart table, the guest tables, or another meaningful space?”
“This helps me understand which areas will have the biggest emotional impact and be the most photographed, so I can guide them on where their floral investment will make the greatest difference.”
In other words: you don’t need to know the difference between every variety of rose before meeting with your florist.
Start with what matters to you. They can help with the flowers.
Not having a starting budget.
“Without one, the planning process often becomes much longer because it requires multiple proposal revisions.”
And then there’s Pinterest.
“Pinterest and social media are wonderful sources of inspiration, but they can also become overwhelming because there are so many beautiful ideas. At the end of the day, the most important question is, ‘Does this reflect us as a couple?”
Sunshine also encourages couples to trust the people they’ve hired.
“Choose creatives because you genuinely love their work and style. That trust allows us to create something truly personal while making the planning process much smoother for everyone.”
We’re big believers in this one at Flora, too. Inspiration is wonderful. But your wedding doesn’t need to be a recreation of someone else’s.
Two words: seasonality and flexibility.
“Trust your florist to recommend the best seasonal blooms. Seasonal flowers are often the highest quality and provide the best value.”
Some of those flowers you’ve been saving to your Pinterest board may also come with a very different price tag depending on your wedding date.
“Certain flowers, like peonies, garden roses, orchids, anthuriums, or lily of the valley, can significantly increase costs depending on the season, so being open to beautiful alternatives can stretch your budget while still creating a luxurious look.”
Rather than getting stuck on one exact flower, show your florist the colors, textures, movement, and overall feeling you’re drawn to.
That’s where trusting their creativity can really pay off.
If you want maximum impact without putting a massive arrangement on every surface, Sunshine recommends focusing on the spaces that will be seen—and photographed—the most.
“I always recommend investing in statement ceremony florals that can later be repurposed to your sweetheart table or reception.”
“Your ceremony and sweetheart table are some of the most photographed spaces throughout the day, so repurposing those designs gives you the biggest visual impact while maximizing your investment.”
And guest tables don’t necessarily need to be overflowing with flowers.
“You can do minimal florals on guest tables but maybe add in a lot of candles.”
Romantic candlelight + intentional florals? We will never argue with that combination.
Sunshine’s answer is an easy yes.
“Seasonal flowers are typically fresher, more abundant, and offer the best quality for your budget. Choosing what’s naturally in season allows your floral design to look its best while making the most of your investment.”
Seasonality doesn’t mean giving up your vision. A great florist can use the flowers available during your wedding season to capture the colors, textures, and overall style you’re drawn to.
Turns out, you don’t need to Google a list of the most photogenic flowers before your consultation.
“Honestly, all flowers photograph beautifully! It’s less about a specific bloom and more about thoughtful design, texture, movement, and color. Every flower has its own beauty when it’s arranged intentionally.”
We’ll take the florist’s word for it.
Burgundy + blue.
“I’m absolutely loving rich burgundy tones paired with unexpected pops of blue. They create such a romantic, elevated look.”
As for what’s going out of style? Sunshine isn’t convinced anything truly does.
“Floral design is cyclical and everything eventually comes back. Some might say traditional all-white weddings aren’t as trendy right now, but they’re timeless classics that will never truly go out of style.”
And her advice when Pinterest inevitably tells you that you need the wedding color of the moment?
Don’t worry about it.
Your wedding is allowed to look like your wedding.
Your guest count.
It’s an easy connection to miss while building your wedding budget.
“Many couples don’t realize that as the guest count grows, so does the number of tables—and with that comes more floral and decor needs. It’s an important factor to consider when building your overall wedding budget.”
More people → more tables → more centerpieces and décor.
Definitely something to keep in mind as that guest list starts growing.
If you’ve already found the person whose work you’re obsessing over, don’t wait until you know exactly what you want in your bouquet.
“If you’ve found the florist whose work you absolutely love, book them as soon as you can. Wedding dates are all about availability, and the sooner you secure your florist, the better.”
You can figure out the flowers together later.
You don’t need flower names memorized or your entire design figured out.
Sunshine would rather you know these two things:
Your budget and your priorities.
“Come prepared with a realistic budget and think about what matters most to you on your wedding day. Knowing your priorities allows your florist to create a proposal that reflects your vision while making the best use of your investment.”
Simple. And much less stressful than trying to become a floral expert before your consultation.
There’s a reason Flowers by Sunshine is one of Flora’s preferred vendors.
Sunshine regularly designs weddings in our space, so she knows Flora beyond what you can see in photos. She knows the room, our indoor garden aesthetic, how floral installations work alongside our existing greenery, and the behind-the-scenes logistics that make everything come together on a wedding day.
There’s also one very practical perk to designing flowers at Flora:
“Having an indoor venue means I never have to worry about San Diego heat affecting the flowers, which is a huge advantage.”
But when we asked Sunshine what she loves most about working here, it wasn’t the air conditioning.
“More than anything, it’s the Flora team. They make vendors feel genuinely welcomed, supported, and part of the team, which makes every wedding day so enjoyable.”
BRB, crying.
In all seriousness, having vendors who know our space and genuinely enjoy working together makes wedding days smoother behind the scenes—and that’s exactly what we want for our couples.
Of all the Flora weddings Sunshine has designed, there’s one that has stayed with her.
The couple gave her complete creative freedom with their floral design. Icelandic poppies were in season, and Sunshine sourced them from a local San Diego flower farm. She made them the focal flower throughout the wedding.
She had no idea how meaningful that decision would become.
“When the bride walked into the reception and saw the poppies, she became emotional.”
Later, the bride shared that the couple had postponed their wedding the previous year after experiencing a pregnancy complication. They had planned to name their baby Poppy.
Sunshine hadn’t known.
“I had no idea when I selected the flowers, which made the moment incredibly meaningful.”
“It was such a beautiful reminder of how flowers can carry deep emotion and tell a story far beyond their beauty.”
We can’t think of a better way to put it.
Flowers are beautiful. But sometimes, the details of a wedding become connected to people, memories, and pieces of your story in ways you never could have planned.
And those are the details you remember.
Okay, serious questions over. We needed her immediate reaction to a few floral debates.
Greenery or blooms?
Blooms.
White florals or colorful florals?
“Both! It completely depends on the couple’s personality and vision. White florals are timeless and elegant, while colorful florals can be bold, playful, and full of personality.”
Roses: timeless or underrated?
Timeless.
Biggest floral myth?
“That carnations are only for funerals! I absolutely love carnations. They’re beautiful, long-lasting, and can look incredibly luxurious when designed intentionally.”
One flower everyone should know about?
“Sweet peas! They have the most incredible fragrance and add such a delicate, romantic touch.”
One Pinterest trend you’d love to see more of?
“Couples embracing color and trusting their florist’s creativity instead of recreating a single Pinterest photo.”
One Pinterest trend couples shouldn’t stress over?
“None! Don’t focus on what’s trending, focus on your love story. The most beautiful weddings are the ones that feel authentically you.”
Best flowers for a romantic wedding?
“Roses and hydrangeas. And while it’s not a flower, nothing creates romance quite like lots of candlelight.”
Best flowers for a modern wedding?
“Orchids, anthuriums, and amaranthus; they create such a sculptural, contemporary look.”
If you couldn’t already tell, we adore Sunshine.
Her approach is something we hope every couple takes away from this conversation: you don’t need to recreate someone else’s wedding.
Know what matters to you. Find vendors whose work you genuinely love. Trust them with your vision. And give them the freedom to create something that feels like the two of you.
Flowers by Sunshine is a preferred Flora vendor and regularly designs weddings in our space.
Explore Flowers by Sunshine:
Visit Flowers by Sunshine
Follow Flowers by Sunshine on Instagram
You don’t need every flower picked out or a perfectly organized Pinterest board before you start planning.
Come see the space. Picture your ceremony. Imagine where those statement florals might go.
We’ll take it from there.