Last Updated on June 13, 2022
Peonies are one of our most requested wedding flowers. Considering them for your wedding? Here's everything you need to know.
Tips On Choosing And Using Peonies For Your Wedding
Peonies are among the most beautiful and in-demand wedding flowers available. They have long been considered a very romantic flower and a symbol of good fortune and a happy marriage, dating back to ancient times.
While they still retain their symbolism today, they are more than just pretty faces! They are a popular wedding flower and a very versatile one that can be used to create a gorgeous bridal bouquet or bridesmaid bouquet.
In addition, peonies can even be the focal flower in cake decor and other floral design work.
So, even though they are expensive flowers, they can be very cost-effective for your wedding.
With so many varieties of peonies available in various colors, shapes, sizes, and scents, you will surely find one to complement any wedding style.
When Are Peonies In Season for Weddings
I’ve been in the flower business long enough to remember the adage, “If you want peonies, get married in May.” In my experience, that’s still true today.
But today, you can add a couple of months to the production window in the fall. That’s good news for peony lovers and fall brides.
As you can see from the above image, peonies are available almost all year. However, the peak season in North America is in May and June, and from the southern hemisphere in October and November. Availability, pricing, and bloom quality are the best during these periods.
Because peonies are a field crop, the season’s beginning and end depend entirely on the weather.
Availability has extended into July and August and December and January through dry storage, but the quality of stored flowers is spotty in my experience. Even though we can source peonies, I don’t recommend them. I have had better success substituting garden roses instead.
Harvesting of Alaskan peonies occurs in late July and early August. They produce gorgeous flowers, but the entire crop often blooms at once, making it difficult to cut and ship the flowers in optimum condition within such a short time.
I’ve had mixed results when sourcing peonies from Alaska, so I recommend using garden roses instead.
Peonies grown in Israel are available in February and March. The roots are constrained because they are grown in large pots rather than in-ground, so the flowers produced are considerably smaller.
The Most Popular Peonies
If you are considering peonies for your wedding bouquet, here are the most popular varieties sold for cut flower use and when each is available.
Peony Care and Handling
Peony blooms are delicate and require extra TLC when preparing them for use in a bridal bouquet or other wedding floral arrangements.
The tips in this video will show you what you need to know when processing and designing a wedding bouquet with them.
My Takeaways From The Video
Here are my key takeaways from this video:
When processing peonies, remember to
Give the stems a fresh cut and place them in cold water containing a professional-grade flower preservative. The blooms will gradually open over several days.
We use Chrysal preservative in our shop, but Floralife works as well. Unless you are processing lots of flowers, use the packets.
Keep them in a well-lit area at room temperature. Doing so will also encourage the blooms to open.
How To Choose Peonies for Your Wedding
When choosing which variety of peonies to use for your wedding, there are several things to keep in mind:
Size and Shape. Large, round double-type peonies are the most popular type sold as cut flowers. Although they do make a statement, they’re not always practical.
Mixing in smaller ones or other flowers in a bridal bouquet, bridesmaid bouquet, or ceremony arrangements will make your design look more natural.
Color. White peonies will look stunning with any wedding theme. Suppose you plan on carrying a white peony bouquet down the aisle on your special day.
In that case, you could choose other popular colors for your attendants, including ivory peonies, pink peonies, coral peonies, or jewel tones, like purple or burgundy peonies, to complete the look.
Scent. Most peonies have a scent similar to roses, but some have a sweet vanilla scent, while others have a citrusy fragrance.
While you may love the romantic fragrance, others may not; others may be allergic. Just something to keep in mind.
Where to Buy High-Quality Peonies for Your Wedding
I would strongly suggest buying peonies from a local florist. They know the best sources to get them from, when to get them in, and how to get them open and ready for your wedding bouquet.
If you want to make your bridal bouquet, you can rely on your local florist to do the same for you.
If you want to purchase peonies online, you can find them at bulk flower sources like GlobalRose, BloomsbytheBox, and FlowerExplosion, among others.
Source
You can also find them at local farmers’ markets during the growing season. You’ll likely be able to buy them at the lowest prices there, too.
No matter where you choose to buy them, proper care is essential to get and keep these lush blooms in the best condition for your wedding day.
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