Naturally beautiful - The Korea Times

Flower trends for weddings and home

By Yun Suh-young

Is there a trend in flowers?

It may not seem so because same types of flowers bloom repeatedly according to the season; but there is an apparent trend in using them for different occasions.

Flower trends are sensitive to the changing lifestyles of people.

“Flower trends are affected most by interior designs or trending colors of that year. It differs slightly year by year,” said Kim Shin-young, a florist at the Marylebone Flower Shop.

“Last year, Nordic interiors were the big trend and it seems the trend will last. Flower designs were accordingly soft and natural to meet the style. This year will also follow up on last year and green materials will be used diversely to emphasize naturalism. Bold colors will be used here and there on soft designs.”

Instead of the classic and modern look of British flower decorations, the French style which emphasizes naturalism is gaining popularity.

“The British style has consistently remained popular over the years as the classic choice. But the natural French style is gaining momentum these days so we added French-style lessons as well. The French style involves more ivy,” said Audrey Oh, a florist at Audrey Flowers.

Wedding decorations

“It may have seemed that there’s no trend for flowers because of the bland use of colors. Koreans tend to be a bit conservative in choosing wedding flower colors. Most prefer white,” said Vicky Jung, CEO of Wild Flower Linen Korea which specializes in wedding decorations.

“But as the wedding culture is evolving from solemn hotel and convention weddings to casual house weddings, outdoor weddings, to restaurant and even gallery weddings, the flower trend is also evolving to meet the occasion.”

In the case of outdoor weddings, the use of color has become bolder.

“Flowers for outdoor weddings are more natural, making the most of green materials. This is the advantage of outdoor weddings that can’t be expressed in indoor weddings. Colors are also bold to stand out outdoors,” said Jung.

The increase of outdoor and house weddings has resulted in the diversification of designs, says Kim of Marylebone.

“As more brides and grooms are personally decorating their own weddings, the use of flower colors and designs have become more diverse,” she said.

Both Jung and Kim said the use of objects and vases will continue to be popular.

“For quite a while, arranging flowers on foam was a popular style in weddings but since Jeff Leatham introduced vase arrangements in hotel weddings, that style has spread extensively,” said Jung.

“Modern styles using vases and various objects will continue to be trendy,” said Kim.

Home styling

Kim suggests using bright colors to style the home for spring.

“I’d suggest vase arrangements for the home. Arrange tulips, hyacinth, grape hyacinth, or daffodils simply in a glass vase,” said Kim.

“If you’re planning to decorate your home interior with marsala, the color for this year, use white or green plants as an accent.”