Floral trends and tips for 2023 weddings

Olivetta meets the flower designer Feliciano Cozzoli to suggest to the spouses how to choose the flowers for their wedding

Flowers represent the colourful note of every occasion: from the most informal to the most important.

Have you ever thought about what it would be like to celebrate a wedding without flowers? The colour, the movement of an arrangement and the scent of fresh flowers certainly make the difference in an environment decorated for a party.

Close to the beautiful season full of wedding events, we want to offer you the newest trends: we asked the flower designer Feliciano Cozzoli, a florist in the historic family business, what are the trends and proposals for the new year.

As already described in our article dedicated to 2022 wedding trends Trendy weddings in 2022: which styles to match Olivetta with? the most successful styles were three: the minimal-chic, eco-friendly and multisensory wedding. Will they be the same as in the new year?

So, let’s take a closer look at Feliciano’s proposals.

Which flowers will be the protagonists of 2023?

The protagonist flowers of the new year will be buttercups, stocks, muscari orchids, privet berries, lavender flowers and manually opened roses; all local and seasonal flowers or at most dried, grown sustainably and at zero kilometres. Even if the trend proposes these flowers, nature offers different possibilities of combinations and therefore of ideas for our bouquets.

What are the trendy colours for the floral designer that will explode this year?

The trendy colours for the 2023 wedding continue to be pastel shades, but with brighter and more vibrant nuances such as the new vivid magenta, the Pantone 2023 colour, baby pink, lavender (Digital Lavender Pantone); orange and coral, shadesof blue and green will also be the protagonist

Working on the colour scale, will there be bright and risky combinations, or will we stay on classic and more neutral tones?

The trend in terms of colours always depends on the personal taste of the spouses: it then will be the florist who will create harmony and balance between the many scales of colours. Of course, classic and neutral tones such as beige, earth tones, milky white and cream are timeless, but you don't give up on the sobriety of white tones, especially if you have a total white. wedding in mind. Even the reference to nature and its centrality in our daily choices will be important in the chromatic composition of the bouquets.

The floral composition plays a dominant role in giving an identity to the event. Will there be particular composition schemes for the bridal bouquet in 2023?

For the new wedding season, the trends will mainly focus on the size of the compositions: the bouquets will tend to be small, often monochromatic with only the contrasts of greens and small leaves, so as to release the softness from the composition. Nevertheless, the most important aspect is still inspired by respect for nature: they will be in line with the natural cycles of the seasons. Furthermore, the millennials and the older ones of generation Z have officially cancelled the floral canons relating to gender: who said that even the groom cannot arrive at the altar with a bouquet? But, what's wrong with doing it?

The traditional and typically floral bouquet has suffered a countertrend in recent years. Leaves have taken on a more consistent role in the floral composition: what role will they play in the combination of flowers and colours for the next months?

Shapes will be more spontaneous, free, and soft. The shades of green and the leaves will not only have a filling function but will be used to draw soft lines and sinuous games, even if their presence will be decorative of the flowers.

If you had to suggest an extravagant and more contemporary solution, which floral or vegetable element would you add to the compositions of the bride?

Always considering the preferences of the spouses, I would suggest to them some aromatic and citric plants – ideal for a lemon-themed wedding – which give colour and elegance to the wedding, by inebriating the senses with their unique scents.

In the last few years awareness of the theme of green and sustainability has been registered. Has the field of floral design also been affected by this attitude??

Working in close contact with nature and being inspired by its colours and shapes, respecting its seasonality, we could not remain insensitive to this attitude. Even before the theme of sustainability became the unique alternative for the protection of the environment and nature, we have always been committed to having the lowest possible impact on it. In fact, in this sense, for the set-up of the wedding event, we have proposed potted plants to be reused after the event or, as already said, the use of local and seasonal flowers.

We recycle more responsibly. Even the spouses and their wedding could be inspired by this ecological sympathy: could the same sensitivity be recognized in the combination of dried flowers with fresh ones?

In 2019, while visiting a trade fair in Frankfurt, for the first time I noticed the combination of dried flowers with fresh ones for setting up a wedding and one of the outstanding elements was the pampas. Conferences were held on zero-impact green issues, and I enthusiastically brought these ideas into our business. Surely, the initial feedback from the spouses was not what I expected, but today those trends are widespread and deeply rooted. There is always a need for time to absorb proposals and news, but I am thrilled that the spouses are now very close and sensitive to the theme.

Looking at the trends of 2022, what continuity, in terms of styles and floral trends, can you recognise?

In continuity with 2022, there are colours in pastel shades and a rather minimalist organisational style, for lovers of sober weddings with a modern touch. Be careful not to confuse minimalism with paltry! But it is to be interpreted in the sense of essential and of an eco-sustainable approach to the event. Among the compositional and set-up styles, the cottagecore, still triumphs, a rural set-up, full of field flowers and which creates a sort of secret garden, as could be a welcoming and romantic location surrounded by greenery.

Going beyond the new year’s trends, what advice would you like to leave to future brides in 2023?

Being free to choose because it will be one of the best days of their life is the sincerest invitation, I feel like leaving them. Looking positively, these years of great challenges have gifted us with the ability to understand the importance of simple things and of people who love us. So, surround yourself with love and affection, customize as much as possible, with the help of the right suppliers, your wedding like a tailor-made suit for you to make your dreams come true.

Olivetta and floral details

Although trends for the new year and for the new wedding season are confirmed, customising the compositions and colours for the setting up of your wedding is the real rule that cannot be ignored.

At Olivetta, always attentive to new trends and needs of the spouses, we combine the floral choice with the packaging of the wedding favours, personalising the packaging with floral inserts and details that recall the flowers chosen for the bouquet or the church setting, respecting the theme of the wedding from the ceremony to the moment in which the wedding favours are given to the guests and the celebration are concluded.

We close our study with a little curiosity for you spouses. Since ancient times, the bouquet has taken on the role of good luck charm, to ward off bad luck during the wedding day; become a symbol of happiness, fidelity and fertility, it continues to colour and cheer up our heart events.

For every occasion its flower, for every bride its bouquet.