A Guide on the Wildflower Wedding Design

Spring has sprung and that means wedding planning has begun! We have a lot of folks reach out to us asking us to help bring their wildflower wedding to life and we absolutely LIVE to create wildflower magic, I mean hello, we run a flower farm in East Tennessee, it’s kind of our job. However, we get a lot of people asking how to exactly accomplish the wildflower look and we thought we would make a simple guide to help you bring your wildflower vision to life. We also want to make a note that a lot of the wildflower looks that people are drawn to are spring wildflower — note that every season is different, so take that into account when planning your wedding. It’s a lot harder to bring in spring flowers into fall, instead of using the seasonal and fresh flowers!

This photo is quite possibly our favorite photo to exit, this was our bride’s bouquet surrounded by her bridesmaids bouquets. Most of these stunning blooms were grown on our farm, Rainbow Roots Floral located in Maryville, Tennessee. Our ranunculus, anemones, daffodils, Icelandic poppies, delphinium, and others truly make it hard to have a favorite flower on the farm. (That’s why we usually have a favorite flower of the week).

1. Wildflower themes are FLOWER-heavy. This may seem like a no-brainer, but if you truly want your wedding to be wildflower themed, you have to be ready to make this a priority to you. This means allocating a good amount of your budget to florals, because this is how you’re communicating your theme. If you’re wanting a wildflower wedding, you want your guests to feel like they are in the middle of a meadow, so this means focusing on the impact of your tables, opting for a mixture of centerpieces, heavy bud vases, and ikebanas. We PROMISE you it will look good.

2. When planning, do some research on what flowers will be in season. We want to make sure that your flowers are as farm-fresh as possible, and we want to make sure we are being as financially responsible as we can. Think about it this way, if your favorite flowers are ranunculus and poppies are these are MUST haves for your wedding, it’s a lot more affordable to have your wedding in the spring, when these flowers are in season and we can go outside and cut them versus if we’re trying to find a farm in October to source these from. Your budget can be stretched a lot farther if you think about the seasonality of your favorite flowers.

3. Some things can be repurposed, and some cannot. We love repurposing items in weddings and we love to help couples get the most out of their budget, but it’s harder for us to repurpose flowers when they have been outside in 92 degree heat, versus a crisp 64 degree spring wedding. So know that the season can also impact your budget and what can and cannot be reused. Also we think about the impact of the items, so sometimes we can repurpose a bridesmaids bouquet if it’s our standard size and will add enough weight to the table, versus smaller, petite bridesmaids won’t give what you want it to give.

We absolutely love the idea of a mono-bloom bouquet or a monochromatic bouquet. A mono-bloom is using one type of bloom for the entire bouquet, versus a monochromatic focuses on using one color, depicted here. We used a base of our greens (pennycress, bluperium, and matricaria).

We absolutely love taking to our couples and figuring out what theme they’re going for and what vision they want to bring to life. With spring right around the corner, gaining another hour of daylight next week, and warmer temperatures, we know that our spring weddings are about to take off. For our 2025 couples, we are so excited about your upcoming weddings and we hope to create a lot more weddings that look like this and feel this whimsical and ethereal. To 2026 couples, what are you waiting for? We hope that this post made you fall in love with wildflower weddings just as much as we have!

Bridgerton Wedding Goals: Spring Garden Party

Dear Gentlest Reader, we heard that you are looking for some wedding inspiration and your mind keeps going to, “If my wedding could just look like it was set in Bridgerton it would be PERFECT”. Look no further, open your Pinterest and get ready to start saving, because we had the most dreamy, ethereal, and elegant wedding this past spring that looks like Lady Daphne Bridgerton and Duke of Hastings Simon Basset just said “I Do”.

What are top three elements to creating a Bridgerton wedding?

• Floral-Heavy: when you think of Bridgerton, you probably think of the beautiful floral elements that the show has, from the flowering arches, to the beautiful urn-arrangements, this is a MUST for this theme to convey.

• Opulent tablescapes: think of using some china or having some elegant glassware, beautiful figurines, items that transport you straight to the tv series

• Calligraphy: what would Bridgerton be without the writing? Think of having some handwritten notes, using personalized calligraphy or creating a crest!

This photo truly looks like it is a still image from Bridgerton, Lady Whistledown would write page upon page about how stunning this image is. All of these stunning photo were captured by Ally Robinson Photo.

When we spoke with this amazing couple, she wanted to create the garden party of her dreams, and being a springtime wedding, we thought this was absolutely perfect time of year. Our flower farm, located in the hills of East Tennessee, created a ton of these gorgeous pastel spring blooms. Some of our favorites in this photo are our ranunculus (literally absolutely stunning ranging from pastel pinks to butter yellows), to our light and airy anemones, our beautiful stock that truly added they fluffiness we were searching for, and our flowering cherry blossoms.

This stunning wedding took place at the Knoxville Museum of Art, we absolutely adore their outdoor space that housed the ceremony — truly making it feel like a garden party, while their reception space was so bright and open it allowed the Bridgerton Garden Party theme to continue to be executed indoors. Our couple had the cutest little ceramics for name cards for the guest, that we think was a very cute way to add decor to the table without it seeming too heavy or not on theme.

We think that this wedding did an excellent job of truly bringing their theming to life — their guests weren’t left guessing at the theme, they were transported to the Regency Era and felt like they were truly the Diamond of the season. When you start thinking about your garden party wedding we recommend a pastel color palette of pinks, yellows, blues, greens, and purples, with the pops of white to truly bring in the airiness. Also, we like to make the reminder that the venue truly plays into the execution of the theme, it worked so well at the KMA because of the airiness and brightness and we can’t wait to see what you come up with and we know that your wedding will be the talk of the towne!

Yours Truly,

Rainbow Roots Floral

2025 Trend Alert: The Year of the Poppy?

If you are anything like us, you’ve seen the movie Wicked about 12 times now, you and your bestie have matching green and pink outfits, and Defying Gravity will definitely be in your top 10 most played songs of the year. There is no argument that this book turned musical turned movie is truly one for the ages, and the sequel coming out this year will undoubtably rival it’s incredible reputation, but we believe that this movie truly will have an impact on the wedding industry. We think that 2025, and maybe even 2026 will be the years to highlight the beautiful flower that is the poppy. We’ve got to agree with Elphaba on this one, poppies truly are going to be popular.

Icelandic Poppy

There are about 250 kinds of poppies that grow across the world, and at Rainbow Roots we are lucky to grow a few varieties. Our personal favorite has got to be the Icelandic Poppy. This poppy comes in peach, coral, yellow, red, white, pink, and orange. Look at how massive this poppy is that Adrienne, our head grower, got to harvest last spring!

Dainty. Elegant. Whimsy.

Poppies are one of our favorite spring flowers — they are known for being dainty and definitely living for the moment and not for weeks at a time. Even though she isn’t as hardy in a vase-life, she truly is a showstopper. Poppies truly shine in any arrangement or bouquet that they are added to, a focal flower at heart, she truly is easily identifiable and is a fan favorite. She is the it girl, she is the moment.

Popular Meanings of Poppies

Language of the flowers: beauty and success, remembrance of lost loved ones, and even a restful sleep. (The Wizard of Oz cameo)

Ancient Greece: fertility, health, and strength.

Shop our Flower Club

When is their peak?

So we all ADORE a poppy that is full open and in all of her glory (the one with Adrienne is STUNNING), but if you decide to pick some up from one of our farmer’s markets or our farm stand, if you choose the ones that are still closed, you get to watch them open and enjoy their beauty for longer.

We are absolutely excited for our first poppy to bloom on the farm, and it’s looking like it’s going to happen any day now. A good hint that they are coming is when their furry cocoons start sprouting off the stem. We love to take a little peak when they start opening to see what color they are going to be. We cannot wait to make farmer’s market bouquets with poppies, we can’t wait to incorporate them into our spring weddings, and hopefully we get to see a LOT of the poppy this year. Maybe the tulip and the poppy will be this spring’s top 2 flowers? Who knows, but all we know is we have Wicked to thank for helping the public know more about these stunning flowers. (Also thank you Wicked for planting and using real tulips sincerely, your adoring floral designers and flower farmers).

Tuscany Dreams in Knoxville, Tennessee

This stunning arbor installation highlights our cement columns and our gorgeously stunning fall florals. The hanging green amaranth contrasted with our stunning farm-grown peach and mauve dahlias, truly encapsulated this Tuscany fall-themed wedding at the Candoro Marble Building.

Known for their romantic culture, with the phrase of, “we didn’t invent love, we just perfected it”, Italy has been revered as one of the most dreamy, romantic, and beautiful countries in the world. From their rolling vineyards, to the historic buildings sculpted from marble, there is no wonder that Italy has sky-rocketed as an influential theme for weddings. While some folks dream of a destination wedding in Italy, we wanted to bring Tuscany to our Appalachian Mountains, and couldn’t think of a better place to do it, than in Knoxville, Tennessee. Candoro Marble Building, a historic marble building from the 1920s, has the Italian romantic ambiance, without having to book an international flight.

What exactly is Tuscany or Italian theming for weddings?

One thing we can tell you about a Tuscany themed wedding is that flowers are at the center of it all — while it is known for it’s strong medieval architecture, focusing on long, uninterrupted walls of marble, columns, and exposed beams, it is crucial to make sure to bring in some light and airy florals to help create the whimsical feeling by softening the architecture. We think that a color palette of some fall neutrals with some pops of peach and and light pinks truly made this wedding POP.

These ikebanas bring a whimsical, light and airy vibe to any space, livening up the welcome table, bringing beautiful fall florals into this stunning space.

Fruit Styling

When you think of the rolling hills of Tuscany, our mind drifts towards those gorgeous vineyards that extend for miles and miles. We had to pay homage by this fruit styling. We think fruit styling is a stunning way to elevate your tablescapes. Pro tip: for a high impact and a lower cost than traditional full floral centerpieces, we love fruit styling and a mixture of ikebanas and bud vases. This allows for more of a meadow and artistic flow, that will truly immerse your guests in the Italian theming.

So if you are dreaming of an European, Italian, or Tuscany themed wedding, but wanting it local — look no further. We would love to help create and bring your vision to life. Whether it starts with an Aperol Spritz welcome wall, or a Tuscany garden-themed family style dinner, we believe that Tuscany truly can exist anywhere, and we love to be a part of that process. When your guests walk away from you wedding they’re going to be left saying, “now THAT is amore.”

Neutral. Timeless. Whimsical. Fall.

What a dreamy neutral-fall wedding -- the brides and bridesmaids bouquets use some of our farm fresh flowers with cosmos, dahlias, and zinnias. Photographer: David Weflen

Venue: Howe Farms -- Chattanooga, Tennessee

As the fall air starts to roll in here in the beautiful Smoky Mountains in East Tennessee, we love to embrace seasonality in our wedding florals. A lot of brides will mention they want a “timeless” aesthetic, and reference photos with white roses and babies breath — but what really is timeless? Timeless isn’t about following the "set” trends, but rather creating a celebration that reflects a couple’s unique love story and what they value. Truly at the center of the timeless aesthetic is a neutral color palette — which we think is beautifully depicted in Michalah and Jeff’s wedding at Howe Farms. Let’s take a closer look at some of the farm-fresh blooms that added some dimension, personality, and flair to their fall-neutral wedding.

Centerpiece Inspiration

We love incorporating flowers fresh from our farm in our weddings! Featured here are our blush zinnias, our cosmos, and several kinds of our dahlias. We have over 100 different varieties growing on our farm!

What is needed to create a timeless aesthetic? We think there are three key pieces to achieving this:

1. Simple Color Palettes: When thinking of a timeless color palette, we think that it’s best to go with a lighter, neutral, color palette with 3-5 colors — something that isn’t too deep, but playing into the whites, creams, soft yellows, peaches, blushes, really helps add dimension and depth to your big day! (pastels, neutrals, will literally never go out of style).

2. Florals, Florals, Florals: When trying to plan an elegant wedding, we believe that you can NEVER have too many flowers! We recommend having several different kinds of focal blooms rather than too much filler flowers. We also love to see true centerpieces used during the reception, we believe that this adds immensely to the overall vibe you’re trying to achieve! If you’re still interested in bud vases, we highly recommend ordering enough to cluster them, 3 bud vases have a minimal effect, while 5-9 truly add flair to a table. While you can use bud vases, they add a light and airy feel and won’t have enough of an impact as a centerpiece!

3. Garden Style: We love building in a garden style, because we truly believe that it is timeless! Garden style is based off of shapes you see in nature — because natural growth will never be out of style. While some of the modern styles might seem intriguing to you, it might go out of style after the newness and fad runs off. (But if you are a modern gal, we LOVE IT and go for it!) We just know that garden style is gorgeous, has stood against the test of time, and truly is a wonderful (and safe) option for our couples!

We absolutely love making your head table something special and a major focal point during your reception! We always opt to add more bud vases/arrangements to make it look more full. Here we also have two ground arrangement that truly elevate any space! We love working at Howe Farms at their beautiful venues to help create floral visions come to life. The combination of the bud vases and ground pieces are whimsical in the fall-neutral color palette , while still delivering on a timeless aesthetic. 

Neutral. Timeless. Elegant.

We absolutely love creating bridal bouquets, we love seeing all of your wedding florals come together in a stunning pinnacle of your wedding vision and aesthetic. Our farm-grown cosmos and dahlias truly got to be the center of attention in this bouquet. With a few additional blooms, ranunculus, and garden roses, her vision became a dream come true. The most important part of creating a wedding vision/theme is choosing something that is special to you and showcases the love story of you and your soon to be spouse!

Love in Bloom: Summer Smoky Mountain Elopements

Welcome to our inaugural blog post, we are so glad you’re here! The Rainbow Report is our weekly blog where we will talk about anything and everything from wedding trends, floral installations, some of our favorite bouquets, some of our events, and even more! Our hope is that we get to share our little slice of heaven in East Tennessee with YOU. We love what we do, and we hope that our blog provides a piece of community and connectedness in an industry that can feel isolating. Welcome to the Rainbow Report🌈.

Photo taken by: Smoky Mountain Elopement Package (@smokymountainelopementpackage on instagram) 

This summer we have loved helping celebrate love with Smoky Mountain Elopement Package owner, Rachel! We have had the opportunity to build so many fun, whimsical, dreamy, and breathtaking bouquets to be used for some stunning elopements in the Smoky Mountains, right outside of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee!

The bouquet pictured above is one of our favorites featuring some stunning summer blooms from delphinium, dahlias, pink celosia, lisianthus, and zinnias. We love growing these flowers on our farm nestled in the hills of Maryville, Tennessee.

Here for you, every step of the way.

Whether you choose a wedding with 150 guests to dance the night away, or you choose an elopement surrounded by you, the love of your life, and your closest friends/family, we love creating floral pieces (from personals to full installations) to surround yourself with stunning flowers.

We love learning about your color palette, your vibe, your YES flowers (as well as your ABSOLUTELY NOT flowers), so we can create a bouquet and pieces that make you say “WOW IT IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN MY PINTEREST!”.

This summer has been full of love, full of sunshine, and full of flowers! Every single time we build a new bouquet, our team looks at each other and says, “WOW, okay now THIS is my new favorite!”. We love creating bouquets that are breathtaking and beautiful, so they seamlessly blend in with your ceremony location, and help you feel so special on the best day of your life!