Picking Your Wedding Flowers With R. Love Floral's Raquel Lovern

You’ve said “Yes!” to love but what's next? When planning your wedding, choosing your vendors is key! Raquel Lovern is the Owner and Creative Director at R. Love Floral, and she also happens to be our favorite local florist!

We've had the pleasure of working with Raquel on a few projects for brides this year and have loved having the opportunity to preserve her amazing work!

We are so excited to have her walk us through the process of picking the perfect florals to adorn a beautiful wedding celebration!

Pictured: R. Love Floral + Dbandrea creation for Madeline Stokes (@themagnolialeafblog)

When a bride has no idea what they would like in terms of florals, where do you suggest they begin?

Pinterest is such a great source for wedding inspiration but magazines, and Instagram are wonderful too. I always have my brides start by selecting their main wedding colors and a photo or two of their favorite floral bouquet before we meet for our first consultation. From there I can help them choose complementary colors and their overall wedding style. I definitely suggest brides bring a few items to their consultation that will help show their overall style and wedding colors. Pinterest photos, Instagram photos, and color swatches all help tell your overall design story and help us create the floral vision.

What should a bride's florals be based on?

This is very intimate and personal. Every bride is different and while I have my own opinion and style, what feels right and most comfortable to the bride is what’s best for her.

Some of my brides want a big, wild bouquet. Some want a round, petite bouquet so it doesn’t take away from their dress. Some brides want an all-white bouquet and some want a really colorful bouquet. Whatever feels right for you as a bride is what you should do. I am just here to offer my professional design opinion. Don’t worry, if something doesn’t look good together, I will let you know. ☺

What are some common wedding themes and how do flowers differ by theme?

In Dallas, one of the most popular wedding styles is ballroom although most of our brides tend to love a more garden style, so we can incorporate more greenery for a natural feeling even if you are getting married inside a hotel ballroom. Typically ballroom wedding floral is more round and classic calling for hydrangeas and roses as the main flower.

Our most favorite style is an outdoor wedding that tends to have more of a natural and ethereal style. Natural weddings use more greenery, wild vines, garden-style flowers like ranunculus, garden roses, dahlias, larkspur, and hellebores. We always love an earthy boho wedding too. There are so many fun flowers to use for a bride that likes more texture using proteas, dried grasses like pampas and wildflowers.

Do you recommend picking a main flower?

Yes, using a focal flower is very important to have a cohesive design. I love lush focal flowers such as hydrangeas, roses, peonies and dahlias that your eye is drawn towards then mixing them with different focal flowers, filler flowers and greenery.

What are the different types of wraps for flowers?

A bride can truly wrap her bouquet in anything! We have brides who are more sentimental and nostalgic that give us a piece of their mother's dress or vintage handkerchief to wrap their bouquet, which I love so much. If a bride does not have anything sentimental to wrap her bouquet in then we use different types of ribbons that coordinate with her wedding, style or dress. We can use satin ribbon, vintage lace, or long silk flowy ribbons.

What is your signature style?

My signature style is garden-inspired. I love natural greens paired with big beautiful romantic blooms. When I’m not designing weddings I love spending time in my own garden, that is where I draw most of my inspiration from. I am inspired by the everyday joys of the garden, wild greenery vines, autumn leaves, blooming branches, and wildflowers.

Which color palettes do you suggest?

I love big bold color palettes, whether it be a colorful spring wedding, summer fiesta inspired wedding or a dreamy fall tone wedding. We LOVE color and love the opportunity to work with all flowers. However, we know not every bride loves a bold palette and we can rock a muted pastel wedding or an all-white classic wedding too. An all-white garden style floral is always a fave of mine.

Which flowers do you recommend for each season?

Oh, this one is hard! There are SO many good flowers in each season but a few of my favorites are Amaryllis for winter weddings, coral charm peonies for spring weddings, zinnias for summer weddings and dahlias for fall weddings.

Are there any flowers that work for every season?

Flowers like roses, carnations, and hydrangeas, are typically always in season! You can’t go wrong with any of these flowers.

Which types of flowers do you suggest for our brides that need their flowers to stay fresh for pressing?

Most flowers will need water to keep looking fresh but a few flowers that have a longer “cut life” are roses, ranunculus, waxflower, blue thistle, carnations, calla lilies, and tropicals.

What would you recommend to a bride with a small budget?

Make the most of your budget. Bouquets are the most important part of the wedding to me because they are in the majority of your photos. You can reuse bouquets on tables as centerpieces then keep it simple for the rest of the design. Additionally, make a list of the three most important floral needs in of your wedding. Splurge on those items and keep it simple for everything else. Less is more when you are on a budget!

R. Love Floral has served the greater Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex area since 2010, but Raquel’s love for florals began on the school playground where she would pick flowers to create bouquets for her teachers. After obtaining her degree in Physical Anthropology and Botany from The University of Texas, Raquel spent several years working in the hospitality industry and eventually began helping her friends design their wedding florals. We are so grateful to have her guide us through. Visit R. Love Floral's website and Instagram to see more of their amazing designs!