The Best Spring Foliage for DIY Wedding Flowers

When it comes to DIY wedding flowers, the right foliage can elevate bouquets and arrangements from beautiful to breathtaking. Spring offers a variety of fresh foliage, providing a lush backdrop for your blooms. The traditional wedding foliages are often ruscus and eucalyptus. They are plentiful, lovely, affordable and usually available year round. But they can lack that seasonality that makes bouquets right, right now.

Here’s a look at some of the best foliages that are at peak in spring. Try weaving a few of these into your DIY arrangements for a a unique seasonal look.

Spring Favorites

Bupleurum

Bupleurum might not be a household name, but it's spring’s secret weapon for adding grace and movement to arrangements. With its bright rounded leaves and chartreuse hue, Bupleurum is a versatile foliage choice that complements a range of flowers.

Lambs Ear

Lambs Ear, with its soft, velvety leaves, is a unique foliage option that adds a tactile and charming element to DIY wedding arrangements. The muted green-gray color of the leaves provides a subtle contrast to vibrant blooms, creating a visually appealing balance. Lambs Ear is short but can work beautifully in bouquets, boutonnieres, and even in low floral centerpieces.

Ferns

Ferns are classic choices for adding a touch of nature and elegance to wedding flowers. With their feathery and intricate fronds, ferns provide a versatile backdrop for various blooms. Maidenhair ferns, in particular, are known for their delicate appearance, making them a popular choice for spring weddings.

Delicate & Trailing Classics

Sweet Pea Vines

Sweet pea vines draping out of a bridal bouquet or footed urn bring a delicate romance and natural grace to your wedding florals. Their tendrils have a soft and whimsical quality, creating an ethereal and garden-inspired atmosphere. Whether cascading from bouquets, adorning arches, or woven into table centerpieces, the gentle movement of sweet pea vines provide an unmistakable springy feel.

Honeysuckle: Sweet and Enchanting

Bring a touch of sweetness and enchantment to your DIY wedding flowers with honeysuckle. Known for its delicate, tubular flowers and sweet fragrance, honeysuckle vines add a romantic and whimsical element to bouquets and arrangements. Whether woven into a floral crown or draped along an arch, honeysuckle introduces a charming, garden-inspired feel to your spring wedding florals.

Wisteria

Wisteria, with its cascading clusters of fragrant blossoms and graceful, pinnate leaves, is a captivating choice for wedding florals. The delicate, vine-like structure of wisteria lends itself to creating enchanting arches, arbors, or hanging arrangements. The lush greenery provides a verdant backdrop for the lavender or white spring blooms to stand out vibrantly. Whether adorning ceremony spaces or incorporated into bridal bouquets, wisteria brings a sense of timeless elegance and natural beauty.

Spirea

Abelia

Timeless Evergreens

Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus is a perennial favorite for DIY wedding flowers, and for good reason. Its silvery-green leaves add a timeless and romantic touch to arrangements. But which to choose? Eucalyptus has many varieties, including seeded, silver dollar, tiny leaves and baby blue, allowing you to choose the one that best suits your style. Whether used as a cascading element in bouquets or as a table runner, eucalyptus brings an effortlessly chic and organic vibe to spring weddings.

Eleganus

Elaeagnus have lush green foliage and delicate silver undersides that add a touch of sophistication and texture to wedding arrangements. Its versatile branches can be shaped and trimmed to complement a variety of floral styles and arrangements. Elaeagnus foliage provides a subtle yet impactful contrast to vibrant blooms, creating depth and visual interest in bouquets and centerpieces. Note that some elaeagnus varieties are considered invasive species in certain areas.

Privet

Privet, with its glossy and dark green leaves, is an elegant foundational foliage choice. Its compact and versatile nature makes them suitable for various floral arrangements, adding a touch of classic sophistication. And if you can catch it in season, the bud clusters and tiny white blooms make great additions as well.

Pittosporum

Pittosporum is a beautiful umbrella-shaped foliage option that brings subtle elegance to wedding flowers. It comes in both green and variegated colors. The variegated are a wedding classic, featuring contrasting shades of green and cream that add sophistication and dimension to arrangements. Bonus? It lasts well and blends with almost any color palette and style.

Dusty Miller

For a touch of soft elegance and silvery texture in your DIY wedding flowers, consider dusty miller. Known for its distinctive silver-gray foliage, dusty miller adds a soft touch and depth to arrangements. Dusty miller's muted color palette goes with everything and can balance bold blossoms and delicate greenery.

Surprising Herbs

Mint

Mint isn't just for mojitos – it's a star when it comes to wedding flowers too. This aromatic herb infuses arrangements with a burst of freshness and a delightful fragrance. Its vibrant green or variegated leaves bring a casual spring feel to bouquets and centerpieces. Mint will add a touch of garden-inspired charm to your spring wedding designs.

Scented Geranium

Scented geraniums bring a unique sensory dimension to wedding florals. they are prized for their aromatic leaves that release a variety of fragrances, from citrus and rose to mint and spice. They have slightly fuzzy leaves that can be broad and vibrantly green or finely textured and variegated. Stems aren’t terribly long but can be incorporated into bridal bouquets or table arrangements. A must for garden-inspired and vintage wedding themes!

Oregano

Oregano, with its aromatic leaves and earthy fragrance, introduces a delightful and unexpected element to wedding florals. Often associated with culinary uses, oregano's feathery green foliage brings a unique texture and organic charm to bouquets and arrangements. The herb's small, oval leaves add a touch of whimsy and natural allure, creating a fresh and lively atmosphere. In spring, oregano also sends up lovely blush pink blooms that are a great arrangement addition too.

Rosemary

Big Leaf Impact

Ornamental Kale

More than a salad, ornamental kale has vibrant and intricately textured leaves that bring a fresh, unexpected element to wedding florals. With thick solid leaves or delicate frilly edges, kale comes in striking hues of purple, pink, or white. It can act as a a visual focal point but also adds a modern and artistic flair to wedding florals.

Tulip & Peony Leaves

If you’ve got these flowers in your mix, the accompanying foliage is an easy, complimentary addition. Both flower leaves have stout, broad leaves that buffer colors and provide visual weight. Don’t be afraid to separate them from their flowers and use them to accent a bouquet collar or centerpiece border.

Hydrangea

Hydrangea leaves, with their broad and serrated edges, serve as a versatile and lush complement to the iconic hydrangea blooms in wedding florals. These large, vibrant green leaves add a layer of fullness to bouquets and arrangements, creating a balanced and visually appealing mix.

Selecting the best spring foliage for your DIY wedding flowers involves a combination of personal style, thematic considerations, and the overall ambiance you wish to create.

Mixing choices like bupleurum, mint, eleganus and scented geraniums provides layers of leaves that form the canvas for focal flowers. Whether you're aiming for a garden-inspired, rustic, or timeless look, the right foliage can turn your DIY wedding flowers into a blooming masterpiece that reflects the beauty of the spring season.

Looking for Wedding Foliage in North Carolina?

If you’re planning a wedding in the North Carolina RTP area (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary, Apex, and Pittsboro) and want locally sourced wedding flowers, we might be a good match!

Our Chatham County, NC flower farm offers DIY bulk flower buckets and a la carte wedding florals using our sustainably grown seasonal blooms. Send me an email to start a conversation about your big event!