It's not hard to find advice for choosing a floral arrangement for your wedding. Whether it's bloggers, florists, in-laws, company reps, or DIY wedding guides, everybody and their mother has ideas about what the bride should have gripped in her fists while walking down the aisle, not to mention centerpieces for the tables at the reception and other floral wedding accents. As the bride, it's your choice for better or for worse. This means there are no rules that can't be broken, if it's what you want. It also means that you may need to play human traffic cop among different factions of family members, even if your own feelings are ambivalent. The "rules" of choosing floral arrangements, matching color schemes, matching bouquets with gowns, are a great place to start if you're having trouble generating ideas, but don't think experts' tips are commands.

How to Find Advice and Choose a Floral Arrangement
Most nationwide floral companies have customer service reps and call centers that you can contact for advice about choosing floral arrangements within their catalogue of flowers. These nationwide companies can be great for getting the best value for your floral arrangement dollar. These phone reps can be quite knowledgeable about their company's flowers and floral arrangements in general, but there is a limited amount of personalization that can occur online or over the telephone. That said, many brides can find all the information they need to make a decision through online sources and guidebooks.

Local florists, who have been in the business (some might say the craft) for generations, should have both extensive knowledge of both "textbook" advice and an openness to personal preferences that buck this advice. More than anything, this ability to pivot from a wide breadth of botanical knowledge to the depth of personal wedding choices and customer service is what makes local, trusted florists the go-to professionals for distressed and/or indecisive brides.

Tips for Choosing Floral Arrangements and Wedding Flowers

• Bouquets: The rule for bouquets is to match them with the bride's gown. Slimmer fitting gowns should go with slimmer line bouquet. Fuller, ornate gowns should go with more rounded bouquets. An asymmetrical gown often goes will with an asymmetrical crescent bouquet. There are also a number of "modern" bouquets for "modern" brides, such as the cascade, teardrop, or freeform bouquet.

• Other Flowers for the Ceremony: Try not to become so focused on the bouquet that you lose sight of other flowers for the ceremony. Pedestal arrangements, pew-end flowers, and garlands are valuable floral accents that shouldn't be prematurely dismissed. Obviously, venue will play a large role with these additional floral options.

  Flowers for Wedding Party: Naturally, the first person to plan for is the inclusion and flower choice for the flower girl. Once this is set, however, don't hesitate to adorn the groomsmen, father of the bride, and other wedding party members with corsages and other floral accents.

• Table Centerpieces: More than the color or type of flower, the size and shape may be the most important component of table centerpieces. Too tall and guests may have trouble conversing across the table. Too wide and the flowers may limit the available table space, making it more difficult to handle the array of tableware that formal events utilize.

• Other Flowers for Receptions: Survey the different components or stations of your wedding reception for additional floral accents. Popular choices are flowers for the wedding cake, bride and groom chairs, and other ritual focal points such as the bride and groom champagne flutes and cake knife and server.

Choosing Floral Arrangements for Other Occasions
Flowers aren't just for weddings and, consequently, neither are floral arrangements. Instead of dropping in at the local grocery store, consider making the extra effort to seek out a florist for professional floral arrangements for Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, as well as other occasions.