Bride and Groom in the Confetti Flower Field

The Real Flower Petal Confetti Company’s guide to planning a eco-friendly wedding: Everything you need to know about petal confetti and sustainable wedding decorations.

It feels like the tide has finally started to turn. That is to say, David Attenborough’s famous images of plastic eating sea creatures and Greta Thunberg’s climate strikes, seem to have struck a chord. As a result, millions of people across the planet have been inspired to think a little more about their impact upon it.

Certainly, here on the Wyke Manor Estate we are deeply tied to the environment and its many fluctuations. As farmers, the changes on the land, the weather, and the seasons shape our daily lives and the success of our businesses. Therefore, we all strive to live simply and sustainably, tread lightly, and nurture our beautiful corner of the planet.

the river avon on the wyke manor estate
Charles Hudson in The Confetti Flower Field
Tractor in a field, Wyke Manor Estate

The Real Flower Petal Confetti Company grew out of a desire to find a green alternative to paper and plastic wedding confetti.

In the mid 1990s Charles was looking for ways to diversify the farm. He wanted to continue growing and farming the land, so he chose to cultivate a different crop: Real flower petals that could become wedding confetti. Above all, his motivation came out of seeing the messy waste of paper confetti outside the village church. His desire was to provide a cleaner, natural and much prettier alternative. Why not throw flower petals? They are 100% biodegradable. But most importantly, they would offer an eco-friendly wedding alternative to the nasty plastic, metallic and paper confetti packets that was littering our streets.

A photo of bride and groom enjoying their confetti moment. They are holding hands, walking through a line of wedding guests, and they are covered in pink petal confetti.
Two brides, one in a white lace dress, one in a light pink suit, walk through an avenue of their wedding guests, who are throwing pale pink confetti petals high in the air. You can see pretty lines of bunting in the background.

An eco-friendly wedding

Now we are all far more tuned into our carbon footprint. Therefore many couples are looking to get married with out the waste and excess of previous decades. “Eco-friendly weddings”, “green weddings” and “natural weddings” are more than just a trend. Consequently it won’t take long for these low-waste weddings to become the established norm.

EDIT 2023 – you can read our tips about Planning a Sustainable Wedding here!

The best eco-friendly confetti petals are our own delphinium and wildflower petals:

  • Firstly, because they are grown on the Wyke Manor Estate, handpicked, and then naturally air dried. No energy but human effort involved. (Well, actually, they are drilled by the tractor, so that’s not quite correct. But, to clarify, no machinery is involved in their harvesting, drying or storage!)

  • Secondly, they are transported less than a mile across the farm to our packing room.

  • And finally, we mix everything together by hand and pack it up to your requirements. In addition, we use recycled or reusable packaging wherever possible.

  • In addition to these planet friendly credentials, the business supports local people through employment in the flower field, in the Confetti Office, and of course on the wider farm. We are a local, family farm, therefore we are intimately tied to the local community and are driven by the desire to build a sustainable place for people to live and work.

The confetti flowers are the colourful heart of our farm: They provide cover for deer, pheasants, hare and rabbits. They create homes for skylarks and food for bees and butterflies. And most importantly, because we also open the flower field to the public to come any enjoy, the flowers have a secondary purpose: They provide immense pleasure to visitors!

To learn more about us and visiting the flower field please visit the About Us page.

Most importantly, our delphinium and wildflower petals are perfect confetti petals! Because they are small and light they are super floaty. Therefore, they “hang in the air” and they look beautiful for your confetti moment and in your wedding photographs.

Beautiful Natural Flower Petals

In addition to our home grown petals, we also sell a selection of other real flower petals. Customers continually asked for more choice and colours. Therefore we set out to source quality suppliers who can offer you a bigger range of petals. As a result, you are able to consider our gorgeous Rose Petals and pretty Hydrangea Petals!

Lilac, Blue & White Hydrangea Petals - Rectangular Flower Girl Basket
Real Flower Petal Confetti Moment - Winter Weddings
A heart shaped wooden bowl filled with Red Small Natural Rose Petal Confetti

Sustainable Wedding Decorations

Confetti is not the only way you can use our lovely flower petals to make your eco-friendly wedding day special. Dried flower petals make wonderful sustainable wedding decorations too!

The principle green wedding rule when it comes to flowers is – THINK SEASONAL. However, because our petals are preserved, they will last.

Delphinium petals, for instance, will store in perfect condition for at least 12 months! Therefore, you are not limited to what’s in bloom around your wedding date.

Most importantly, because our petals are dried, they won’t wilt, fade or get slippery underfoot like fresh flower petals. As a result, our confetti petals make excellent wedding decorations. They are totally natural and biodegradable. Furthermore, you can simply pop them in the compost heap when their job is done!

A garden with a Rose Petal Pathway created with Rainbow Small Natural Rose Petals. It stretches across the grass, around a tree, to two pink chairs.
A photo of a laid out wedding breakfast table scattered with colourful Delphinium Flowerheads as table decorations
Pink roses scattered all over the wedding breakfast table.

The three most popular ways to use real flower petals as eco-friendly wedding decorations:

  • Flower petal table and venue decorations

    A handful of flower petals is a really simple way to decorate your wedding tables. You can, for example, simply scatter them in the centre of round tables. Alternatively, a line down the middle of a rectangular table looks great. It’s neither difficult, fussy, expensive nor time consuming to achieve. Continue the idea with piles of pretty petals in or around your other decorations. It’s a great way to pull together recycled, reused, reclaimed or mis-matching items, like vases and lanterns.

    More ideas: Pinterest – Pretty Petal Ideas

Small Natural Rose Petals at each place setting - eco-friendly wedding decorations
Large Natural Rose Petals down the aisle
  • Petal aisle and pathways

    Similarly, you can create easy aisle decorations and pathways with a scattering or line of dried flower petals. It is a wonderful way to add those extra special touches to your wedding day. You can be as simple or extravagant, bright and colourful or soft and romantic as you desire!

    More ideas and details to help you create this – Blog: How to… Create flower petal aisles and wedding pathways

Large Natural Rose Petals down the aisle
  • Flower Girls and Boys

    Scattering petals in front of the bride is thought to symbolise a happy path into married life. It will also bring good luck to the union. But most importantly, it’s a very pretty thing to do! It is a great way to involve little ones in your wedding ceremony. Alternatively, a modern alternative is to have your little girl or boy to sprinkle petals in front of the happy couple after the ceremony is complete. And as wedding traditions go, it is certainly the cutest!

    Read more – Blog: How to… Flower Girl Baskets – Ideas and Inspiration

A young flower girl in a dark purple dress scattering purple rose petals out of a white wicker basket. She is smiling happily.

That is all you really need to know! Now the fun can start, and you can choose some colours for your eco-friendly wedding petals. We always recommend that you begin on our Colour Chart. This is where you can see and easily compare all your available options.

It is tempting to do and make as much as you can for your eco-friendly wedding. Certainly, this is a green approach, and it can be lots of fun. But do you really have all the skills and enough time?! Paying a professional to take on something is often the best value decision all round.

That is to say, yes, you can pick and dry your own garden flower petals. However, we get sooooo many phone calls each year from people who have done that, and it’s all gone horribly wrong! They’ve got brown petals, mouldy petals or shrivelled petals… And most often they simply don’t have enough petals.

Petals Experts!

We spent many years perfecting our petal drying processes. Consequently, we know it’s not easy! We are confident that we have the highest quality petals on the market – treat yourself to some of ours!

Best wishes, The Petal People x

The Real Flower Petal Confetti Company

100% real flower petals – 100% biodegradable – 100% wonderful

Written 17/12/2019

The Real Flower Petal Confetti Company’s Eco Friendly wedding checklist:

  • Do you really want it or need it? Above all, don’t follow what everyone else does, do what you (as a couple) think is important and significant for your wedding day.

  • Is it just “stuff” or will it contribute to a wedding day experience that will create very happy memories?

  • Is it as sustainable and eco-friendly as you can afford? Explore the options and spend your money where you’ll get best value (not just the best price).

  • Can you buy it, rent it or book it from a small, independent or ethical business?

Delphiniums and Cornflowers in our confetti flower field