We're in the thick of our busiest stretch of the year. Between now and early fall, my team and I are moving between studio days in Jersey City and wedding mornings in backyards, barns, vineyards, and ballrooms across New Jersey, New York City, the Hudson Valley, the Catskills, and all along the NE Coast. It's the season when I hear one question more than any other, from couples just starting to plan and from couples a few weeks out: what's actually in bloom right now, and how do we make our flowers feel luxurious without feeling wasteful?
I love this question. It's the one that gets at what we actually do here, which is design around what the season and the region are already offering us, rather than flying in whatever a Pinterest board says we need.
Photo by Lizzie Burger
What We're Designing Right Now
This year's weddings feel less like tightly packed, picture perfect spheres and more like something you'd come across growing wild, just arranged with intention. We're leaning into asymmetry, a little negative space, and stems left long and visible instead of bound up and hidden. A lot of our couples are asking for a single hero bloom done beautifully rather than ten different varieties competing for attention; a wall of garden roses, a trailing moment of amaranthus over an arch, a centerpiece built almost entirely from one kind of dahlia in three shades.
Color wise, we're seeing two directions at once. Some couples want warm, earthy tones, terracotta, amber, deep olive, that feel grounded and a little romantic. Others are pulling back toward something quieter; Pantone's color of the year for 2026 is a soft, breathable white called Cloud Dancer, and we're seeing that instinct show up in bridal work too, lots of pale neutrals layered with texture instead of color.
And one habit that used to set us apart is finally becoming standard practice across the industry: repurposing ceremony florals into reception details instead of letting them sit unused after the vows. We've built our whole process around that idea since 2016, so it's nice to see it catching on.
Photo by Melissa Macdonald
What's Actually Growing Across NJ, NY, and the Hudson Valley Right Now
When couples ask what's "in season," here's what that really means for our region between June and September. This is the palette we're pulling from for most of our summer weddings, sourced from the network of small growers we work with throughout New Jersey, the Hudson Valley, and the Catskills.
Garden roses are at their best through midsummer, full and soft in a way the imported, stiff-stemmed varieties never quite match. Hydrangea is everywhere right now, big, billowy, and forgiving for couples who want volume without a huge budget. Scabiosa and snapdragons give us height and a bit of whimsy for taller arrangements. Zinnias start strong in July and carry us through early fall, bringing in the kind of saturated color that photographs beautifully at golden hour. And as we move into August and September, dahlias and amaranthus take over, dahlias for that lush, almost impossibly perfect bloom, and amaranthus for the trailing, sculptural movement that's become one of the most requested elements in our designs this year.
Working this close to home means your flowers were likely cut within days of your wedding rather than shipped across a continent. It also means we can adjust at the last minute if a grower has something exceptional come in, which is part of what keeps our designs feeling alive rather than catalog perfect.
Photo by Dasha Murashka
Designing Without Floral Foam
One thing that hasn't changed since we opened our doors is that we don't use floral foam, ever. It's a single use plastic that never fully breaks down, and it's been showing up in waterways and soil for decades under the floral industry's radar. Instead, we build our installations and arrangements using chicken wire, reusable pin frogs, natural foliage, and armatures we can use again and again. It takes more skill and more time on our end, but it means your wedding flowers leave nothing behind that outlasts the memory of the day itself.
Photo by Joshua Brown
Where the Flowers Go When the Celebration Ends
We also think about what happens after the last dance. Through our partnership with The Green Bucket, the botanical waste from our events, spent blooms, greenery, and trimmings, goes through anaerobic processing rather than a landfill, where it breaks down and gets put back to use instead of sitting sealed away for decades. It's a small piece of the puzzle, but it's part of how we try to close the loop on every event we design.
Sustainability was never our founding pitch. It's become one of the most meaningful parts of how we work, one decision and one season at a time, and our locally grown summer flowers are one of the clearest examples of that in action.
Photo by Nicole Clarey
If You're Planning a Wedding This Season
If you're getting married in New Jersey, New York City, the Hudson Valley, the Catskills, or Pennsylvania this summer or fall and want flowers that reflect both where you're celebrating and how you want to celebrate, I'd love to hear about your day. Reach out through the contact page on our website and let's talk about what's growing near you.
With love, Christa Founder & Lead Designer, A Petal To Peddle
