Wedding Guide: the best bridal florists in Toronto

Wedding Guide: the best bridal florists in Toronto

Wedding Guide: Flowers
(Image: Coriander Girl)

Bloom the Flower Company
1009 Yonge St. (at Crescent Rd.), 416-324-9900
Event planner–cum–floral designer Paul Girling set out to bring inspiring flower design to Rosedale. The shop is famous for its jaw-dropping window arrangements, which feature unconventional elements like green roses, proteas, kiwi branches, asparagus and brussels sprouts. Bouquets start at $35, but average $150 for brides and $80 for bridesmaids. Centrepieces are $75–$600 plus delivery and set-up. Full service available. Closed Sunday.


Blossoms Rosedale
1 Rowanwood Ave. (at Yonge St.), 416-960-8903
Arrangements at this cozy Rosedale shop are simple, feminine and elegant. Owner Rivers Ranscombe says her designers prefer to keep things loose and natural. A bridal bouquet (from $150) might include Ontario delphiniums, tulips and cymbidium orchids. The shop focuses on local and seasonal flowers and will work within a variety of budgets. For one September wedding, Ranscombe designed a Jewish bedeken room with freshly picked late-summer blooms. Brides may be tempted by such centrepieces as lime-green celosia with white hydrangeas, pale yellow cabbage roses and coral mini calla lilies (from $85). Closed Sunday.


Coriander Girl
1604 Queen St. W. (at Callender St.), 416-532-3333
Stepping into Alison Westlake’s charming Parkdale flower shop, you can’t help but fall in love with her sweet, country-chic approach to florals. Her signature loose, romantic arrangements of locally sourced blooms (tulips, peonies, dahlias and feathery astilbe) come in rustic containers, such as vintage pitchers, Mason jars and apothecary bottles. The look is natural, understated and not overly stylized. Bridal bouquets from $100, centrepieces from $45. Closed Monday and Tuesday.


Emblem
390 Dupont St. (at Brunswick Ave.), 416-972-9878
In summer, this floral atelier makes for a luscious, blooming spectacle: heaps of delphiniums, lilies, hydrangeas and roses, all bundled in buckets. Up to 25 designers are at work, creating tightly bound bouquets. Emblem does full-service weddings, preferring rich, dense arrangements, and changes palettes by the season. For one reception, they lined a table with test tubes filled with coral peonies, orange roses and berries. Bridal bouquets $185–$350, centrepieces from $85, full wedding $4,000–$60,000. Saturday and Sunday by appointment.


Flower Plus
1709 Bayview Ave. (at Eglinton Ave. E.), 416-485-1167
The secret to many perfectly appointed drawing rooms of the Bridle Path, Forest Hill and Rosedale might just be this upscale Leaside flower shop. In business since 1985, it’s a family-owned fixture serving regulars and customers from as far away as Kitchener. Flower Plus will accommodate any style, but it mostly deals in classics like roses, peonies and hydrangeas. It tries to tailor the blooms to the overall style of the nuptials: an English garden for the Estates of Sunnybrook, for example, or a modern look for a ceremony at the ROM. Bridal bouquets from $150, centrepieces from $65. Full service available from $3,500. Closed Sunday.


Forget Me Not Flowers
594 Chartwell Rd., Oakville, 905-845-8996
Oakville event designer Frank Rea’s sophisticated designs have been glamming up film festival galas and beautifying soirées for over 30 years. The difference is in the details: when creating arrangements, Rea considers the entire venue, including the lighting and the colour scheme. His 20,000-square-foot warehouse holds everything necessary for a luxe party, all custom designed and available for the big day. Rea prefers seasonal flora but does made-to-order work for every couple. Bridal bouquets from $150, centrepieces from $125. By appointment.


Parterre Flowers
182 Davenport Rd. (at Avenue Rd.), 416-966-8669
This is the kind of irresistibly quaint florist you might stumble upon in London’s Kensington district; Parterre specializes in formal, European-style arrangements. A classic grouping might include roses, orange ranunculuses, grape hyacinths and green snowballs. Bouquets are compact and vibrant. Venues are put to creative use: a banister wears a necklace of orchids; children’s tables are adorned with moss topiaries shaped like bunnies. Parterre also does wedding planning, starring at $1,000. Bouquets from $100, centrepieces from $75. Saturday by appointment, closed Sunday.


Poppies
1094 Queen St. W. (at Dovercourt Rd.), 416-538-2497
Owner Laura Tarbat tends to combine exotic blooms—Australian proteas, heart-shaped anthurium, Malaysian orchids—with more familiar flora (dahlias, tulips, roses). A favourite of local galleries and visiting film crews, Poppies is the designer of choice for a number of neighbourhood hot spots, including The Drake. A traditional all-white wedding bouquet might include roses, calla lilies and white snowberries. Bridal bouquets from $100, centre­pieces from $50, plus delivery.


Quince Flowers
660 Queen St. E. (at Carroll St.), 416-594-1414.
A former art student, Rosemary Jeffares specializes in contemporary styles with a simplified palette. Mixing local favourites with more exotic blooms is a specialty: familiar varieties, such as snowball viburnum or ranunculus, might share space with striking gloriosa lilies or delicate mokara orchids. Twisted branches and curly willow and cocoa fronds are on hand to add a structural element and a dose of drama to larger bouquets. Customizable full-wedding packages available. Bouquets from $150, centrepieces from $75.


The Rose Emporium
204 Dupont St. (at Huron St.), 416-922-9909.
Owner Justina Flores—her last name means, appropriately, flowers in Spanish—has access to hundreds of varieties and colours, and can fulfill just about any floral fantasy. Rose shades include red, chartreuse, tangerine, mauve, pale yellow and traditional wedding white. Flores makes use of seasonal flowers that work well with roses. This year, she’s using a lot of garden varieties, which have larger blooms and headier fragrances. All weddings are customized. Bridal bouquets from $75, centrepieces from $50. Full service available. Closed Sunday.


Stemz
31 Saulter St., Unit 2 (at June Callwood Way), 416-686-8526
Stemz’ studio is located in a renovated woodwork factory with large arched windows and copper orbs hanging from the beamed ceilings. It forms the perfect backdrop for owner Fiona Liston’s full-bodied arrangements—her palette is often colour blocked, placing blooms in lovely glassware for a chic and sophisticated look. All her wedding arrangements are customized with the venue and theme in mind. Bridal bouquets from $275, centrepieces from $150. By appointment.


Wild Thyme
388 Carlaw Ave. (at Gerrard St. E.), Studio 200D, 416-440-2614
Having fallen in love with floral design while working at a Notting Hill flower shop and at London’s upscale Park Lane Hotel, Margaret Corrigan returned to Toronto in 2000 and opened a place of her own. Arrangements lean toward the fresh and modern. Corrigan likes to use in-season flowers and local blooms whenever possible. For weddings, she prefers a warmer look with looser, monochromatic bouquets. Bridal bouquets $150–$250, centre­pieces $100–$200. By appointment.