Hi Honesty and welcome to GoY. The difficulty with trying to grow any flowers for a specific date is not knowing if it is going to work or not. It isn't just the heat the plants need but the lengthening daylight. Professional growers hold things back in refrigerated units have have daylight bulbs above the to force on. I think your doughtier would be much wiser to order her flowers from a florist...

This question pops up regularly! It would be a lot safer if you daughter has a look round local gardens to see what is actually in flower at the end of April. You could invest in Growlights to simulate a longer day but no guarantees. Otherwise as MG says, a florist is a much safer bet.

I agree with Moon Growe - work with a florist. Give the florist plenty of time to order/grow/prepare the flowers you want for the date you want it. They can make suggestions you haven't even thought of - those little things like matching corsages, bouquets, etc. 1 year is not too much time.

Thank you all of you for the advice. This is a conversation I've already had with my daughter. She wanted to get married at Beltane so as to work with seasons etc but there isn't much in flower. They both feel quite strongly that they would prefer to use flowers grown in UK so as not to add air miles to the environment etc etc. Florists that we've been to see all import flowers from Holland. So we're at a bit of a loss really. I'll have to use my powers of persuasion on her but in many ways we are actually coming from the same page. But many thanks to you all for taking the time to get back to me.

Just remembered Anemone coronaria - not very big but very showy and have quite a long flowering period.

Would your daughter be prepared to accept whatever was in flower at the time? Tulips, daffs, trilliums, erythroniums, iris etc. This is the time when bulbous plants flower not cottage garden plants. If she really wants specific flowers then you, and she, are going to end up seriously stressed and distressed trying to ensure that they are okay on the day!

Welcome to Goy. I feel for you Honesty. My daughter wanted Forget me nots and Apple blossom for her wedding flowers. None of the florists we approached could provide them. In the end one florist agreed to provide the expertise if I could provide the flowers. I sowed the F me nots and we had apple blossom in the garden. It was a fairly stressful time because there were no guarantees that it would work out as planned. I did get her to choose a florists bouquet as a back up if our flowers were not ready. She was getting married on 20th May. The forget me nots were really past their best and the apple blossom was not really ready. If she would like Spring flowers mixed with forget me nots that might work. If you use daffodils you will need to make sure no pollen falls on any clothing or table linen etc because it will stain. I would recommend making a friend of your florist and persuade your daughter to do what mine did. I just looked on the internet this website might interest you http://britishcutflowers.com/contents1a/2012/04/british-flowers-for-april-may-weddings/

Scotsgran makes some really valid & wise points I have to agree with. Don't stress yourself out too much. It's really not worth it. Even weddings that go without a hitch are stressful enough. I come from a huge Irish Catholic family and I've been to weddings galore between family and friends, even my own. Whatever flowers were used at the wedding were beautiful and nobody gave a 'rat's petootie' where they came from or what was in season. Nobody cared but everybody stayed late and had a great time. IT's about the people.

One of my sons and his wife are very conscious about small carbon footprints except when it comes to their annual vacation to Hawaii. But, at their wedding they opted out of riding bikes to it and took a stretch limo. They are so health conscious that I don't invite them out dinner any more, why? They bring their own food!...no joke it is true.... Take the advice, ENJOY! and PARTY!:)

Wallflowers are in bloom in April so are some of the sweet scented narcissus. Maybe your daughter would be happy with those. Add some mint maybe.

As she's so focused on those partcular flowers, it surprises me that your daughter decided to get married in springtime. It would have been better to plan the wedding for a later date, when many of those flowers would have been in bloom naturally.

But now that it's done (and presumably can't be undone), she has two choices: To use flowers which are naturally available in spring, or to liaise with an expensive florist.

Whatever she decides, I'm sure her wedding day will be a wonderful one. :)

Looking back the things we worry about before the wedding often turn out to be not so important after all when it comes to the point. Many guests will probably not even notice what the flowers are, they will just notice the general effect.

Loosetrife I feel for you!!

Thank you Stera. At the end of most weddings I have attended the guests mostly are concerned with who gets to take the table centerpiece home with them, no matter what it is made up with.

If you find a reputable florist, the flowers will look great no matter what kind they use. Just let them take care of it - it's what they do best.

I am not sure if you do a lot of flower arranging but I should have mentioned that flowers need to be conditioned before you use them. Have a look at this website. It has links to other sites to help you. http://everybloominthingblog.com/d-i-y-wedding-flowers-conditioning/
If your daughter is still determined to use home grown flowers it might be a good idea to have a trial run now so that you can be aware of any pitfalls.