Walking into the world of wedding flowers can feel like a wild wonderland. So many choices! Which flowers? How many? What style? What color palette to select? And with your budget in mind, will a professional florist actually be worth the extra cost? Wedding flower experts weigh in for 2020.

*Flower Choice

Like the dress, ceremony and reception venue, a bride's wedding flowers reflect her style and personality. Lush, romantic roses and buttercups create a beautiful, timeless look, whether the wedding vibe is vintage or vogue. Flowering branches and seasonal, local blooms provide more relaxed, informal beauty.

Flowers can be an integral part of an eco-friendly, sustainable wedding day. Flowers can complement the overall color scheme or reflect up-to-date trends. The trendiest flowers right now are sun palms, tinted flowers and bleached greens.

The floral company FiftyFlowers suggests less fussy and more natural, organic arrangements. They are also seeing trends toward more greenery, such as silver dollar, seeded eucalyptus and tinted flowers in just the right hue.

Journalist Samantha Iacia, writing for the wedding-planning website WeddingWire, likes sun palms, which come in both neutrals and colors. They can achieve "a bohemian look or something more tropical." She also sees long-stemmed flowers in deconstructed designs, bleached greenery for the popular 2020 "washed-out" trend, and flowers fashioned into necklaces, cuff bracelets and earrings brides can wear instead of carrying a bouquet.

Colors in 2020 are dusty, vintage and sentimental. They include pale rose, terra cotta, gray, blue, sage green and champagne. Monochromatic palettes, including the florals, are in. Wedding website The Knot identifies "neo mint," "new millennial pink," faded denim and cassis, which they describe as "not quite pink, not quite purple," as popular 2020 colors.

Be sure to select bouquet flowers that will hold up well. You don't have to use dried flowers, silks and berries, but certain fresh flowers will fade too fast. According to Martha Stewart Weddings, daffodils, lilacs, and poppies, among others, can make lovely table arrangements for a spring wedding but won't work well in the bride's bouquet. Garden roses, a perennial favorite, always work well, and carnations -- yes, carnations -- are back and long-lasting. One Fab Day contributor Claire McGowran says, "Carnations are a wedding flower we thought we'd left in the last century ... but they're officially back and more stylish than ever. Strung in garlands, hung as individual blooms, or providing fluff, color, and a dose of retro glamour to bouquets, these affordable, versatile florals are set to be everywhere in 2020."

*Staying on Budget

This year is interesting due to the likely need for smaller weddings of 40 to 50 people, remote wedding participation and limited budgets. This could actually be a silver lining when it comes to flower-planning and personalization, because the trend was already quality over quantity. Fewer arrangements, repurposing bouquets as reception table arrangements, and a "sweetheart" table for the couple instead of a long table for the entire party (and that many more flower arrangements) all make budgets more manageable.

The do-it-yourself approach is always a consideration but, wedding website Aisle Planner says, "Working with skilled professionals can actually be considerably more affordable ... When you choose to do it yourself, you'll inevitably start buying bits and pieces as you go and spending a little at a time. Over the course of your wedding planning ... Those receipts can really add up." It can still work in your favor with careful planning, but it will definitely take more time.

In any case, focus your budget on two impact areas: flowers that will be in the photos and places where guests will spend the most time appreciating your investment.

*Boutonnieres: Classic or Quirky

Traditionally, the boutonniere is a small sample of the wedding bouquet -- one main corresponding flower and a few accents in the same color palette. In these days of alternative wedding plans due to travel and gathering restrictions, or for any couple who might like to make the boutonniere a little different, Georgia Bridal Show offers these 10 ideas: pocket squares, feathers, air plants, nautical rope, origami, mini pinwheels, Legos, mini figures, scrabble tiles, paper or felt flowers, and sheet music flowers. You get the idea. Want to make it fun? Do it yourself!

After all, expectations and conventions have become increasingly less relevant for the past several years, but they have never been less relevant than they are now. Select wedding flowers that will make you happy today and in the photos for years to come. Whatever you choose that brings you joy is the right choice in 2020.