You’ve asked and we’ve answered! Welcome to your weekly column ‘Planning Your Happily Ever After’ with wedding consultant Shikima Hinds.

As couples begin to become creative with colour palettes and texture, 2022 will be taken to a whole new level. Enter: Silk, faux and dried florals.

Once upon a time fake flowers and plants were seen as simply tacky. No longer! Faux flowers are on-trend. Eschew all thoughts of hideous plastic and badly coloured silk florals. That was then! Today, the advancements in authenticity related to faux flowers are astounding. Brides suddenly have the opportunity to get a realistic feel from artificial flowers that have taken on a whole new life and with lots of advantages. With the use of materials such as latex, flocking, and high-quality wax finish foliage, it’s often almost impossible to tell the difference.

Here are a few instances where faux in lieu of fresh-cut flowers might be a smarter option.

1. A boho-style wedding that relies heavily on dried and preserved florals.

2. The trend of neutral tones and earthy tones of vanilla, caramel, dove grey, mocha chocolate and rust commonly infused with blush, peach and coral has flooded social media.

3. It’s not easy to get the on-trend pampas, wheat, and cotton locally, but this is a great way to add them to your décor.

4. Metallics are back with gold and rose gold leading the pack! As a striking feature or a more subtle embellishment, metallic ferns will take your floral design to the next level.

5. Floral walls and hanging ceiling treatments — these décor trends, in particular, can use a lot of florals and take time for installations. Therefore, faux makes it a lot easier to work with.

6. Faux flowers are everlasting and more realistic than ever.

7. Artificial flowers are always in season. Yes, those hard-to-get peonies, expensive orchids and delicate roses are the top faux floral purchases.

8. There is no wilting, dying and they are reusable. The heat in Jamaica can sometimes be an enemy of fresh flowers and can make your beautiful blooms start looking sad.

When, where and how to use faux

•Mixing faux and/or dried flowers with fresh flowers: This way you bring a little bit of fresh nature into your styling. You can create a wonderful texture when you layer fresh flowers on faux.

•Oversize florals: Channel the use of faux and preserve into statement floral pieces instead.

•The bigger the better: Think about overhead hanging wisteria, cascading phalaenopsis pieces, floral walls, and backdrops.