When thinking about floral arrangements for weddings, many brides want something that's beautiful, elegant and  reflects their personal tastes. While florists can give some valuable guidance on choices for floral decorations for halls, churches and other ceremony and celebration venues, their personal tastes often shine through, and they may overlook some more unique, gorgeous designs that would fit each individual bride better.

To make sure your personal tastes and visions for your wedding flowers are carried through, doing a little research into a variety of styles can give you some ideas to take into the florist's shop. When my wife and I were planning our wedding, she leafed through as many magazines as she could, but found that most of the photos and articles were similar and didn't give her the scope of style choices she wanted to make an informed decision.

After cruising a bookstore, she found The Complete Book of Wedding Flowers: Stunning Flower Arranging Inspiration for Everyone & Every Location by Shirley Monckton. While we're from the corn-fed Midwest, my beautiful bride fell in love with Monckton's gorgeous English-inspired arrangements and was totally sold on the style. She loved the mix of traditional wedding flowers, carefully chosen greens and cheerful berries and accents and knew they'd be perfect for our fall wedding.

The book is set up as an elaborate how-to which encourages brides to not only do-it-herself, but to encourage her family and friends to help her make the sprays, garlands and other amazing floral decorations together at a fraction of the cost that would be spent at an average florist. We personally chose to do some of the more simple designs ourselves and then use the book to give our florist a clear idea of what we wanted for bigger pieces.

If you're looking for the perfect floral design ideas for your wedding, take the time to look through several books by a variety of designers to find a style that sings to you.