20 Living Aisle Ideas for Your Wedding Ceremony

Boardwalk in Forest Lined With Planted Ferns, Greenery, and Flowers in Soil — Photo by Jennifer Darling

Choosing the décor for your wedding is a big task—the decorations that you select are primarily responsible for bringing your aesthetic vision and intended ambiance to life. While you can always seek inspiration for these decorative elements from outside sources, like celebrity weddings, world-renowned hotels, or esteemed restaurants, the spot where you’ll be saying “I do” is brimming with ideas that can help inform the look and feel of your big day.

For those who are tying the knot in an outdoor wedding ceremony, the flora and fauna around you is an excellent place to look for guidance. Many couples implement the native plants into their aisle or altar installations, but to go the extra mile, you can create the illusion that these flowers are actually growing from the ground with “living aisles,” a popular trend that’s been taking over the wedding space.

This design concept is exactly what it sounds like: Your wedding ceremony aisle is scattered with ground arrangements of flowers and foliage that look like they’re growing right then and there. These planted installations appear as if they’re a natural part of the setting—even though your florist used her creative expertise to manufacture the garden-grown feel. To make these living aisles look realistic, this type of décor works best for natural landscapes, whether it’s a grassy meadow or a floral-filled garden. Regardless of where you’ll be throwing down, the end result is an organic work of art that helps create a cohesive, organic aesthetic.

While the types of flowers that you select will largely depend on your venue and the season, you can customize your aisle by injecting it with color, texture, and dimension—from a pop of lavender to a scattering of feathery grasses. For an even more authentic feel, plant your blooms in soil and ask your floral artist to construct a wild-grown appearance. Whether you want to make a statement with a thick, overgrown hedge or you prefer a simple assortment of neutral blossoms, living aisles will create a lasting impression on your guests.

For more inspiration, scroll through these 20 living aisle wedding ideas.

01 of 20

Focus on Height

wedding ceremony space with pink and peach blooms and wooden chairs — Photo by Molly Carr

By opting for a tall living aisle arrangement for your wedding ceremony, your guests will feel like they’re sitting in the middle of a wildflower field. Delphinium, hollyhock, foxglove, and alliums are just a few of the many blooms that grow several feet high, making them the perfect candidates for this idea. For a dramatic flair, have the floral display connect to your altar décor—like this bride and groom’s lively installation did at their intimate wedding in Tuscany, with floral design by Siloh Floral Artistry.

02 of 20

Add a Splash of Color

White baby's breath, roses, and hydrangeas with lilac flowers on grass leading to waterfront floral arch — Photo by Bottega 53

If you’re trading vows in a lush garden, adding a pop of color will make your aisle arrangement look more vibrant and alluring. When this couple traded vows at their electric-hued nuptials on Lake Como, they fused lilac-colored roses and delphinium with white baby’s breath, roses, and hydrangeas by Il Profumo dei Fiori. With a few intentionally placed blooms, the light shade of purple evoked whimsy and elegance—without overshadowing the neutral buds.

03 of 20

Include Tree Stumps

Tree stimps with moss, mushrooms, and roses next to wooden benches — Photo by Ryan Ray

For forest weddings, tree stumps are a must-have element to include in your living aisle—the bark will perfectly coordinate with the dense thicket. Take cues from this couple who used tree trunks as the foundation of their design at their ceremony in a redwood grove in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. Their florist, Mindy Rice Design, adorned each stump with moss, ferns, roses, and mushrooms, making them look like they were blossoming from these slabs of wood.

04 of 20

Grow a Garden

Ceremony Ramp Decor With Planted Greenery in Soil in Forest — Photo by Jennifer Darling

One of the most lifelike depictions of living aisles is mimicking a hand-grown garden, filled with soil and countless plants. At their airy Maine celebration at a restored barn, the bride and groom—along with help from Field Floral Studio—did just that. In the middle of the woods, an array of greenery and white buds framed a boardwalk-like aisle, which made it seem like a part of the natural habitat.

05 of 20

Plant Single-Stem Roses

White Flower Decor at Wedding Ceremony — Photo by Benjamin Smith

Looking for a living aisle that’s timeless yet unexpected? Create a border with beds of single-stem white roses—like this duo did at their elegant Napa Valley nuptials, with floral design by In Blume. The classic bloom and color will elicit simplicity, while the negative space between each individual flower will demand attention.

06 of 20

Go for Greenery

Plants, Pottery, and White Flower Decor in Aisle of Wedding Ceremony — Photo by Brandon Kidd Photography

Many outdoor wedding ceremony settings are composed of grass, trees, and shrubs, which makes a greenery-clad living aisle an apt choice. Potted plants and trees will blend seamlessly with the natural site, giving your service a botanical, fresh feel—as evidenced by this scene at a rustic-meets-urban affair in San Luis Obispo, California, which Jenn Sanchez Design produced. While the assorted greens will likely be the focus, you can sprinkle in a few white blossoms, too.

07 of 20

Designate a Bold Palette

Colorful Flowers Lining Grass Aisle and Wooden Cross-Back Chairs — Photo by Liz Andolina Photography

Because a grassy setting surrounded by greenery functions as a blank canvas, on the other hand, it also gives you the autonomy to create a bold design. Instead of strictly matching the green-hued backdrop, consider injecting color into your living aisle (like the sherbet shades of pink, yellow, peach, and purple in the installation by Blomma Flicka Design at this Indian wedding in Vermont). Make sure to include a few sprigs of greenery, so you don’t completely clash with the site.

08 of 20

Integrate Native Grasses

Green Flower Decor At Outdoor Wedding Ceremony — Photo by Sasithon Photography

Living aisles often showcase flowers and greenery, but incorporating tall, feathery grasses (like the ones by Found Floral at this rustic wedding on the California coast) will infuse your installation with texture and height. Using locally grown grasses, in particular, will channel your ceremony setting, resulting in a more realistic design.

09 of 20

Scatter Soil

White and Purple Flower Decor in Aisle Next to Wooden Chairs at Wedding Ceremony — Photo by Jenny Quicksall

To make your living aisle more convincing, plant your floral arrangement in soil. By using nutrient-rich dirt as the foundation of your installation, each blossom will look like it’s actually sprouting from the earth. At their intimate dinner party in Southern California, this couple (and their florist, Fig Event Co.) picked textured grasses, towering alliums, and white roses for their display, but you can choose any blossoms that suit your vision.

10 of 20

Bring the Outdoors In

Tree Wedding Altar Decor In Front of Large Windows With White Chair Seating — Photo by Mary Pastuh

Many living aisles make an appearance at outdoor wedding ceremonies, but if done right, they can also work for indoor venues. At this fairy-tale fête in Seattle with floral design by Sinclair and Moore, a dense hedge of white delphinium, with a tree placed at each corner of the aisle, looked like an extension of the petal-covered aisle. With tree stumps coated in moss and trunks wrapped in greenery, the installation transported guests to a magical, organic oasis—without exposing anyone to the elements.

11 of 20

Create Dimension

White aisle with stairs lined with pastel flowers in outdoor garden — Photo by Michellia Fine Imagery

Give your living aisle an unexpected edge by swapping the traditional walkway for a design featuring elevation and dimension. Instead of one flat path, the aisle at this dreamy soirée in a California garden included different levels, connected by stairs, that came to life with assortments of pastel-hued blossoms by Le Petals Studio that were scattered across the grass.

12 of 20

Outline the Perimeter

Blue and white floral arrangements along wooden chiavari chairs — Photo by Stephanie Sunderland

If you’re looking to elevate your living aisle, wrap the organic arrangement around the entire perimeter of your ceremony setup. In addition to flanking the aisle itself with garden-grown foliage, extend the design, so it cascades down your altar and encircles the back row, too.

13 of 20

Fuse Monochromatic Shades

Wedding Altar with Pink, Blue, and Yellow Flower Arch — Photo by Jose Villa

For those who are gravitating toward a technicolor display for their living aisle, consider combining monochromatic hues. To enact this design concept, use one color to paint the left side of your ceremony path and another hue to deck out the right side. Choosing two distinct floral arrangements will also help create contrast, like the purple delphinium and pink baby’s breath and peonies that Tulipina built for this farm wedding in Tennessee.

14 of 20

Anchor the Arrangement With Moss

Purple Alliums and Grasses in Moss at Outdoor Setting — Photo by Jenn Emerling

Like soil, moss is another suitable basis for a living aisle to take shape at an al fresco affair. Dousing either side of your walkway with moss—out of which wildflowers and grasses flourish—will give your ceremony a meadow-like feel. To enliven this green-colored spread, be sure to combine various textures.

15 of 20

Rethink Your Aisle Construction

Flower Decor at Wedding Ceremony — Photo by 515 Photo Co.

The presentation of your floral-lined aisle doesn’t have to be one straight line. For a unique take on a living aisle, consider building a winding pathway that leads to your altar (which is what this pair did at their classic wedding in Vancouver, complete with floral artistry by Justyna Events). Clouds of white baby’s breath, with blooming roses and delphinium towering above, mirrored a garden-fresh arrangement, but the unconventional shape upped the ante.

16 of 20

Amplify the Scenery

White hydranges and roses and ferns lining a grass aisle with Positano in background — Photo by Christina McNeill

If you’re exchanging vows in front of a breathtaking backdrop, a living aisle is an ideal option. Since they resemble an inherent part of the setting, living aisles let the view assume the lead role. At this cliffside ceremony in Positano, for instance, a bed of white roses, white hydrangeas, golden ferns, and greenery by Malafronte Fiori blended with the surrounding elements, so the colorful village stole the show.

17 of 20

Build an Overgrown Assortment

Caity Lotz and Kyle Schmid's wedding ceremony dÃ©cor in Cartegena — Photo by Dos MÃ¡s En La Mesa

Forming a thick border of overgrown florals will take your living aisle to the next level. At this romantic wedding in Colombia, greenery and buds in various shapes, sizes, and heights by Hojas y Pistilos Cartagena covered a significant portion of the aisle, so the bride felt as if she was walking through a field of flowers. With neutral hues, the effect will look more pronounced.

18 of 20

Provide Contrast

wedding aisle with pink, purple, and peach arrangements — Photo by Samm Blake of The Wedding Artists Co.

For those who are saying “I do” on a rooftop, a living aisle will add variance to your ceremony. At this 1850s industrial warehouse in New York City, collections of pastel-colored blooms by Ahna Han dotted the perimeter of the aisle, which juxtaposed with the city skyline. Plus, ground arrangements won’t obstruct your view.

19 of 20

Incorporate Drooping Tassels

Floral installation with purple foxglove in grass — Photo by Shannon Moffit

Want to give your living aisle movement? Incorporate flowers with drooping tassels, like foxglove, into your lush ceremony design. Blooms with petals that tilt downward will contrast nicely with upright stems, no matter where you’re getting hitched.

20 of 20

Combine Various Textures

White Floral Decor at Wedding — Photo by Jenny Quicksall

Living aisles with white flowers and greenery mirror virtually any setting and bring a timeless touch to any ceremony. To enliven a neutral-hued outline, curate a design with different textures. For example, the voluminous, spherical bulbs fused with tall, thin stems by Max Owens Design at this black-tie affair in the French Riviera gave the installation visual appeal without needing to resort to loud colors.

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