Flowers are everywhere at weddings. The bride holds a bouquet as she glides down an aisle covered in rose petals daintily strewn by the flower girl. The bridesmaids hold bouquets and the groom and groomsmen wear boutonnieres. That’s a lot of flowers – and you haven’t even gotten to the reception yet.

All this flower business can lead to a hefty price tag, but there are ways to have gorgeous flower arrangements without spending thousands of dollars.

Brentwood’s Geri Palmer, owner of Exclusively Yours, has been doing flower arrangements for decades, but now she deals only in silk flowers, an affordable alternative to fresh floral designs.

“Silk flowers are just as beautiful as fresh flowers,” Palmer said. “The quality makes them look so real that you can’t tell the difference. They might not have the fragrance of fresh flowers, but we have a way to sneak some fragrance in. Plus, the best part is that you can keep silk flowers forever.”

Another advantage of silk flowers is that you don’t need to worry about whether a flower is in season or not, or about flowers wilting or showing signs of decay by the end of the evening. Silk flowers can also be dyed to match any color scheme, while most fresh flowers cannot. This frees up options and allows for more creativity when planning arrangements.

However, it is the infinite life span of silk flowers that offers the supreme perk that you don’t get with fresh flowers: you can rent them.

Exclusively Yours leases flowers for weddings and other social engagements and holidays. Palmer and her staff will even arrange flowers at the reception hall and help decorate the area where the wedding ceremony will be held.

Palmer said couples interested in doing silk arrangements should have an idea of their budget and know what the color scheme for the wedding and reception will be when they visit her Brentwood shop. It also helps to come in with photos of what you’d like.

“Tell us what you want and what your price range is and we can make your day,” Palmer said. “We can lease centerpieces as low as $15. We can work with any budget to help give the bride exactly what she wants. It’s her day, and we want to make her dreams come true.”

Palmer said the economic recession has made leasing flowers especially popular. Couples can lease and buy flowers – whatever works for them – but Palmer notes that if you buy flowers, you can give them away as gifts later on.

Exclusively Yours, located at 3855 Walnut Blvd. in Brentwood, is open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays, or by appointment Monday through Wednesday. For more information, call 925-634-7003.