Your bridal bouquet is a once in a lifetime accessory.
Photo by Capture the Moment
When else do you get to carry a beautiful bunch of flowers designed especially for you, all day long?!
Whole weddings can be planned around that very special ‘bunch of flowers’.
Take Blair Waldorf, for example ~ the inspiration for the Gossip Girl wedding was the simple bouquet of pale pink peonies which she always dreamed she would hold on her big day.
Bridal bouquet also known as presentation bouquets or pageant bouquets, these types of wedding flowers are a lovely choice! Groups of fresh greenery and various types of long-stemmed orchids, delphinium, or long-stemmed calla lilies look particularly pretty spilling out of a bouquet on your wedding day! The bouquet is the accessory that all brides need when getting married, it is a collection of flowers held by the bride as she walks down the aisle. It is meant to be a complementary addition to the overall theme of the wedding and the style of the bride's dress. It brings your style and colour theme of your wedding into a beautiful flowerily design.
History of the bridal bouquet
Brides of the Middle Ages were very concerned with the possibility of evil spirits putting a damper on their marriage. As such, they carried herbs and spices in their bouquets to banish any wicked forces that may be lingering around.
Creating beautiful bouquets using artificial flowers.
Here is a bridal bouquet with Lily's variety of blue flowers and white flowers, using pearls to create that sparkle touch.
Above also shows two lovely bouquets with white roses and one showing a lovely deep blue roses and the other bouquet with turquoise lily's.
However, if you are a bride, with little to no experience of bouquets, or flowers in general, then there are lots of questions to consider; here are 10 Tips to help you with these questions and creating your bouquet.
10 Tips For Choosing & Making The Most Of Your Bridal Bouquet
1) Try to choose your wedding dress before your flowers
When you meet your florist for a consultation, remember to bring a picture of your dress. The design of your bouquet is completely dependent on the style, shape and detail of your dress. I think the key to bouquet design is that it does not drown you, hide the silhouette of the dress or unbalance the line.
2) Consider the shape and size of your bouquet carefully
Do not opt for a trailing bouquet if the feature detail of your dress is on the skirt, but if you have a long train or bustle at the back of your dress you might want to balance the look with a more dramatic bouquet. Do not hide your waist as this is likely to be your narrowest part, so make sure the bouquet is much narrower than your waist. Whilst bouquet fashions change overtime, the most important thing is that it works with your dress but does not drown you or hide the beautiful details.
3) Find out what flowers are in season on your wedding day
Some flowers just are not available at certain times of the year (or are very expensive) so make sure you take this into consideration when choosing which flowers to incorporate into your bouquet.
4) Consider the exact colour of your wedding dress
Colour is key, particularly with whites, ivories and creams. There are so many different shades, your florists can recommend the right type of bloom to work well with the exact colour of your dress, and to compliment your bridesmaid’s dresses. Remember to take swatches if you have them. If you are having your dress made or altered, ask the dressmaker if you can have any spare material that your florist can use to wrap around the stems of your bouquet, you then have the perfect match.
5) Make it personal
Try to incorporate flowers that might have a personal meaning to either you or another family member. If you have a family heirloom such as an antique brooch, a lace hanky or something else to work into your something old, new, borrowed and blue, ask your florist to add it into the top of the stems. Brooches in particular look fantastic and are a lovely way to finish off the handle. There are also some lovely cultural traditions that can be incorporated, such as the tassel traditions in Chinese culture.
6) How to hold your bouquet
When you are nervous before your wedding and hold your bouquet for the first time, most brides tend to hold their bouquet with two hands and carry it quite high which immediately lifts the shoulders up. This tends not to make a great picture, particularly if you are wearing a strapless dress.
If you can remember, (get your bridesmaid to remind you) hold your bouquet in one hand and below your hip, slightly away from your dress, so that you can see the silhouette of your dress. This will relax and open your shoulders, improving your posture and creating the best pose for your photographer!
7) Choose a comfortable bouquet (you will be holding it all day, after all!)
Also remember that your bouquet needs to be really comfortable to hold so do not opt for anything that is going to be awkward to carry and make you hunch your shoulders or stand lop sided.
8) Make it picture perfect
Pictures of your bouquet are lovely to have so make sure you ask your photographer to do some close ups. Bouquets photograph particularly well in baths, propped up in pretty chairs or if you can bear to put your bouquet down when you are ready to go into your wedding breakfast, placing it to the side of your wedding cake makes a beautiful picture.
9) Keep your bouquet looking fresh into the evening
If you have a hand tied bouquet, you are likely to be able to refresh it at the end of the day by cutting an inch of the stems and popping it into water. Perhaps a job for your mum or friend.
10) Enjoy your beautiful bouquet and remember you do not have to toss it, you could always preserve it!
Questioning this tip on should I or shouldn't I toss the bouquet check out my blog to help clarify this www.emmalouiseweddingplanner.com/post/four-facts-to-should-you-throw-your-bouquet.
Would like to read more about bouquets, why not check out this other blog I have regards to what types of flowers to have in your bouquet. Real or Artificial?
If you would like to have a FREE consultation on your bouquet contact me by clicking the link bellow, here we will chat about what you are looking for and create an image of your bouquet and bring it to life. I can also lead you in the right direction to the perfect supplier that covers South Wales, where they can create the dream bouquet we have discussed.
Click Here - www.emmalouiseweddingplanner.com/contact
Hope you enjoyed the read
Emma Louise x