Bridal Bouquet Flowers: Designs

One of the most special ways to communicate a couple's feelings when planning a wedding is through flowers. Traditional signatures in weddings, flowers can help tie it all together. Whether inspired by the shapes, colors or meanings, whatever motivates the choice will illustrate the couple's personality. Usually shaped by the bride's bouquet preference, the bridal bouquet design options are limitless.

It's important to keep the bridal bouquet shape in mind when exploring blooms, as different bridal bouquet designs lend themselves to specific flowers. Dating back to the 14th century, nosegays are approximately sixteen to eighteen inches in diameter. Coined nosegay, as it was developed in Victorian times to mask unpleasant odors, the nosegay remains a popular modern day style. Best when used with blooms such as the rose, ranunculus, calla lily, and tulip, the bridal bouquet design can pair flowers or use individual blooms.

The Biedermeier, similar to a nosegay, is a variation of a round bouquet design that consists of concentric circles of flowers, with one flower variety or one color per ring creating a striping effect. This option compliments formal or semi-formal events and can incorporate lilacs, hydrangeas, stephanotis and narcissus, to name a few.

For an organic, just picked style, the hand-tied bridal bouquet design is a bunch of blooms wired together or hand-tied with ribbon. Great options for informal, garden or beachside weddings, the hand-tied bridal bouquet gives the appearance of an unarranged gathering of flowers. An array of options can be used; consider a mix of garden flowers or bunch sunflowers.

The most formal and traditional bridal bouquet is the cascade or shower design. Often a shower bridal bouquet design is the main accent of the overall wedding costume and usually compliments ball gown dress silhouettes. To minimize the bridal bouquet size, smaller blooms may be used such as grape hyacinths, lilies of the valley, and lisianthus. Other bridal bouquet designs include composite, pageant, and pomander. The bridal bouquet choice is all about personal preference.

Beyond the bridal bouquet design, certain colors drive the theme. White bridal bouquets are a standard in Western weddings and bubble over in diversity. White blooms range from aster, carnation or stephanotis to calla lily, orchid and tulip. If the theme is pretty in pink or hot fuchsia the palette of pink flowers seems endless, including alstroemeria, gladiolus, gerbera and peony.

Red is a bold color that is a great accent. The variety of flowers in the fiery family include anemone, daffodil, and roses. The purple or blue hue is the rarest color in the world of flowers and the colors can differ from soft pastels to intense azure. Those drawn to purple may want to explore freesia, gladiolus, iris, or lisianthus blooms. The yellow and green blooms compliment almost all other colors and can also stand alone adding sunny, lively color to any bridal bouquet design.

When meeting with florists, remember to bring the color or fabric swatches and pictures of the wedding gown and bridesmaids dresses so color palettes are clear. That will avoid the florist envisioning bright yellow daisy's when the bridesmaid's dresses are mustard yellow – yellow can vary greatly, along with all colors.

If on a budget, communicating that to the florist is crucial. Remaining flexible to certain flowers seasonality, availability, and durability will save many headaches in the wedding planning process. And sometimes, it just comes down to meaning.

The convention of identifying meanings with flowers dates back to Victorian era as well. For instance, the calla lily flower, also known as the arum lily, is a trumpet-shaped blossom that originated in Africa and carries the meaning fiery intensity of feeling. Ideal for nosegays and boutonnières, the calla lily can offer beauty and meaning. The carnation signifies pride and beauty and is an economical, plentiful, available year round bloom. Found in numerous colors, pink, red and burgundy carnations are the most popular hues.

Discovering what bloom to incorporate in the bridal bouquet design can be sparked by contour, a rainbow of colors, or meaningful symbolization. Look to what inspires creation and have fun – any flowers chosen will brighten the day.


Sources:
Flower Meanings. The Flower Expert Online Flowers Encyclopedia. 23 April 2007. http://www.theflowerexpert.com/content/aboutflower s/flower-meanings
McDonald, Tenley. "Wedding Flowers." Wedding Themes and More. 23 April 2007. http://www.wedthemes.com/weddingflowers.shtml
Roney, Carley. The Knot Book of Wedding Flowers. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books, 2002.
Smith, Rose. "Flowers and Their Meanings." Wedding Themes and More. 23 April 2007.
http://www.wedthemes.com/flower_meanings.shtmlWedding Bouquet Trends. Society of American Florists. 18 April 2007. http://www.aboutflowers.com/holidays_b1e.html