Flowers are a vital part of any celebration, adding colour and texture or perhaps even as a dramatic flourish. The emerald city inspired bouquet above from Idotakeu would certainly add drama to your outfit. Many brides choose neutral colours to compliment their dress, such as cream roses which were popularised by the Victorians as a wedding flower, as they became fascinated with the meaning of different blooms. The wedding rose is said to represent true love.
However some brides choose a brighter bouquet and use this colour throughout their designs for their wedding festivities. A fabulous example can be seen above in the brooch bouquet created by Lionsgate Designs Beautiful flower garlands are draped around the shoulders of the bride and groom by their mothers in Thailand whilst they are at the altar, adding plenty of colour from the start of the wedding celebrations.
Perhaps you will choose a dramatic orange colour to accent your theme, picking marigolds to feature in your bouquet or even choosing these fabulous orange flower shoe clips from Chloe & Maddie, as seen above. Marigolds were dipped in rosewater and carried by brides in Tudor England. The brides would then eat the marigolds as they were considered as an aphrodisiac. I would not suggest that modern brides follow this tradition!
A Christmas wedding would perhaps take advantage of the abundance of ivy available, especially as the Ancient Greeks considered ivy to be a symbol of their never ending love for their spouses. Mixing ivy with cranberry coloured flowers would be a great combination for a winter wedding, like the garland worn in the flower girls hair above from The Red Magnolia .
Herbs can also be used in your wedding flowers as they were by the Ancient Roman brides as a symbol of fertility and to scare off evil spirits. The headdress above from Stitches and Scribbles is reminiscent of the olive headbands worn by Roman emperors. Artemisia is a bitter herb and is used in bouquets by brides in the Middle East as it’s bitterness is considered to help the couple through bitter times as well as sweeter times.
The best known tradition of wedding bouquets is of course the bride tossing her bouquet as she departs from the festivities. This originated from the Victorian Age when the bride would throw her bouquet to a friend to ward off evil spirits, keeping her safe and bringing her luck. In more modern times this tradition has come to mean that whoever catches the bouquet will be the next to marry! Yet I would be loathe to toss away the beautiful bouquet created by Hair Bows Wonderworld, featured above.
