Floral bouquet

I find it very hard to imagine a wedding without flowers.

They create the most lasting impact on your wedding ceremony and reception, and can transform the simplest dress into a glorious gown— a church into a magnificent cathedral— and your reception into a palace. Not only do they add to the look of your wedding, but also the smell alone can create the perfect ambience for your day.


The Bride

As soon as you have set your date and have chosen your wedding dress, make an appointment with several professional wedding florists and ask to see photographs of their recent work (all professionals will keep a portfolio of their work!).

Take along a photo of your venue(s); your gown and the bridesmaids dresses; any samples of materials and trimmings; your magazine cuttings.

Know the name(s) of your favourite flowers and have some idea of your budget, as this will all be very helpful to your chosen florist!

Wedding bouquets have totally moved on a great deal from the days of simple flower arrangements, so keep an open mind when making your choice. Fruit— even miniature pineapples—can be incorporated, giving a twist to your bouquet making it more fun and unique.

Foliage is more prominent in the arrangements than it has been in the past, and is also very fashionable. So don’t be too fixated on just the blooms— some very striking and dramatic effects can be achieved with well-chosen leaves and accents. I find that using beautiful foliage with single flowers like Orchids can look very classy.

Good old Silk or dried flowers are very popular and a good alternative, particularly if you suffer from allergies.

Remember the size and shape of your bouquet will depend on your figure as well as the style and fabric of your dress. Remember too, that you, and your bridesmaids, will be carrying them for sometime so they should be light and easy to carry. You don’t have to go for traditional bouquets— look at some long stemmed flowers and have a few tied with ribbon—light and beautiful.


Your Bridesmaids

The bridesmaid’s flowers generally complement the bride’s bouquet (usually a smaller version) but very young attendants might be happier with baskets, horseshoes or wrist posies.


The Flower girl

Some brides may also have a flower girl. She walks in front of the bride and bridegroom as they walk out of the church and she scatters flower petals along their path. Do check with the church that this will be permitted as they will need to be cleaned up after the ceremony (It will be a lot of petals!)


Corsages and Buttonholes

The men in the bridal party will traditionally wear a buttonhole in the left lapel. A carnation is no longer the only flower used for buttonholes (actually they are becoming out of fashion). Consider choosing a more unusual bloom for your buttonhole, especially if the men are wearing very plain suits. In some cases several small blooms or stems can look just as good as a single bloom. A good idea is to have the bridegroom wear a flower to match the bride’s bouquet.

Let’s not forget the mother of the bride and the mother of the bridegroom! They usually wear corsages, either to match the theme of the bridal party, or flowers to complement their own outfits.


The Church/Registrar’s office

If you are getting married in a registrar’s office you will need to check if you can decorate the room with flowers, as most have some sort of dry/silk flowers in place already.

However, you will be able to decorate the church—though check beforehand in case there are any objections to certain decorations, and the throwing of confetti. (If there are other weddings in the church that day you could speak with the other couples and between you choose something mutually acceptable, maybe even extravagant, and split the cost!)

Blowing bubbles are good alternatives if paper confetti is a problem and the added incentive is that kids love them too.

Decorating the church pews make a wonderful welcome for your guests, and large pedestals of flowers or flowering trees are well worth considering, you can even save on cost by renting trees or plants to fill the desired areas.


Reception

Your reception flowers may be part of the package offered by your reception venue or catering company, check what is included and make sure it is what you want.

Table arrangements should be short enough to see over or, tall enough to see under (and why not give them to chosen special guest at the end of the evening as a thank you.)

The top table should have a long, low flower arrangement falling over the front of the table. Don’t forget the flowers to be placed around the cake, or save money and place the bridal parties bouquets next to the cake table!

If you want to fulfill the tradition of throwing your bouquet but you don’t want to part with it (you may want to preserve it!), ask your florist to make you a smaller version of your own to throw.


Tips

• Your bridal bouquet should be the starting point to your decisions. However, also keep in mind the decor and colour scheme of your venue(s).
• You will spend more time at the reception venue than at the ceremony, so spend more on the reception flowers or move the ceremony flowers to the reception and save money.
• Be open to your florist’s suggestions, particularly if they are familiar with your venue(s)
• Avoid too much table decoration—less is more!
• Hold bouquets just below the waist and tilt them forward.

Wedding questions of the week

• My fiancé and I already live together and have all the home ware we need so what should we say to our guests who want to buy us a wedding gift?
  
  Nowadays there is no embarrassment in asking for vouchers for your favourite store or even asking for cash! People understand that you will have everything you need if you already live together and that it will be best to choose your own things with the cash or vouchers you are given. (I would rather be asked for cash rather than have them hide the useless gift I gave them in their basement forever!)
  
• I have a 6-year-old daughter and I would love her to take part in my wedding, how could I make her feel involved?
  
  There are a few things you could do. Make sure she has a beautiful dress, make her feel special. Let her hold the rings beside you whilst you are saying the vows and then she can pass the rings to you and your groom when she is prompted. Maybe buy her a special thank you gift like a necklace or bracelet for her to wear as a thank you and mention her in the speeches or even better is she feels brave enough let her read out a poem or a quote?
  
• We are thinking of doing a disco dance instead of a slow first dance. Do you think this would be too untraditional?

More and more couples are doing this; I love this idea as it makes you more unique and fun! It is a celebration after all! GO FOR IT!

Email me at weddinghelp@rocketmail.com with any wedding queries or questions and I will be happy to help.