HISTORY OF THE BRIDAL BOUQUET
A bridal bouquet is much more than just beautiful to look at - traditionally, they're jam-packed with symbolism. These bouquets used to contain herbs and strongly-scented spices, as wedding flowers were supposed to chase away evil spirits and protect the bride and groom from harm.
A BRIDAL BOUQUET filled with SYMBOLISM
These days, bridal bouquets mainly consist of flowers. A traditional wedding bouquet usually has white flowers, such as white roses or lilies. These flowers symbolise purity, innocence and pure love. For modern wedding bouquets, anything goes in terms of colour and flower variety. However, your bridal bouquet is a lovely opportunity to create extra meaning within your special day, with flowers rich in symbolism that's meaningful to you.
SPRING BRIDAL BOUQUET: SERENE AND PLAYFUL
Cheerful and playful yet serene, this bridal bouquet with classic spring flowers is perfect for spring brides! The flowers emit a radiant energy ideal for the time of year that's focused on freshness and growth.
The flowers in this bouquet symbolise affection, sweetness and a gentle nature. Anemone stands for love and affection, ranunculus says that you find someone charismatic and attractive, and sweet peas symbolise gentleness and spread their sweet, floral scent wherever they go.
The following flowers were used for this classically springlike bridal bouquet: anemone, sweet pea, ranunculus, tulip and delphinium.
summer BRIDAL BOUQUET: TRADITIONAL AND FEMININE
Traditional, feminine and romantic: these are the values this bridal bouquet full of lilies exudes. As well as looking stunning, this bridal bouquet is bursting with symbolism. The lily symbolises purity and a pure and fruitful life.
There are hundreds of varieties of lilies. With huge variety in colour, shape, size and scent, there's bound to be a lily that suits your style.
A hot tip is to go for the pollen-free roselily if you want to avoid pollen dropping onto your outfit. Cutting out of the pollen-covered pistils of the lily can also help with this, although it will reduce the scent.
AUTUMN BRIDAL BOUQUET: WARMTH AND POSITIVITY
The warm colours, diverse flower shapes and lucky chrysanthemum in the leading role make this autumnal bridal bouquet a real eye-catcher. It's just enough to stand out, without completely stealing the show - because that's your job!
This bridal bouquet shines with beauty and with symbolic meaning. Chrysanthemums symbolises happiness and health, roses are the universal symbol of love and waxflower symbolises a good and happy marriage.
We used the following flowers for this bridal bouquet with autumn flowers: chrysanthemum, aster, carnation, rose, hypericum, veronica, waxflower, rosehip, crocosmia and snowberry.
WINTER WEDDING BOUQUET: GENTLE AND TOUGH
This winter wedding bouquet has a gentle yet tough look and feel. The creamy white, grey-green and blue tones make this a perfect bouquet for a winter wedding.
Besides a powerful look, this winter wedding bouquet has powerful symbolism. Blue thistle symbolises life, white roses symbolise purity and pure love. Hypericum is traditionally used to protect against evil spirits and black magic.
If you'd like to preserve your bridal bouquet to keep enjoying it for months to come, then this bouquet is an excellent choice. Many of the flowers and branches used (such as blue thistle, rose and eucalyptus) dry particularly well.
We used the following flowers and branches for this winter wedding bouquet: blue thistle, eucalyptus, rose, alstroemeria, waxflower, hypericum, ornithogalum, painted ruscus (grey leaf) and brunia.
how do you preserve your bridal bouquet?
Would you like to keep and store your bridal bouquet? There are several ways to achieve that. If you're keen on taking a DIY approach, hang the bouquet upside down as soon as possible after the wedding in a dark, dry and relatively warm place. The faster flowers dry, the better they keep their original shape and colour. You can also dry flowers in the oven or between a the pages of a book. See more information on drying flowers yourself here.
Once your bridal bouquet has dried fully, you may want to spray it with hairspray. This makes the flowers less fragile, making them less likely to fall apart. Flowers in the colours blue, orange and pink lend themselves best to drying, as these colours are best preserved.
Note that not all flowers are equally suitable for drying. Flowers that contain a lot of moisture, such as callas, lilies and carnations, can rot. Flowers with a woody or thin stem, such as roses, hydrangeas, waxflower, gypsophila and grasses dry best.
You can also choose to have your bridal bouquet dried professionally. This is a more expensive option, but it is an intensive and artisanal process that is guaranteed to produce beautiful results. The flowers are dried, treated and prepared individually so that the colour and shape remain intact. You can then place the bridal bouquet on display, such as under a glass bell, for example.
bRIDAL BOUQUET WITH DRIED FLOWERS
Want to choose a bridal bouquet that stays beautiful for years to come? Then opt for a bridal bouquet made with dried flowers, such as this one in beautiful autumnal tones. Or consider a bridal bouquet made with a mix of fresh and dried flowers, for the best of both worlds.
