How to Choose Your Wedding Bouquet: 8 Basic Rules Every Bride Should Know
A wedding bouquet is an integral part of a bridal look, which must be chosen with much care. It’s a final touch of your look and it must be perfect. Some brides don’t think too much about the bouquet design and just opt for affordable variants made of roses or peonies as these flowers always look great.
However, there are brides who dedicate much time to the search of their perfect wedding blooms. Actually, today there are many adorable wedding bouquet ideas and social networks keep thousands of cool variants. However, how to understand what bouquet suits you the most? In this post, we’d like to help you to prepare for the choice of one of the most important bridal accessories. Let’s not waste time and have a look at 8 basic rules of the bridal bouquet selection right now.
Rule 1. Choose your wedding gown first. As a wedding dress is a focal point of your bridal look, choose it first and after that, go on opting for a wedding bouquet. Various gowns look the best with different types of bouquets. For instance, elegant dresses are better combined with sleek minimalist bouquets while country-styled gowns look astonishing in combination with loose compositions of field flowers, for instance a sunflower wedding bouquet.
Rule 2. Set a budget. You need to define the sum of money you can spend on this bridal accessory. There are pretty cheap wedding bouquets as well as the ones which cost a fortune. The price often depends on the flowers and additional décor you choose. Also, the work of wedding florists may cost differently. If it’s a simple rose wedding bouquet, you are not supposed to pay too much. But if you seek for something more creative, be ready to spend much more.
Orchid wedding bouquet
Rule 3. Consider the shape. Though the majority of wedding bouquets are round, there are some other shapes as well. Here are the most typical ones:
Round bouquet. Actually, round bouquets look classy and never go out of fashion. Moreover, they are suitable for a wedding dress of any style. They may consist of flowers of one type as well as a beautiful blend of several species and colors.
Loose bouquet. Loose bouquets are pretty popular today and are a perfect choice for country, beach and other types of outdoor weddings. They look relaxed and creative. Frequently, they contain some field flowers and much greenery.
Crescent bouquet. This type of a bouquet looks as if flowers flow across the hands. It’s thick in the middle and thinner on the sides. Actually, it looks like a real crescent. This shape looks very interesting but isn’t convenient for everyone.
Pageant bouquet. Such bouquets have long stems and look pretty formal. Very often, flowers of only one type are used for them. The great examples are a calla lily wedding bouquet or an iris one. However, some more creative versions are possible. Such a bouquet works the best with elegant wedding gowns. By the way, it’s usually carried by a bride on her forearm.
Cascade bouquet. It features a bulky base with flowers trailing downwards. It’s the most traditional type of a wedding bouquet. Undoubtedly, it looks very spectacular though it could hardly be called the most convenient bouquet.
Of course, there are some other types of bouquets like shield-shaped, oval, heart-shaped etc. But they are less common than the stated above variants.
Sunflower wedding bouquet
Rule 4. Choose the flower type. Actually, it’s recommended to give preference to seasonal flowers. They usually cost cheaper and you can be sure that they are fresh. For instance, chrysanthemums are often used for fall wedding bouquets while peonies are in season in late spring-early summer. Simultaneously, there are flowers, which are popular regardless of the season. For instance, roses and orchids are universal variants no matter if you are getting married in winter or summer. However, if you want to have flowers out of season and have enough money for that, feel free to opt for your favorite blooms.
Rule 5. Pay attention to the colors. Some brides like when their bouquet looks organic with the dress and opt for white flowers. The other cool option is flowers of the pink, peach and cream colors as they work well with almost every color of a wedding gown. Some saturated colors like burgundy, purple or red are also among the brides’ favorites. But what’s important in the color choice is that your bouquet looks harmonious with your wedding décor colors and not only your gown. Thus, if you opt for the flowers of pink hues for wedding décor, it’s better to stick to this color scheme in your wedding bouquet.
Here are some examples of flowers sorted by their color:
White flowers– rose, calla lily, sweet pea, camellia, orchid and jasmine.
Pink blooms– rose, peony, sweet pea, carnation and lily.
Lavender flowers– lavender, lilac, iris and hydrangea.
Yellow flowers – daffodil, sunflower, lily and freesia.
Red blooms– gerbera, rose, poppy, dahlia and amaryllis.
Blue flowers – aster, hydrangea, bellflower.
Pageant wedding bouquets
Rule 6. Add some meaning to the flowers. Research the meaning of various flowers before choosing them for a wedding bouquet. It’s not obligatory but if you want your blooms to be special, feel free to do that. Here are some examples of the flowers’ special meanings.
Alstroemeria - wealth and prosperity
Amaryllis - splendid beauty
Calla lily - magnificence and beauty
Carnation - pride and beauty
Chrysanthemum - fidelity, joy and long life
Daisy - innocence and purity
Gardenia - purity and sweetness
Gerbera - cheerfulness
Gladiolus - strength and faithfulness
Lavender - admiration and solitude
Hydrangea heartfelt emotions
Iris - eloquence
Lily - purity and refined beauty
Orchid - refinement and thoughtfulness
Peony - bashfulness and compassion (a peony wedding bouquet also signifies a happy life and a happy marriage)
Ranunculus - radiant charm
Rose - love
Sunflower - pure thoughts, adoration and dedication
Tulip - declaration of love
Peony wedding bouquet
Rule 7. Remember that there is no wrong choice. No matter what wedding bouquet flowers you choose and what color scheme you stick to, you will always be right as there are no wrong choices of the bouquets. The most important rule is that you must really like your bouquet.
Rule 8. You don’t have to toss your bouquet. As wedding bouquets cost pretty much today and some brides prefer to keep them as memory, you can use a bouquet of artificial flowers for tossing. This becomes pretty popular now and the choice is pretty large. You can even use a diy wedding bouquet. Moreover, artificial bouquets are more durable. So, the girl who caches it may also preserve it for a long time.
Now, you may already have some ideas of what your bouquet must look like. To get some inspiration, make a research on the social networks like Pinterest or Instagram and you will have dozens of cool ideas. Of course, not all ideas are easy to bring to life as they can be created by some extra-talented florists, but, at least, you will know what flowers and what colors you like. Moreover, you can even try to make a bouquet yourself by reading our tips on how to make a wedding bouquet.
