Bouquet Styles

Of the bride's wedding accessories her bridal bouquet is one of the most important. Traditionally, the bride carried an all-white bouquet with flowers renowned for the symbolism of purity and fidelity: lily of the valley, white roses and stephanotis. With so many colors and styles to choose from more bridal bouquets are featuring a beautiful mixture of different colors, textures and greenery. While the bridal bouquet should be stunning it shouldn't be distracting. It should complete, not compete with, the bride's wedding dress.


Bridesmaid bouquets can include some of the same elements of the bridal bouquet, but shouldn't be exact replicas. Your best bet is to either match or complement the bouquet with the bridesmaid dresses. Whether a bride or a bridesmaid the bouquet should be proportionate in size to its carrier.



BOUQUET TYPES/STYLES AND DESCRIPTION:

Biedermeier: Tightly assembled concentric circles of individual colors, wired into a holder.




Cascade or shower: The classic bouquet shape with long-stemmed flowers (usually roses) and ivy which hang gracefully in a waterfall effect.



Composite: Hundreds of real petals wired together to look like one enormous flower.



Crescent: Flowers are arranged into a crescent shape and attached to a single holder.



Hand Tied: Long stemmed flowers tied together with a ribbon for that simple "just picked from the garden" look.



Nosegays: Round bouquets (16-18 inches in diameter) of flowers, greenery and occasionally sprigs of herbs or berries all tied (or wired) together.



Pomander: Flowers arranged into the shape of a ball which hang from the wrist by a ribbon.



Posies: Smaller versions of nosegays. Ribbons and lace are often used to accentuate the bouquet.



Presentation: Long-stemmed flowers (roses, calla lilies, tulips) cradled in your arms. This is the "pageant" style bouquet.



Tossing: A small bouquet used for the "bouquet toss" so you can keep your actual bouquet.



When walking down the aisle, hold the bouquet by resting your elbows at your hipbones and holding the bouquet stem with both hands in front of your belly button. Keep your pose natural and relaxed