Flowers

Bouquets

It’s difficult enough to choose your flowers for your wedding, however your bridal bouquet will be the centre piece of your outfit. There are mountains of flowers to choose from, and many different bouquet styles. I’m going to give a quick over view of all the different bouquet types.

Cascade Bouquet

Also known as a tear drop bouquet or a shower bouquet, this is the type of bouquet I’m going to have. It’s also the most expensive type of bridal bouquet, depending on the number and type of flowers you want. A tear drop is a tighter, more shaped bouquet and a shower is a looser flower arrangement. It depends how perfect you want your bouquet to be and which flowers you’ve chosen.

These bouquets became popular in 1910 and got quite exaggerated until the 1930’s when WWII broke out.

This bouquet is best suited to a bride with a big dress. The idea of a bouquet is that you can see the dress behind it. With a small dress, a cascade bouquet would simply swamp it. This bouquet is for the bride who wants an A-line dress, or a ball gown dress, or a dress with a large skirt.

Also, there are only certain flowers that look good in a cascade bouquet. A lot of the flowers used will also have to be wired which adds to the price of the bouquet. Your florist can tell you more about that.

Posy Bouquet

This is your most popular, most traditional arrangement for a wedding. The posy can easily be held in one hand, it is small and round. In general, there are two types of posy, although florists can be very creative. One is a loose, hand tied bouquet that’s fairly unstructured and the other is a formal, wired bouquet where flowers are constructed to make a lighter bouquet.

The natural flowers are then wrapped in ribbon and sometimes detailed with diamantes and the like.

This type of bouquet generally suits a small-ish dress. If you’re a bride who doesn’t want a wedding dress, or has a short wedding dress at the knee, this could be the bouquet for you. It works really well with those 60’s wedding dresses.

Again, only certain flowers will look nice in a posy bouquet. If you speak to your florist they will be able to tell you exactly which flowers will look best.

Nosegay Bouquet

You may be thinking what’s the difference between a nosegay and a posy. Well, I’ll tell you! A posy is just flowers, a nosegay has flowers, herbs and more greenery than other bouquets. It’s not much of a difference but there is one!

Nosegays went very much out of fashion but came back in the 1980’s and I think they are lovely, My bridesmaids will be having tulip nosegays. It’s been reinvented using ribbons and satin and larger arrangements.

A nosegay suits any type of dress, and the herbs and greenery really add a romantic touch to any wedding.

Typically, if you choose a nosegay for yourself and for your bridesmaids, the florist will make your bouquet larger than your bridesmaids’.

Arm Sheaf Bouquet

This is a bouquet that rests in your arms, a bit like a baby would. They became popular in the early 1900’s inspired by bouquets given to actresses.

Only certain flowers look good in these bouquets, flowers with long stems like lilies and irises, daffodils, gladiolus, orchids, long-stemmed roses, delphiniums, and larkspur.

It is a stunning alternative to the traditional style of bouquet, however it is best suited to modern weddings. This type of bouquet only suits a few types of dresses. Usually, brides who have sheath or mermaid dresses tend to go for this type of bouquet.

It is a beautiful style of bouquet, very unique and stands out as a different choice.

Pomander Bouquet

Cute, unique and different, often chosen for flower girls or younger bridesmaids, the pomander is a lovely style of bouquet.

A pomander is a ball of flowers suspended from a pretty ribbon. Some are adorned with a variety of sparkly diamantes and ribbons and look very different.

This sort of bouquet would sort a 60’s style wedding dress, or a fun and different wedding dress. This isn’t the sort of bouquet a bride would have at a traditional wedding but then I believe a bride should choose the bouquet she wants on her special day!

If you have a flower girl or younger bridesmaid, this would be a lovely idea for something different that she could carry.

Which ever bouquet type you decide to choose, remember to consider your wedding colours and choose flowers that you like. Your florist should have heaps of ideas and be ready to give advice where needed.

Leave a comment and let me know which flowers you used in your wedding. How did you choose them?