Flowers are a wonderful way to add a decorative touch to your wedding as well as giving the occasion individuality and symbolism in the varieties you choose. Sarah Leese, from Living North Weddings, explains more about the importance of flowers and where their meanings stem from.

The guests at my own wedding had no idea that the seemingly cool, calm and collected bride standing at the altar had just an hour before the ceremony been frantically cobbling together a bouquet from the mass of peonies that were adorning the tables.

Having collected the official bouquet from the florists that morning, I was hugely disappointed that the hand-tied posy of roses I thought I was getting, turned out to be several stems of roses that, to be frank, looked as if they had been scooped up from the local petrol station. A desperate call to a friend of my mother’s and she was in my parents’ kitchen, deftly pulling together a bunch of the lovely pink blooms, interspersed with sprigs of ladies mantle and tied with raffia. Luckily for me, the would-be disaster turned into a triumph.

Looking back, I was probably in part to blame for the bouquet I received that morning. I was trying so hard not to be the difficult bride at my initial meeting with the florists that I didn’t make it clear what I wanted, hence my disappointment at what I got on the big day.

SEASONAL BLOOMS:
Choosing flowers that are in season means they will not only look better, but will be cheaper too. Here’s an idea of what flowers you could choose depending on the month of your wedding:

JANUARY – Carnation and Snowdrop
FEBRUARY – Violets and Primrose
MARCH – Daffodil and Violet
APRIL – Daisy and Sweet Pea
MAY – Hawthorn and Lily of the Valley
JUNE – Honeysuckle and Rose
JULY – Larkspur and Water Lily
AUGUST – Gladioli and Poppy
SEPTEMBER – Aster and Morning Glory
OCTOBER – Calendula and Marigold
NOVEMBER – Chrysanthemum
DECEMBER – Holly and Narcissus

Whether you are opting for a full-on traditional white wedding or a cool, contemporary affair, the flowers you choose will play a big part in the look and feel of the day so it is important to get it right.

The first thing you need to do is find a florist, usually about six months before the wedding date. If you have time, speak to several. Have a look at photographs of previous weddings and the type of flower arrangements they have created before making a decision.

Before your first meeting with the florist, make sure your wedding dress and the bridesmaids’ outfits are finalised, otherwise the flowers you choose might clash with the clothes on the day.

Prepare some ideas beforehand. Look through bridal magazines for ideas of wedding flowers that will help to explain what type of flower arrangements you want, and cut out and take along any you particularly like. It is a good idea to take a swatch along of both your dress and the bridesmaids’ dresses to show the florist, as well as a sketch of the style of the outfits.

Explain to the florist the type of wedding it is going to be, along with your budget. The flowers should fit the occasion as well as reflecting your own personal style. The florist will be able to offer you all sorts of advice on which type of bouquet will suit the style of your dress, and which flowers will best complement your complexion and hair colour. Don’t be afraid to ask the florist to do something slightly different of unusual – after all it is your big day.

After the dress, the next most important consideration is your bouquet. This itself will set the tone for all the other flowers needed throughout the day in the church or wedding venue. The first impression your quests have will be of you, behind whatever you decide to carry as you arrive at the wedding, and therefore the scale and choice of bouquet needs to be chosen to fit the style of your dress. There was a time when every girl walking up the aisle held a large teardrop style bouquet, but today many opt for small posies or naturally tied flowers.

Whatever you choose, make sure it suits the style and fabric of your dress. A traditional large skirt suits a large shower bouquet but be careful with a slim gown not to have a huge and overwhelming bouquet. Here a small bouquet or posy may look better. A simple dress suits a more extravagant bouquet to add detail and conversely, a detailed dress suits a simple bouquet to avoid taking away the detail on the dress. With light and floaty fabrics choose small and delicate flowers like gypsophilia. With heavy fabrics, like velvet, brocade or satin, choose richer and stronger coloured flowers. And with lace, opt for minimal decoration, such as a small posy.

You may decide that you do not want to carry a bouquet at all. Some brides choose one striking flower. A single bloom like an arum lily or orchid can give a simple yet dramatic look.

THE SYMBOLIC MEANINGS OF FLOWERS
Flowers are a great way to add symbolism to your special day but make sure you know what you are saying. As our list of popular wedding flowers shows, some flowers have hidden meanings:

Arum lily – Ardour
Baby’s breath/Gypsophilia – Fertility
Bluebell – Everlasting love, constancy and kindness
Carnation – Love, good luck, divine love, deep love, fascination and marriage
Cedar leaf – I live for you
Clover – Faithfulness, a four leaf one means be mine
Cornflower – Delicacy and hope
Dahlia – Good taste, pomp and forever thine
Daisy – Innocence, gentleness, sharing and a sunny marriage
Daffodil – Regard, chivalry and a sunny marriage
Forget-me-not – True love and remembrance
Iris – Burning love, hidden message and compliments; blue ones mean constancy
Lavender – Distrust
Ivy – Good luck, eternal fidelity, happiness, friendship and marriage
Lily – Purity and chastity; white pink ones mean talent, white ones mean purity and modesty and regal ones mean majesty
Myrtle – Love, fertility, peace and happiness
Rose – Romance, love, happiness and beauty
Rosemary – Remembrance and faithfulness
Tulip – Fame and love, red ones mean love and declaration of love, yellow ones mean hopeless love and variegated ones mean beautiful eyes
Violet – Modesty and faithfulness to the end
Wisteria – I cling to you

Tradition was that the bride would throw her bouquet and whoever caught it was next to be married. However, not all brides choose to do this. You might like to keep your bouquet and get it preserved in a box frame, or press the petals of the flowers afterwards.

The bouquets for the bridesmaids are usually smaller versions of the bride’s, complementing the colour of her dress and the bridesmaids’ own outfits. Younger bridesmaids could carry a basket filled with flowers or petals, small posies, decorated hoops, or pomanders.

It is usual for the men in the wedding party to wear a buttonhole. In the past, buttonholes symbolised good luck and divine love. Grooms wore them at their wedding to signify that they were bound with the promise to marry. Thankfully, buttonholes have come a long way since the pink carnation on a pin. And it is now possible to fashion a buttonhole out of almost any plant.

You could be daring and, instead of a flower, opt for a sprig of greenery, or even a herb. Something like rosemary or even lilac tied with a contrasting ribbon will not only look original but will carry a lovely scent throughout the day.

The next biggest decision is the type of flowers you will have at the marriage venue. Visit the church or venue where you would like to get married to decide on which areas are best to decorate. Think about the backdrop to the flower arrangements. Are there any features you would like to highlight? Look for stained glass windows or alcoves. Are there any columns you might drape garlands of flowers around? Could you hang hand-tied posies on the pew ends? You may like to place garlands around the entrance or have topiary trees on either side of the door or even on either side of the aisle. For wedding ceremonies at licensed venues, you are usually free to place flower arrangements wherever you wish.

You may like to arrange for an archway of flowers to be put up, under which you can stand for the ceremony. The flowers you choose will depend on the décor and style of the premises. If the venue is particularly historical, you might like to arrange flowers in a style reminiscent of that period.

After the wedding ceremony, it is on to the reception. Again the size and style of the venue will determine the type of arrangements you choose. It is a good idea to go for a stunning arrangement for the entrance to welcome your guests. The top table will traditionally have a long low arrangement to allow the bridal couple and their guests to see each other. Each dining table should have some decoration. Make sure the arrangements are not too large though – you don’t want your guests to end up talking to a plant.

Not so long ago, tradition dictated that the wedding cake was a plain white tier. However, many couples opt for quite different styles now. Why not decorate the cake with a small flower arrangement? Check with your cake designer which floral decorations are suitable for wedding cakes.

Chair backs offer extra potential for decorating the reception room. A nice touch to add to each quest’s chair is a tied bunch of flowers, perhaps accompanied by a name label for each quest.

If your reception is to take place in a marquee, place a topiary tree at the entrance or line up other arrangements like pots of lavender, on either side of the entrance. For any reception, you could arrange for pomanders to be hung from the ceiling in the colours of the wedding. The floral arrangements that are used in the ceremony venue could also be used at the reception venue. This would lower the cost of the flowers if you are on a tight budget.

Other creative ideas include tying napkins with ribbon and slipping a flower underneath. Or for a striking centerpiece for each table, set tiny candles afloat on a sea of rose petals placed in glass bowls. For a country-feel wedding, you might decide not to have formal flower arrangements but instead, collect interesting jugs or containers in which to place bunches of your favourite blooms.

Another idea is to place terracotta pots filled with lavender and tied with a gauzy bow, in the centre of each table. Your guests could even take them home at the end of the evening as a memento. To add an unusual twist to drinks at the reception, why not freeze small flowers or leaves such as forget-me-nots, violets and mint leaves into ice-cubes?

For spring weddings, place pots of spring bulbs on each dining table, along with miniature Easter eggs incorporated into arrangements. For autumn weddings, use leaves, berries and cones, and for winter or Christmas weddings use the seasonal colours of green and red with candles to create a cosy atmosphere. Instead of the requisite sugared almonds, you could sprinkle nuts on to each table arrangement.

There are so many lovely ideas for using flowers on your wedding day that it is often hard to choose a favourite. What is important, though, is to go for something that reflects you and your personal style. In my own case, I envisaged a country style wedding and the fact that I ended up making my own bouquet at the last minute only added to the authenticity of that very idea on the day!

SOURCE: Living North Weddings

The article Hand picking your flowers originally appeared on 999 Today