Little and large
No I'm not about to write a new comedy script but I thought I'd shed a little light on the enormous variety and styles of bouquets there are around now...
Round or domed, teardrop or cascade, natural or wild... for a bride starting out on her wedding floral journey I can see how these simple names or descriptions could send you into a complete panic! Well panic no more
My normal style of bouquet tends towards the larger, natural, gathered together but still with gorgeous blooms, and top quality flowers for a full on elegant floral feel... I'll try to give a run down on different styles here, as ultimately its your style but my way!
This first style is a classic winter bouquet with anemones, ranunculus, roses, narcissi, freesia and was super fragrant with a little jasmine, pistache and ivy foliage. Yes it's round but not a 'dome', it has character and movement, and a shape that is define by the natural flow of the flowers used
Flowers for the wedding itself at RSA House were similarly whites with a hint of blush, quite classic to match the venue's surroundings and decor
Next up a much looser style with more movement and a few asymmetric tendencies! This was one of those bouquets where I had so much good stuff to use, it was very difficult to stop adding flowers!
I used fragrant O'Hara, Margaret Merril and Majolica roses, creme caramel phlox, blackberry scoop and white scabious, white stock and delicate orlaya, with trails of jasmine, weigelia and heuchera flowers from my garden
Flowers came from Zest Flowers at NCGM and Picked at Dawn in Yorkshire
Another loose bouquet this time made for a shoot which was actually quite delicate and tiny with relatively few flowers... a few ranunculus and roses, orchids, astilbe, nerine and veronica with black pittosporum and jasmine trails for drama
I would describe this bouquet as small but exquisite, teamed with long black silk ribbons and a super cool bout for your groom it just shouts ELEGANCE!
For an altogether different bouquet experience, lets look at some larger versions... they don't have to be heavy or cumbersome but just packed full of variety, texture and seasonal variation
This first up was made for Jaime in June and needed to compete with the Bodleian Library and Blenheim Palace!
Made with the last of the peonies and gorgeous smelling garden roses, masses of jasmine trails, sweet peas, scabious, orlaya and clematis with rosemary, geranium and eucalyptus foliage
Bouquets don't always match or tie in with the reception flowers, for many reasons... style of venue, cost or availability of flowers, personal preference and choice
Don't be persuaded into compromising on what you want, do your research and really think about what you want to have and then make sure you can communicate that to your florist... believe me they will appreciate the clarity so they can properly advise you on what is possible and available
Jacqueline told me 'any flowers except roses for my bouquet'... luckily in July we had the last of the Red Sarah B peonies, bright cerise stock, some dahlia, scabious for a dash of dark colour, beautiful pale lilac clematis, jasmine, sweet peas and geranium foliage with a little dark burgundy prunus for drama... i do like drama in my bouquets!
Also btw this shape was quite 'round' but again with movement and individuality
For the tables we went with white flowers - dahlia, sweet peas, astrantia and scabious with some fragrant Margaret Merrill roses with beech and dark prunus foliage to set off the creamy stone of Butley Priory's walls
The jars were included within the table centres so that guests could take mementos home with them
Louise's summer bouquet comprised a lot of British flowers as she was very keen to keep the whole wedding as eco-friendly as possible
The phlox, scabious, veronicastrum, scabious, astilbe, penstemon, sweet peas and roses all came from one my of local growers Nettlewood Flowers, the jasmine from my garden as always and even the eucalyptus was grown in England!
The tables needed more flowers than I could locally source, but they all had British grown wiggly bits. And this 7m long top table display smelt incredible... geranium and rosemary, sweet peas and stock, garden roses and trails of jasmine... plus we used specially designed scented candles from By Laura for the ceremony which moved to the top table... another win/win as you can reorder forever to remind you of your wedding day
So don't be put off by thinking that you have to have a certain style of bouquet, there are styles and sizes to suit everyone, and your florist will make sure that it suits you, your dress and your venue - enjoy the process of deciding which is right for you and choosing the flowers x