Wedding Flowers 101 The Bridal Bouquet Style Guide
Did you know your bridal bouquet is the most photographed floral piece at your wedding? No pressure but this is one piece with which you should fall totally in love. And if your florist starts throwing out terms like cascade, crescent, textural, organic to describe your bouquet options and you are a little confused, don’t fret! An organic bouquet you ask? These are industry terms that we florists like to throw around to identify the style of the bouquet. Brides often comb through Pinterest or Instagram and just pick the bouquets that speak to them focusing on colors, blooms they like, and general shape. However, knowing the name of the shape you are gravitating towards and and searching Pinterest or Google Images for the shape will pull up endless inspiration for your bouquet. And if you tell your florist you are searching for a “crescent with lots of texture” you will be a flower goddess. So, here is my 2020 Bridal Bouquet Style Guide to keep you in the know. Happy wedding planning!
1. Asymmetrical Bouquets
This modern and fresh looking bouquet features lush greenery that draws the eye up on one side and drapes down the other side. It’s a striking bouquet that pairs well with nearly every wedding dress style. This bouquet can be described as “boho”, “romantic” or “dramatic”. It’s visually pleasing in pictures and is one of our absolute favorites to design. Paired with trailing silk ribbon it’s truly a show stopper.
2. Crescent Bouquet
This is the anti-ball bouquet. That classic round shape with very little greenery is the antithesis of this oblong bouquet that keeps her middle low and ends long. This is achieved by using longer branchier style greenery and floral stems fanning out along with a large focal flower laying low in the middle. Think peonies, garden roses or dahlias as the grand dame. This bouquet is another show stopper in pictures. My secret is to keep the stems very short so in pictures you see all the beautiful blooms facing out. Plus, it doesn’t feel quite so heavy for the bride.
3. Traditional Bouquet
I call this the Kardashian bouquet because they have made this lush style unique to their over the top style. This bouquet is very traditional with a perfectly round shape filled with fluffy peonies or roses en masse. Greenery is kept to a minimum and the bouquet is smaller in size than the more modern bouquets. Although it looks simple, this bouquet uses a lot of premium blooms to achieve the perfect shape and it is a design feat to make this perfectly. Traditionally these are wrapped with silk ribbon and will not have the trailing ribbon. Be prepared to spend a little more money on this classic but if you are going for a luxe look this is the bouquet for you. There is nothing more beautiful than a bride in a full ball room style wedding dress carrying the traditional bouquet.
4. Wildflower Bouquet
Another bouquet that holds a special place in my heart is the wildflower style. It could be a loose round or crescent in shape with lots of texture coming from all the various blooms included. Think smaller blooms like roses, poppies, dahlias, berries, lush greenery, and lots of them. The wildflower bouquet can go from hippie to ultra chic depending on the types of flowers and color themes. Trailing ribbons are a must to keep this bouquet looking modern. I love my wildflower brides!
5. Waterfall or Cascade Bouquet
This was the most requested bouquet style from my 2019 brides and hopefully the trend continues into 2020! It’s actually a throwback to the 1980’s but updated to be a looser and more organic looking design spilling over with beautiful blooms and vine greenery. If you are looking for a luxurious garden style bouquet for an outdoor wedding this is a bouquet that will complete the vision. I use premium garden roses for this style and medium sized focal flowers like ranunculus and anemone. This is one bouquet that can go from traditional to industrial chic pretty easily depending on the types of flowers and greenery used.
6. Simple Hand Tied
Think Meghan Markle’s simple and delicate bouquet. The hand tied bouquet is light to carry and looks beautiful with a classic sheath style wedding gown. Like the Duchess’s bouquet you can take the opportunity to fill this bouquet with blooms that are meaningful to you. Her bouquet was filled with traditional lily of the valley, myrtle and forget me nots. It’s a subtle classic that doesn’t stand out on its own but just completes the overall vision for your wedding day. It’s stunning in its simplicity.
I hope you find a bouquet that speaks to you. Stay tuned for the next blog post where I look at different color themes for your wedding day flowers. Happy wedding planning!