All wedding flowers experience life in the exact same manner. They are planted, nurtured, harvested and arranged. From the grower to the wholesaler, the florist to the wedding couple, cut flowers endure a long, arduous journey to their final destination. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Natural Wedding Bouquet Flowers
Early brides carried wild, fragrant flowers loosely bound with a simple ribbon. Today’s wedding bouquets encompass a wide range of styles – from those that provide a delicate accent to those that cover most of the bride’s torso as she walks down the aisle. A bride’s preference is what matters, and there are no right or wrong bridal bouquets. But to save money and create an unforgettable wedding experience, some brides may opt for wedding flowers fresh from the garden.
Many of the most popular wedding flowers are easy to grow, and because weddings are traditionally planned months or even years in advance, there is more than enough time to plan and cultivate a very personal bridal flower garden.
Flowers For Weddings by the Whole Family
A wedding is the uniting of two hearts and two families. But there is often no role for family members who wish they could be more involved in the wedding experience. Growing wedding flowers is a perfect family project. Children to grandparents can help add beauty and a loving touch to the wedding day.
Whether the task is undertaken in gardens, in greenhouses, or in patio pots, everyone can grow flowers. Determining which flowers are season-specific to the wedding date is the first consideration. While growing out-of-season flowers is possible, it can be challenging. Assigning a variety of flowers to different family members will help to insure many wonderful blooms on the wedding day. Easy-to-follow growing tips can be found in books, magazines and online.
Flowers can be grown from seeds or bulbs. Popular wedding flower seeds include:
- Asters
- Baby’s Breath
- Bachelor’s Buttons
- Bells of Ireland
- Carnations
- Cosmos
- Daisies
- Sweetpeas
- Forget-Me-Nots
- Lavender
- Marigolds
- Snapdragons
- Statice
- Stock
- Sunflowers
- Wildflowers
- Yarrow
- Zinnias
Some wedding-perfect flowers grown from bulbs include:
- Anemone
- Daffodils
- Hyacinth
- Lilies
- Orchids
- Peonies
Some flowers, like chrysanthemums, can be effectively grown from either seeds or bulbs, but bush flowers like hydrangeas and roses are the result of a more long-term process. Such flowers may require more than a year to bloom for the first time. If that much growing time isn’t a possibility, friends and family with blooming bushes may be more than happy to contribute a few rich blooms to the bridal bouquet.
Purchased flowers can always accent the fresh flowers from the garden. By only purchasing a few special flowers to add to those grown at home, cost savings will still be significant.
Wedding Flowers Centerpieces and Bridal Bouquets
Arranging flowers is an art, but as with any artistic endeavor, the beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Wildflowers in vases are reception-table perfect for some while others prefer a more structured floral display. If the bride doesn’t have the design savvy of a florist, there may be a family member or friend who can lend a creative hand. Free or low-cost flower arranging classes are also available through hobby and craft stores and through city or university public workshops.
Photographs of floral centerpieces and bouquets make ideal patterns to follow, and securing the flowers is as easy as mastering floral wire and floral tape. Both are inexpensive and readily available at craft stores.
Simple arrangements can be dramatic and effective. Examples include:
- flower blooms on water
- flowers flowing from a horn of plenty
- long-stemmed flowers in antique bottles
- flowers in water picks tucked into green plants or inserted into pew bows
- flowers woven into leis that intertwine down table centers
For the bridal bouquet, flowers can be cut and gathered into tightly shaped nosegays or the long stems can simply be secured with flowing ribbons.
Fresh Flowers Unique to the Wedding
Growing flowers for the wedding bonds families and guarantees unique floral contributions for bridal bouquets and wedding décor. Family members get to enjoy the beauty and gentle nature of the flowers as they grow, and the bride and groom get to experience a one-of-a-kind floral display no other wedding couple will ever truly duplicate.
Homegrown flowers are as individual as people, and personally grown wedding flowers can save money, entwine families, and inspire a unique wedding day experience that will live forever in the hearts of those who participated.