Wedding Flowers

Bouquet of Flowers on Wedding Car
in Monaco-Ville Street,
Monte Carlo, Monaco Photographic Print
Stribley, Dallas
Buy at AllPosters.com

Flowers are so much part of our Western wedding tradition that we sometimes take them for granted. They're everywhere, from the buttonholes of the men through the bridal bouquet to the decorations and centrepiece.

History

Flowers have long been associated with festivals and celebrations, especially weddings. As well as being bright and cheerful they also symbolise fertility, long life and happiness. Early bouquets often incorporated herbs and fruit blossoms.

A bouquet would also act as a nosegay, protecting the bride from the unpleasant smells of the city and ensure that she was sweet smelling to others.

Symbolism

As well as flowers being symbolic of fertility and happiness in general, specific flowers have specific traditional meanings. These vary considerably from region to region - for instance ivy was considered a symbol of love in the Greek culture, much as the rose is in the US today. For the Spanish the orange blossom signified happiness.

Another custom in some countries was that of the flower girl who preceded the wedding party scattering flowers along the road, hopefully an omen for a flower-paved path through life.

Modern Weddings

Today the emphasis is frequently on individuality rather than custom - a flower theme for the day that reflects the couple's personality and outlook on life. This is their special day and the flowers should be specially chosen for them. Many people employ a single professional florist to handle all aspects of the day, thus ensuring a continuity of look, design and arrangement as well as providing a source of ideas.

Some people like to buy artificial flowers - especially silk. These are usually used as well as natural flowers rather than intead of them. Silk flowers have the advantages that you don't have to worry about them wilting on the day and can be more easily kept by guests as souvenirs. They also allow you to have flowers that might otherwise be out of season - spring plants at an autumn (fall) wedding for example.

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