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Have you been captivated by the beauty of the calla lily? You are not alone. Calla lily themed weddings are one of the most popular, if not the most popular, themes around the world. Nothing says sophistication, refinement, and “white wedding splendor” more than a calla lily.

The simple elegance of the calla lily has long been used to symbolize beauty, femininity, and purity, which has made it a popular bloom for artists, connoisseurs, and, of course, brides. They always look beautiful in a bouquet – their heart shaped leaves, which range from 20 to 36 inches, makes them ideal. Or you can use a single bloom as a simple boutonniere. The sky is the limit with the potential these blooms possess.

According to botanical experts, the true meaning of the calla lily is sophistication and beauty. It has also been said that the shape of the blooms resemble trumpets heralding victory to the heavens. Callas popularity results from their pure white blooms and vibrant green stalks and leaves – they are available in other colours too: lavender, pink, orange, rosy red, and green – any of these colours are perfect for a wedding. Due to the callas vivacious green, a rich emerald green colour is the perfect accent for a white calla lily theme. Other colours that look fantastic and complement a white calla lily wedding are butter yellow, burnt orange, midnight blue, and ruby red. And callas are the perfect flower to mix with many different flowers – don’t be afraid to experiment with them! Try pairing them with roses, freesia, tulips, or try tropical beauties like birds of paradise and orchids.

The Queen of Good Things, Martha Stewart, is a big advocate of calla lily themed weddings – especially as the wedding flower – and no one does wedding better than her. According to Stewart, the calla lily was the flower that early Romans used to signify the passing of winter solstice. The Romans would plant them just inside their homes, and time the planting perfectly, so that they would bloom as the winter solstice occurred; the calla lily would then offer light and beauty in an otherwise dark and dreary time of year.

Nowadays, calla lilies are popular flowers for Spring and Autumn weddings, although they work perfectly for a winter wonderland wedding too. A calla lily wedding theme is exquisite no matter what season the wedding is held, or whether it is a morning, afternoon, or evening ceremony.

When planning a calla lily themed wedding there are many ways to incorporate the flower into your wedding, aside from fresh flowers. In addition to the flowers you could include a unity ceremony candle in the shape of a calla, cake serving set, bride’s garter, ring bearer pillow, guest book, bridal drawstring purse, or silver pen set. There are many other wedding accessories and decorations that are available with a calla lily motif. You can customize your wedding program, use embossed calla lily seals on your invitations, or include a small image of a calla on place cards.

Since a calla lily denotes sophistication and grace, other complementary wedding and reception decorations include cut glass, crystal, and polished silver. Great places to use these accents are on your reception tables. Use polished silver place card holders, gleaming crystal candle holders, and cut glass centerpieces – all of these will emphasize the beauty of the callas.

If you decide to go with a calla lily theme, remember a few things:

• Before the wedding, be sure to place your lilies away from direct sunlight, heat vents, drafts, or air conditioners. Calla lilies can be very finicky when it comes to direct shots of heat or cold.
• Never store them on top of TV or near any source of heat or electricity; this goes for any type of fresh floral arrangement.
• If you are making your own table arrangements, make sure you use floral preservatives to keep them looking lovely and fresh for a longer period of time. Since vase life is anywhere from 7 to 10 days, you may want to invite some guests to take table arrangements home, so they can enjoy the callas beauty for days after the ceremony.
• Calla lilies are great cut flowers and look exquisite in hand-tied bouquets. Use natural satin ribbon for the best contrast of colours and texture.

When you are selecting your wedding theme, or flower, you could not select a more eloquent flower than the calla lily. Whether you get married in a church, a backyard, or a city hall, the presence of majestic callas will make the event that much more powerfully expressive and refined.

You know you need bouquets for your wedding day, but are you not quite sure what is what? Traditionally, the entire wedding party would either carry a bouquet, wear a boutonniere or a corsage. The conventional arrangements for the bride include:

Beidermeier: A Beidermeier is a nosegay made up of concentric circles of different flowers for a somewhat striped effect.

Cascade: A cascading bouquet is like a waterfall – spilling blooms and greenery that is anchored in a hand-held base.

Classic Hand-Tied Bouquet: A dense bunch of blooms that are either anchored in a bouquet holder, wired together, or hand-tied.

Composite: A composite is a hand made creation in which different petals or buds are wired together on a single stem; this creates the illusion of one giant flower.

Nosegay: A nosegay bouquet is a small, round cluster of flowers that are all cut to a uniform length. This is a style that was popularized in the Victorian period, and is enjoying its popularity today again. A nosegay is usually made with one dominant flower or colour, and wrapped tightly with a ribbon or lace to give it a delicate appearance.

Pomander: A pomander is a bloom that is perfect for children in a wedding party since it is a bloom covered ball suspended from ribbon that is commonly wore tied to the wrist.

Posy: A posy bouquet can be a formal, semi-formal, or informally built bouquet. A small, rounded bouquet, the posy consists of smaller flowers that can be wired together tightly by their stems.

Trailing: A trailing bouquet is a softly trailing array of flowers which have a relatively narrow trail from the top to the bottom. The top is not rounded like a posy.

For bridesmaids bouquets you want to keep in mind that the maid-of-honour bouquet is usually larger or a different colour than the rest of the bridesmaid’s bouquets, although this is not always the case. The bridesmaid’s bouquets should compliment the bridal bouquet, but are usually smaller in size. The colour typically matches the bridesmaid’s dresses and the colour theme of the wedding.

Conventionally, the flower girl just sprinkles flowers and petals in the path of the bride, but recently they have begun to carry bouquets too, or baskets full of flowers, floral wands or scepters. Sometimes the flower girl wears a pomander instead.

Ultimately, the bride’s bouquet should be selected to compliment the dress and body shape of the bride, plus reflect her personality. The bridal bouquet originated from the ancient belief that spices and herbs (like garlic and chives) would protect the entire wedding party from bad luck, evil spirits, and ill health. The Greeks and Romans would litter flowers before the couple to symbolize the essence of love. Now we select our flowers based on the meanings that were applied during the Victorian era.

Traditionally, the bride’s bouquet was made of white, or cream, coloured flowers with flowers such as orchids, roses, carnations and gardenias. Certain flowers have special meaning though, so some brides may wish to include them in their bouquet to send a special message to their partner. Nowadays they may also work against tradition, and not include white or cream coloured flowers, but instead select bright, bold colours.

Bouquets help to create the overall mood of the occasion. Therefore, many things should be considered when selecting the flowers for a wedding bouquet. The bouquet should help create the overall mood of the occasion. If you need help with flower meaning, please reference this article.

Are you planning to tie the knot in 2010? Want to have the wedding of the year, following all the new-and-up-and-coming trends? Is a white gown really necessary anymore?  Whether you want to follow tradition or be a trendsetter – 2010 has oodles of options for all kinds of brides.

2010 is a year where tradition seems to be thrown to the wind – designers are trying new, quirky ways to give your wedding extra pizzazz this season. So if your wedding is going to be extra spicy we’re hoping to give you some tips about what flowers may emphasize the stunning clothing and colours that are going to be hot, hot, hot.

For the 2010 wedding season, metallics and the classic white gown are taking a backseat and giving way to a lineup of bold, vibrant hues with eye-catching embellishments. If you are planning a wedding, choose from any of these top colour schemes to stay in line with the 2010 top trends.

White, pastel greens and lilacs are so 2009. In 2010 wedding colours are bright and bold, deep and rich! Vibrant red, bold turquoise, and bright greens are the colours that stand out in the new year, as well as deep browns and plum.  Plus, for the fashion-forward bride, black wedding gowns are growing in popularity. This colour scheme was popular on the Paris fashion runways in 2008, and has remained a hot trend in wedding dresses ever since – each year increasing in popularity. Black dresses tend to be embellished with lace and pearls. Black seem too dynamic for you? White dresses with black piping or embroidery are also popular.

What kind of flowers would be appropriate with black dresses, or dresses with black detail? We suggest pink for something zesty or red for something more traditional. Try roses or maybe even gerberas. Can’t you just picture a beautiful bouquet of luscious red roses against either of the above dresses? We can!

Red dresses, however, seem to be breaking ground in 2010 as the top trend, especially for Spring and Fall weddings. Look for bright red gowns with large satin bows and sashes, or black piping and detailing. With red dresses, white flowers would really pop out and illustrate the beauty of the bride (and her dress). White calla lilies or roses will never go out of style – or you could try something different with a bouquet of daisies or orchids.

The fun colours aren’t only for brides in 2010; bridesmaid’s dresses also get a pop of colour. Pink, bright orange and turquoise shades are popular colours for bridesmaids. For a bride who wants to give the bridesmaids the colour and stick with tradition, she can try a cream coloured dress with a colourful sash to match the bridesmaids. Select a dress embellished with large petals and oversized bows for some zing on your special day.

Bright yellow and peach tones are also some of the top colour trends for the 2010 wedding season, especially for weddings taking place in the Spring and Summer. The bright colours tend to work exceptionally well for outdoor weddings, beach weddings, or tropical-themed weddings.

The goal this year with shoes and accessories is to create a high-impact, dramatic ensemble whether you are a bridesmaid or the mother-of-the-bride. The top trends in the shoe and accessory department are similar to the bride and the bridesmaids – bright orange; hot pink; red and black; as well as turquoise. You can also go overboard with accessories this year, if you desire, with oversized gemstones, glistening sequins and large pearls.

Other trends include:

1. Introduction to beautiful beads: Beading used to be rare in wedding dresses, but now designers, searching for something new and unique, are using beads to develop different patterns and styles on the bodice of the wedding gowns. Some dresses even have beading all over the gown to enhance the look.

2. Unique lace introduced: Sure, lace has commonly been used on wedding dresses, but designers have revamped itsusage by using decorative laces with beads, pearls, and many new patterns – this easily transforms a traditional dress into something entirely new and exciting.

3. Ruffles: Designers have worked a lot on the base of the wedding dress and came up with the idea of ruffles to give a wedding dress volume. This elegant and exceptionally unique style of wedding dress looks best on thin frames.

4. Asymmetrical neckline: Asymmetrical necklines can beautifully show off a girl’s assets and hence beautify the bride in all sense. This style of dress is good for smaller bust girls and not recommended for broad shoulders.

5. Feathered wedding dresses: Designers are constantly looking for new ways to modify the traditional wedding gown – adding feathers was introduced and has proven to be a huge hit among brides. Feathers are also popular within the veil and can be white or colourful depending on the colour scheme of the wedding. Designers are even beginning to use natural feathers of owls and peacocks.

6. Practical pockets: The whole world is being practical nowadays, so why not brides? Brides can now carry their small essentials in their pockets, rather than a purse or clutch. Designers are creating small hidden pockets somewhere within wedding dresses to store essentials throughout the day.

7. Mini wedding dress: Mini wedding dresses offer ultimate cuts and looks for the practical and functional bride; no longer will they get caught in their trains and excess material. This year’s bride may be more inclined to show some leg and choose a shorter dress for her special day. These less formal gowns, like a tea-length dress, are becoming more en vogue too. The style lends itself to the possibilities of feminine additions like ruffles, pleats, bows, and lace accents.

When it comes to the veil, if you don’t feel comfortable, or it’s just not your style to include feathers, you can always opt for a tiara – this will provide a finishing touch to your princess like appearance; it’s your special day, you should feel like royalty. Colour can also be included in your veil to carry a colour scheme throughout the wedding, or wedding party.

The silhouette of the dress is another important element of the wedding dress this year. A mermaid silhouette is making a comeback, with a flare at the bottom of the skirt and body-hugging form up the legs to the bodice. Just check out the red dress above! Flowing, soft materials are also important – they provide a graceful, feminine silhouette.

In addition to traditional wedding ceremonies, an increasing new trend are green weddings; not only in colour, but the environmental impact that your wedding day has on the planet. There are many environmentally-friendly options for your wedding day, from recyclable invitations to opting out of throwing rice or confetti.As for flowers, the rose and calla lily never go out of style, and flowers are another way you can throw a splash of colour into your bridal party. Don’t be afraid to take chances and select flowers that break with tradition too – different flowers than roses and lilies, like daisies, orchids, tulips – even try sunflowers for a late Summer or Fall wedding. Due to all the excitement with the colourful dresses this year, either play up the dresses and include exotic and vivacious flowers – or be a minimalist and play up the dresses by downplaying the flowers, keeping your bouquets and arrangements fresh and simple.

Even with all these different trends and ideas the main thing to remember is that they are only a guideline for inspiration. Ultimately a wedding belongs to the bride and groom, so their day should reflect their tastes and traditions. If you have always dreamed of having a traditional white dress, with red roses in your bouquets and arrangements then go for it! Don’t put aside your visions to appease designers who state these are the new trends. Be a trend setter – do what you desire and prefer – make the most of your special day.