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.