A wedding day is the perfect time to stop and smell the roses – or the daisies or the tulips or the hydrangea. A bride’s flower options – from her bouquet to the centerpieces – are virtually limitless. For those having a hard time choosing what to carry down the aisle or use as decoration at their reception, consider what kind of bride there will be at the wedding. There’s a perfect flower for everyone – it’s just a matter of finding what’s right. Here are some suggestions, depending on the brides personal style.
The classic bride
Silver-screen star Grace Kelly comes to mind when one thinks of the classic bride – simple, sophisticated and timeless. She followed all the rules of wedding etiquette, and she took tradition seriously. Her celebrity role model is someone like Jessica Simpson who walked down the aisle toward Nick Lachey carrying a bouquet of stephanotis in 2003. White roses or stephanotis with pearl pins in the center are ideal flowers for the classic bride’s bouquet.
The classic girl’s bridesmaids carry cascading roses in shades that match their dresses. Her groom and ushers sport rose and baby’s breath boutonnieres. A basket with rose petals to toss down the aisle is the perfect accessory for her flower girl. Long-stem white roses in tall vases that allow guests to see one another make for traditional, tasteful reception centerpieces.
The modern bride
This bride is up on all the hottest wedding trends – and she’s more than happy to include them in her big day. She is in vogue and willing to think outside the box.
Debra Messing, the “Will and Grace” star who carried a tall bouquet of calla lilies at her wedding in 2000 to screenwriter Daniel Zelman, is someone the modern bride can emulate. When it comes to the modern bride’s bouquet, she should consider single-flower monochromatic nosegays or calla lilies in white or a bright color, matching her bridesmaids’ dresses. Calla lilies in various shades – from yellow to crimson – are ideal for the modern girl’s attendants. Her groom might stick with a traditional rose boutonniere or simply a silk handkerchief tucked in his front pocket, depending on how formal the affair. The modern girl may use mixed wildflowers for centerpieces or forego flowers altogether in favor of towering trays of cookies or some other conversation piece.
For example, if she is an autumn bride, she might include a decorative hollow pumpkin with its top off as a vase for typical autumn flowers like gold mums. Since she’s willing to be creative, she might include real flowers as decoration on her cake, which are beautiful and keep her on budget. (Real flowers are cheaper than having pastry chefs whip up the sugary kind.)
The glamorous bride
Diva is the first word that comes to mind when one hears about the glamorous bride. Everything she does makes a dramatic statement. And her flowers – or lack thereof – are no different. Think Melania Knauss, who wed Donald Trump in January 2005. She clutched rosary beads in lieu of a bouquet as she walked down the aisle solo. A glamorous bride who prefers to make a statement with flowers should choose something like orchids, peonies, giant peonies or black magic roses. A bull’s-eye bouquet which makes circular rows of flowers look like a bull’s eye is right on target for a woman who wants to make a statement. And this bride often chooses more sleek and simple flower arrangements for her bridesmaids – if she includes them – because she should be the center of attention. Money is no object for this bride, so she does not care if her flowers are in season. (In-season flowers are always more affordable.)
The romantic bride
She wants to be a princess for a day and often wears a big frilly dress with lots of regal details. The late Princess Diana is her role model, but she can turn to recently wed TV personality Star Jones for inspiration, too.
Jones – who could be mistaken for a glamorous bride because of the extravagance of her star-studded affair at a New York City hotel – chose flowers that were all romance, from her cascading bouquet to the small nosegays of pastel roses carried by bridesmaids including actress Holly Robinson Peete and singer Natalie Cole.
The decorative floral arrangements at the reception included white orchids, roses and calla lilies – all of which scream love. The romantic bride should consider dahlias, a baby’s breath cloud or a nosegay in a silver or gold cone-shaped vase called a tussy mussy. Tea roses are a great choice for the bridesmaids. Her flower girl carries a pomander and wears a wreath of baby’s breath or daisies in her hair. The color palette for centerpieces should be soft and demure. Before placing clear vases of flowers on reception tables, some romantic brides opt for putting fake pearls at the bottom of each one to hide the flowers’ stems.
The beach bride
This girl knows when the surf’s up, and she wants to smell the salt of the ocean when she says “I do.”
Beach brides often wear a white bikini or a slinky dress with little detail, which means her bouquet should be eye-catching.
Mira Sorvino carried a burst of tiny white and yellow blossoms when she got married on a hilltop on the Italian island of Capri that overlooks the Mediterranean Sea. Something like spiky blue veronica with hydrangea, white amaryllis, sunflowers or birds of paradise can make a statement in the sand.
The groom wears linen yet steers clear of any flowers – unless the couple is in Hawaii and opts for matching leis. In that case, their bridal party, if they have one, will follow suit. If not, the bridesmaids are more likely to have a tropical flower in their hair instead of their hands.
Flower arrangements that feature shells make for fitting decorations.
The anti-bride
The only rule for the anti-bride is that there are no rules. She can relate to model Mia Tyler who, thanks to her father Steven Tyler, got married on the fly onstage to rocker Dave Buckner at an Aerosmith concert in 2003.
If the anti-bride opts for a bouquet, she is likely to have her friends each give her a flower which she will bunch together and tie with a ribbon, or her groom will buy her a rose from a street vendor. Even the nearest supermarket bouquet would suffice.
There’s a flower for every kind of bride there is
