Happiness is to hold flowers in both hands. – Japanese Proverbs
Flowers of all kinds are beautiful and each type of flower tells the story of the bride and the couple. Sometimes it her favorite flower, sometimes it is a bouquet of the same flowers he first brought to her to say, I love you. Maybe it is styled after Gramma’s wedding flowers, or the flowers are picked up Wedding Day morning from the local farmers market. Which ever way the flowers find their way into the design of the day, they always speak to the styling of the wedding. Roses and Hydrangeas are classic, Peonies & Lily of the Valley are so wonderfully fragrant, and Calla Lilies & Daisy burst with color, but often I have heard… “I want to do something different for my wedding flowers”.
So here are my 4 favorites for reinventing wedding bouquets, boutonnieres, and table arrangements.
Kale, Succulents, Thistle & Billy Balls
Billy Balls are so fun right now and so becoming more and more popular. It’s billy balls that inspired this post in the first place. I passed by a bouquet of Kale & Billy Balls at the farmers market. It was so fun! Often you see them as filler to bring height, color and whimsy to a bouquet or table arrangement. But as you see in the picture above the use in a boutonniere is really fresh and chic, The bouquet below is simple and fun, it feels like a colorful take on wintry theme.
Succulents are amazing. They come in so many colors, so many shapes. They can feel modern, they can feel rustic, they can feel romantic. And they are hardy! My goodness they are hardy. Something to be said for knowing that on your 100 degree wedding day your plants will not droop! Succulents make for fantastic table arrangements big or small, its fun to plant them singularly and work them into a table with candles and jars and such!
How adorable is this boutonniere???
Both of these bouquets feel romantic and very vintage…and the flowers arrangements each have their own distinct styling.
Thistle: Beautiful and architectural, the most commonly used thistle in floral design is Sea Thistle or also known as Sea Holly. Its dusty purple and blue can lend itself to soft & romantic colors, but at the same time the shape plays so well with dynamic colors to play up some funk or sophistication.
In the language of flowers, the thistle (like the burr) is an ancient Celtic symbol of nobility of character as well as of birth
I love this first bridal bouquet. It so soft and ethereal with gentle color of the pink roses, the grey fuzziness of the dusty miller. But it is what the visual & textural interest of Sea Thistle brings to the bouquet that takes it from just a “pretty” bouquet to something brilliant!
Great boutonniere ideas. Against the brown suit, the thistle along with the hypericum berries feels so hip and modern. Where as the boutonneirs below are soft and elegant and evoke an early spring wedding … something formal.
Thistle floating in water? That’s just cool.
Photos & Inspiration: kio kreations meg perotti sylvie gill studio foto jill thomas brushfire photography
