Flowers are such an integral part of your wedding day they bring beauty and grace to the occasion and help create and compliment the mood and wedding style. Bouquets are one of the most important floral accessories. Next to the bridal gown they are one of the first things your guests will see and focus on so it is well worth spending the time to choose the right bouquet for you.

Bridal bouquets have been a tradition dating back to ancient times and since then have evolved from posies of aromatic herbs used to ward off evil spirits and garlands of herbs and spices worn around the head or neck symbolising love, new life and fertility to today’s beautiful blooms in all colours and styles carried or worn simply as accessories that compliment the wedding gown.
Before you start your search for a wedding florist it’s a great idea to have a look in bridal magazines and on the internet to find photos of bridal bouquets and flowers that you love and perhaps even compose these photos as an inspiration board to take with you in your travels. It will be a great reference for you and also for the wedding florist and/or wedding decorator.

A bouquet should complement a bride’s gown, style and personality it should never detract from the gown nor should it be the main focal point. If your gown is very detailed then the bouquet should be smaller and simple in design. If your gown has lovely accents at the front of the bodice then make sure your florist knows this so that you don’t end up with a bouquet which hides or obscures these details.

The following is a description of today’s most popular contemporary styles of bridal bouquets:
• The Posy Bouquet – Posies are small and round in shape and contain smaller textured flowers. They can either be formal/structured where each individual flower is wired and constructed evenly and symmetrically into a posy holder (handle) or they can be informal/natural where the flower stems are left intact and are gathered into a natural design, usually tied together with a coordinating ribbon.
• The Strauss Bouquet – These bouquets are a larger, looser version of the posy bouquet generally containing small and large flower textures combined with the stems left longer than the posy bouquet.
• The Trail Bouquet – the Trail is generally a fully wired bouquet which is usually quite narrow from the top down and would only contain a couple of different flower types and foliage. It can either be unstructured or abstract/modern in style or structured
• The Cascade Bouquet – The Cascade bouquet is fully wired and is constructed with multiple trails of flowers and foliage which cascade from the top down to the bottom like a waterfall effect. It is quite informal in style.’
• The Teardrop Bouquet – The Teardrop bouquet is fully wired and is quite a traditional and structured style of bouquet which has a rounded, posy shape top which tapers down to a tip at the bottom – as the name suggests, a teardrop shape.
• The Arm Sheaf Bouquet – The Arm Sheaf bouquet consists of longer stemmed flowers and foliage neatly arranged and they are designed to be carried cradled across one arm (like a baby) or if preferred held straight down at the side (the top of the bouquet facing the ground).
• The Biedermeier Bouquet – The Biedermeier bouquet is a European style bouquet that is tightly constructed in a rounded style and contains defined circles or circular layers of different coloured flowers creating quite a dramatic effect.
• Pomander Ball – The pomander also know as the kissing ball has become very popular again in recent years, in particular for flowergirls and as hanging decorations at outdoor ceremonies and receptions. They are constructed as a ball of tightly arranged flowers with a loop of ribbon at the top as a handle.