Flowers for the Bridal Party

Most members of the bridal party will carry or wear flowers - bouquets or posies for the bride and bridesmaids, corsages for the mothers, and buttonholes for the men. Take care to choose flowers suitable for their use - they will be out of water all day, so need to be relatively sturdy.

Bridal Bouquets

A beautiful and fragrant bridal bouquet is the perfect compliment to any bridal outfit. It should enhance the beauty of the gown, but not overpower it. Bridal bouquets come in all colours, shapes and styles. It's best to work with a good florist who can design a bouquet that's just right for you.

Some of the basic designs are:

Hand Tied

This type of bouquet consists of a simple gathering of flowers, which is bound and tied with ribbon with stems left exposed. It gives the illusion of a "just picked" bouquet of spring flowers.

Formal Posy

A small, round, uniform bouquet of like blossoms, their stems typically tightly wrapped with ribbon and tied. A popular version of this bouquet is the tight round cluster in white or pink roses.

Teardrop

This style has an abundance of blossoms at the top of the bouquet then tapers downwards with flowing foliage at the bottom. It can be designed with very dense flowers and foliage or can be more loosely arranged for a wispy look. Roses, stephanotis, white or calla lilies, and are often used in this type of bouquet.

Crescent

A dramatic bouquet of arching flowers and foliage that extends from the centre of the bouquet, arching from either left to right or right to left. A symmetrical crescent has a balanced look with arched blossoms and foliage of the same length on both sides. An asymmetrical crescent has arched blossoms and foliage of different lengths so that one side of the bouquet is longer than the other.

Try to choose your bouquet in proportion to your size. Wide bouquets will draw attention to the hips, whilst long trailing bouquets make you look slimmer, as they draw the eye downwards. Large bouquets can be heavy; be careful not to overcompensate by holding them up too high. Your lower arm should rest on the top of your hips.

You will also need to consider the type of dress you will be wearing:

• If you're petite or have a slim fitting dress, try choosing either a small posy or a long bouquet, and avoid large and overwhelming styles
• If you're wearing a princess line dress - try a teardrop or trailing bouquet
• If you're wearing a simple dress - try a more extravagant bouquet to add detail
• If you're wearing a large skirt - try a large shower bouquet
• If you're wearing a detailed dress - try a simple bouquet to avoid competing with the detail on the dress, but not too small, or it will be lost amongst the detail
• If you're wearing heavy fabrics like velvet - use richer and stronger coloured flowers
• If you're wearing light or floaty fabrics - use delicate flowers like gypsophilia

The groom's buttonhole is often t...

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