How do you know the bouquet you've chosen is perfect for your dress?
The style, fabric weight and embellishments of your dress will all help the floral design process so that your bouquet and your dress complement each other perfectly.
A good florist will advise on sizes and styles of bouquets which will compliment your gown, with pictures and examples for you to look at.
Choosing your bouquet should be as personal as choosing your wedding dress.
Firstly, consider the style of your outfit, if it’s a Princess/ball gown or a Body Hugging dress the design of your wedding bouquet should reflect this. The proportions of the overall look are really crucial. Choosing the wrong size bouquet will create an imbalance. Your height will also play a part in the size of the bouquet chosen.
For a Princess dress, a bouquet that follows the sweeping line of the dress shapes looks amazing. It's tempting to opt for a tiny bouquet with a BIG dress but it just doesn't work. The bouquet doesn't have to be incredibly large but it does need to compliment the long lines you have in your dress.
If you have a long train on your dress or a cathedral veil, your bouquet should be in proportion.
A longer cascade bouquet will balance the overall look.
If you are petite in height, a smaller teardrop bouquet will lengthen your overall outline. Conversely, if you are a curvy lady, a full-hand-tied bouquet looks great or a longer cascade bouquet will lengthen your outline.
Upright Hand-tied posies or Classic Tied sheaves suit a body-hugging style such as a Mermaid dress. You are showing your outline, this is the first impact of a dress like this, notice how your eye travels from top to bottom of the curves - so your bouquet either needs to follow the line of your body too, it's all about the lines!
A curving slim trailing bouquet would look incredible with a dress like this.
Natural wild style bouquets look great against an unstructured free-flowing dress.
Alternative gowns demand a bespoke bouquet and your professional florist can design a bouquet taking inspiration from your dress.
The colour of your dress and your Maids’ dresses will also influence the choices of flowers and shades chosen. You may want to tie together a Mix and Match theme with the flowers.
The texture of your dress is also really important, if the surface texture is completely matt, you should choose soft gentle textures for your flowers.
If your dress fabric has any sort of shine, e.g. silk, or satin fabrics, choose textures that have a little shine to some of the components, that way your bouquet will blend and not detract from your dress.
Lots of bling? Include some bling in your bouquet, that way it will look made just for you.
Pinterest is a great place to start but be aware that the images come from many different countries whose seasons are not necessarily in sync with each other. Flowers that are available in one place may not be in another, but your florist will be able to advise on substitutes and alternatives.
Moderate the number and variety of highly-fragranced flowers in your bouquet. The scent is really important but again it needs to be balanced.
Here are some basic design ideas to get you started.
A ~ Traditional ~ Teardrop, Shower/Cascade or Waterfall styles. These are all held at your natural waistline and flow down the skirt. Remember to breathe and drop your arms to just beyond your waist when you are being photographed.
B ~ Contemporary ~ Designed bespoke bouquets. There are many shapes and styles.
C ~ Natural ~ Free-flowing bouquets and just picked wild meadow posy styles.
D ~ Compact posies
~ Often a minimal selection of flowers is chosen to create a neat compact mound. If you love a tidy unfussy style this is the bouquet for you - your dress should reflect the neat lines too.
E ~Historical bouquet
~ Bouquet and flowers are chosen to represent a period in history
F ~Themed wedding bouquet
~ flowers and style chosen to match a theme of your wedding e.g Boho, Rustic, Vintage, Rainbow etc
G ~ Tied Classic Sheaf
~ slimline style bouquet is suitable for Mermaid dresses or body-hugging contours...
If you are choosing a dress with colour, ask your florist to provide a colour harmony, based on the artist's colour wheel, so that one colour is dominant with accents of related colours around it. Alternatively, go for a complete rainbow!
Like what you see? All too confusing?
Need more inspiration? - check out our Gallery on our website www.chirpee.net/gallery
~ or pop over to our Pinterest boards
If you need any help discussing or choosing your wedding bouquet please do not hesitate to contact us: 01273 951745