Home > Wedding Planning > Wedding Flowers

Wedding Flowers
At A Glance

There are many types of floral arranges in weddings and receptions. Besides the bouquets there are boutonnières, corsages, flower girl baskets or ring bearer pillows, centerpieces, decorations for the vehicle, church, tables, picture area, arches and arbors as well as pew floral arrangements. In order to explain each of the floral arrangements the following list should be helpful.

Brides and Bridesmaids

• Bride – will have the most elaborate of all the bouquets and will carry the bouquet throughout the ceremony and to the reception.
• Maid of Honor – usually the next largest bouquet
• Bridesmaids – may have traditional bouquets or may use wrist or waist corsages for a non-traditional look
• Toss bouquet – this will be a simple bouquet used for the toss during the reception. Some brides use the same bouquet for the toss, but others prefer to keep the one that they had for the wedding.
• Mother of the Bride – usually a wrist of lapel corsage, often an orchid or lily
• Mother of the Groom – similar to the Mother of the Bride but often in a different color

Groom and Groomsmen

• Groom – a boutonnière, usually a single rose or carnation
• Best Man – often a rose or carnation as well, but generally a different color than that of the groom.
• Groomsmen – usually a different flower than either the groom or best man. Carnations are often used for the groomsmen if the groom wears a rose.
• Father of the Bride – Usually a flower that matches with the brides bouquet
• Father of the Groom- Often a similar flower to the groom, but a lighter shade or perhaps a rose bud instead of a rose.
• Ring bearer – a small carnation or tea rose

Church, Temple or Wedding Venue

• Arches for the bride and groom to walk through to enter or to walk through to exit as a couple
• Swags to decorate the aisle or the front of the church or room
• Pew arrangements often are used to add romance and color to the church or temple.
• Main entrance to the wedding area is often decorated with bunches of flowers or a large central floral display

Vehicle

• Petals are often scattered on the way to the vehicle from the church
• Flowers may be attached to the car or carriage, especially if it is a Victorian style wedding

Reception

• Head table centerpiece
• Centerpieces on each of the guest tables
• Arches for the bride and groom to walk through
• Staircase railings may be decorated if it is a home or multi-level reception area
• Floating displays in pools or water gardens for outside receptions
• Wedding cake table
• Wedding cake

There are many other uses for flowers at weddings. Many brides choose to have flowers in their bridesmaid’s hair, in the hair ornaments, or be carried by the girls that are ring bearers. In addition many weddings have baskets of petals that are spread down the aisle for the bride to walk down.

Flowers have always been a wedding tradition and continue to be a central part of wedding decorations.