Too Much Is Never Enough But, Wedding Bouquets Shouldn’t Overpower The Bride…

For three decades I’ve been a floral designer and over the years have noticed a trend that nowadays makes “bigger makes everything better.” 

From bigger lips to bigger hair to bigger houses and even bigger backsides the demand for bigger seems to win the vote on over the top anything and everything but, bigger isn’t always better.

When I’m working on a custom Bridal order, I always ask the height of the Bride to accommodate her. It’s important to make a bouquet the appropriate size for the bride.

Petite brides do well with small bouquets while plus size or larger brides do better with cascades and fuller waterfall styled bouquets. 

Custom bouquets require having at least an “idea” of whether the bride is plus sized or petite. Why? Because a Bride should never be overpowered by the bouquet. 

The bouquet is an accessory not the actual “package” as the bride and the dress are what actually are the showstoppers at a wedding which actually makes the bouquet a minor detail. 

In fact, many brides are opting for alternatives to Bouquets for my bookings this year. 

When my niece, Leigh Ann married a few years ago, I advised her that a cascading bouquet would be the better choice and added purple feathers to add height and width to her bouquet as she was plus sized.  

Needless to say, my sister (below) and my niece were thrilled with the unique design that didn’t take the focus off the bride. Years prior to my niece’s wedding, my daughter in law, Stephanie Hafele wanted a large bouquet but as petite as she is, I strongly advised against “going big or going home” as an oversized bouquet would have looked ridiculous with her size 0 frame.At a friendship ceremony, the ladies wanted bouquets for their photos so I created three unique bouquets for each young lady and a ceremony that celebrated their milestones together as best friends.Brides love Bling which is why we added custom Brooch Bouquets to our custom designs as an option. 

Brooch bouquets are actually quite heavy and “weigh in” at 2-3 lbs which surprises a few brides but metal weighs far more than silk.Finding the perfect balance for each individual on a custom order is a balancing act of sorts. In certain situations, I’ve actually made two bouquets for variety. 

One bouquet is larger the other is smaller and can also be used as a toss bouquet.Switching it up with the bouquets gives my photography teams an opportunity to “switch out” Bridal flowers for a variety of photos.

The size dynamics of bouteniers and corsages aren’t always remarkably significant. Some wedding parties want all corsages or all bouteniers for the wedding party as opposed to bouteniers and corsages. It’s a personal choice and while having everything in the same size might sound more “uniform” the size from one to the other aren’t actually significant enough to warrant notice in most cases.I recently wrote a blog on my sister site, Texas Twins Treasures regarding the shift in custom orders from silk or natural designs to Bling. But, bouteniers are rarely ordered to match Bling Bouquets and because of this, silk bouteniers and/or corsages are a viable option to accentuate a Bling bouquet. If you missed the blog, here’s the link– Wendy Wortham Why Bling Is The New Black.

From solid white or ivory bouquets to rainbow, the options are endless and for cost saving ideas on your floral expenses, don’t forget baby’s breath. 

This versatile flower may not smell as sweet as a rose but it works well in centerpieces or as a filler and also looks great alone for bridesmaids or jr bridesmaids Bouquets too. 

For ideas on incorporating baby’s breath into your floral designs, check out this blog-  Bride On A Budget? Buy Baby’s Breath.  I like to add a pop of color to my “loaner” inventory for brides as I did with the one above that my beautiful TDCJ Bride used in her photo shoot. My Texas Prison Wedding Clients love having a variety of bouquets and props to choose from.Bouquets no longer need to be round either. Times have changed and so have the shapes. From heart shaped to wreath shaped and even no Bouquet at all, brides are throwing tradition out the window in some cases and carrying lanterns adorned with flowers or other items in place of the traditional and time honored Bouquet.Lanterns unlike bouquets are pretty much one size fits all but, this trend may not last long and I’m really not sure how lanterns transitioned from centerpieces to bridesmaids but, to each his own. 

Bridesmaid options aside from bouquets? From umbrellas to fans to lanterns to purses to balloons to pinwheels, the choices are endless!I was recently asked about using fruit in a bouquet and here to are a few ideas you may not have considered when on a tight budget for Bouquets. From apples to strawberries to lettuce and even broccoli, you can get really creative and colorful by simply strolling into your own refrigerator!

Here are a few ideas using perishable fruit or vegetables…There aren’t really any limits to the endless array of options and while the tried and true Bouquet will always be the favorite, switching things up can be fun too.

Try to be sure not to let your Bouquet overpower you and have your day- your way…