1. Do your homework.

Before you build a bouquet, look online, through bridal magazines, pictures of other weddings, or get inspiration through TV shows. Another great tool to investigate what you like is the Bridal Bouquet Builder app.

Don't worry if you don't know what you want; most brides need suggestions and guidance. Your florist or event planner is there to help.

2. There are 3 major areas to focus on when picking out a bouquet.

The Bridal Builder app helps you figure out what you like!

• the style of the bouquet

  more

1. What role would you like your flowers to play in your wedding?

Would you like them to stand out and be a focal point or be treated more like an accessory, like a piece of jewelry? How your flowers stand out is determined by the color scheme of your flowers against the dress color.

Example – lets say you have red bridesmaid’s dresses and you have a white gown. If you carry a bouquet of red roses, that bouquet will stand out next to your white dress. If the bridesmaids carry that same bouquet of flowers, the red roses will blend into their red dress. The same holds true for a bride carrying a white/ivory flowers when wearing a white or ivory dress.

If you are wearing the most beautiful dress ever made, you may prefer that the emphasis be on the gown and not on the flowers.

If you would like you flowers to act as an accessory, pick a similar color or colors with the same intensity as the backdrop. Example - If you are wearing a white or ivory dress, choose ivories or soft pastel colors. If your bridesmaids are wearing deep purple dresses, work with more purples or flowers with a lot of deep colors, such as deep blues or burgundy.

1. Use a flower that was in your Mother’s or Mother-n-law’s bouquet.

As an ode to generations past, this could be an actual flower from the bouquet (if it was preserved or artificial) or simply the same variety of flower. If you build a bouquet with something so special, it's sure to leave your mom tickled pink and make your wedding day just a touch more memorable.

Special guests will be tickled pink if you give them a centerpiece from your wedding!

2. Centerpieces from dinner can be used at gift opening or be gifted to special guests after the reception ends.

They're gorgeous flowers and you paid a pretty penny for them, so be sure to get your money's worth. A guest will enjoy having one bouquet in their house far more than you'll enjoy having multitudes of flowers in your home after the special day is over. Alternatively, you can always make your gift opening pictures just a tad more aesthetically pleasing by re-using your flowers then.

1.Where the bouquet is held may help determine what style is right for you.

Round bouquet

This style is held just below your waist.

This is a very popular style.

You could choose to have a straight-handle or angled-handle round bouquet. Round bouquets can be made in a variety of sizes. Build a bouquet in the round style with large flowers, such as peonies and garden roses.

Cascade bouquet

This style is held just below your waist.

A cascading bouquet is where the flowers waterfall down the front of the bouquet.

This is a very traditional and formal style.

There are many different styles of cascades.

Be careful not to overpower a close-fitting dress with a cascading bouquet.

If you are going for a classic or traditional look, or if you want to add more decoration to your dress, a cascading bouquet may be right for you.

Hand tied bouquet

The stems of the flowers will be held just below your waist and the bulk of the flowers will be held in front of the bodice of your gown.

This style looks like a fresh-picked bouquet of flowers.

Hand tied bouquets are especially fitting for less formal or garden ceremonies.

However you choose to build a bouquet, here are great places to start in choosing a bouquet theme!

1. FUN

Bright flowers tend to look more fun. Work with hot pinks, bright yellows, oranges and lime greens. Gerbera daisies are a very fun & happy flowers.

2. WILDFLOWER

Working with all kinds of colors and different varieties of flowers will give you a wildflower look. Daisies are a wildflower.

3. NATURAL

Work with natural elements such as twigs, acorns, pine cones & feathers. Keep with earth tones. Such colors as green leaves , brown soil, a cloudy sky, or a red sunset.

4. TROPICAL FLOWERS

Use flowers native to the tropics, such as orchids, bird of paradise, or heliconia.

5. SEASONAL

Keeping with seasonal or holiday flowers and colors. (Keep in mind that seasons vary by region.)

6. UNIQUE

Use an unusual variety of flowers or elements, such as using artichokes in the bouquets.

7. ELEGANT

Elegance is simplicity. Keep it simple in color and texture, this will help keep things elegant. Certain flowers tend to be more elegant, such as calla lilies and stephanotis.

Make a budget.

Before you build a bouquet, this is your first step. The budget for floral pieces at you wedding determines the types of flowers you can use in your bouquets, centerpieces, and floral décor.

Most couples spend 8% of their wedding budget to purchase flowers for their wedding. That number varies depending on the types of flowers that they purchase and how many bouquets, centerpieces, and floral decorations they'll need.

Finding a Florist.

It’s important to find a florist that understands your vision because this person will bring your design to life. Sandy (pictured right), the founder of Bridal Builder, has been connecting with brides in this way for nearly thirty years.

Your florist will give professional input on what flowers would look nice in certain times of the year, what goes with the color scheme, and what would work well with you.

Checking reviews online and taking notes is helpful when you are going through this decision.

Gather Inspiration.

Research flowers from wedding photos that you find online (try sites like Pinterest). These options offer millions of ideas and flowers that you could potentially want to see on your special day. When you start collecting these photos, you might notice patterns in what you're choosing and begin to piece together what you're looking for.

• 1. A collar is only needed when using a bouquet holder.

In order to build a bouquet, you'll need to know these basics. A bouquet holder is made with a plastic handle and a cage filled with floral foam. A collar is located on the underside portion of your bouquet, meant to disguise the bouquet holder.

If you are designing a bouquet without a bouquet holder, a collar can be used, but isn't necessary.

In case you're curious, floral foam is a Styrofoam (if using artificial or dried flowers in the bouquet) or a wet foam (if using fresh flowers in the bouquet).

2. Try matching your dress to your bouquet collar.

If you have chiffon, organza or tulle material on your dress, consider using the same kind of material as ribbon loops under your bouquet, creating a collar.

Using a sheer or fine ribbon will give you a more delicate look.

Using a satin ribbon will give you a more luxurious look.

Be cautious of heavier ribbons sagging as time goes by- gravity isn't a heavy ribbon's friend.

3. Foliage makes a great collar.

You can build a bouquet that functions as its own collar! You could do a variety of mixed greens or your favorite foliage. Try folding over a wide leaf to give a loop of foliage under the bouquet. Aspidistra leaves work well for creating foliage collars.

1. Adding flowers to the bridesmaids purses.

The purses could be the “thank you” gift.

2. Wearing a flower lei, a corsage, or flowers in the hair.

3. Having the flower girl carry a teddy bear or doll with flowers attached.

The teddy bear can act as the “thank you” gift.

4. Fresh flowers: The most popular choice for wedding flowers.

PRO: Florists like our app's founder, Sandy, try to imitate fresh flowers- and sometimes come very close- but there's nothing like the real thing. CON: Some flowers are seasonal and may not be available for your wedding date.

You won't get to see your flowers until the day of your wedding. (But there is something to be said about surprises!)

Care is needed when handling fresh flowers. Keep your flowers hydrated to prevent wilting.

5. Artificial flowers:

PRO: You get to see a preview of the flowers and have the option of making changes before the wedding.

No worries about wilting flowers or flowers that are not in season.

• One trend that we’ve noticed that has seen significant growth in 2019 is the inclusion of dried flowers in bouquets, especially in the fall and winter wedding seasons. Heading into 2020, this is something we expect to see grow.

A Long-standing Tradition

If you’re having a fall or winter wedding in 2020 we highly recommend adding a dried flower to your bouquet for a wonderful rustic effect that will never go out of style! From the Egyptians to the Victorian era, dried bouquets have been an elegant go-to for brides of all shapes and sizes.

Photo Credit: Bridalwishdesign

Less Worry on Your Special Day

If you build a bouquet that's already-preserved, you save a lot of time and effort later on. The flowers essentially become a keepsake, whether you choose to display them in a vase in your home or make them into potpourri. Not to mention, you don't have to mist dried flowers, they're not as heavy as fresh flowers, and they don't bruise or wilt like fresh flowers do.

REALLY??? The key to life and happiness is to

grow a single flower? The answer to that question

is probably not, but this quote does give some

interesting insight into the importance that

chrysanthemums, a flower you might not know

all that much about, held in early East Asian cultures.

An Ancient Past

The Chinese people were using chrysanthemums as an herbal remedy as early as the 15th Century B.C., as an herb they believed to hold the power of life! The Chinese had many different uses for the flower: the boiled roots were given to cure headaches, the stems were often used in salads and the leaves were brewed to create a festive drink. The Chinese city of Chu-Hsien, which means Chrysanthemum City, was named to honor the flower. It’s safe to say they held chrysanthemums in high regard!

Why have Chrysanthemums in Your Wedding Bouquet?

A sea of colors

Firstly, Chrysanthemums come in a crazy variety of colors for you to build a bouquet with. They also come in numerous varieties, from the Football mum to the Spider mum, you have plenty of options. Plus, this flower plays well with a wide variety of other traditional and unique flowers you might be considering in your bouquet.

We've seen a lot of growth in the dried flower trend of wedding bouquets in recent years. To see more on why you should build a bouquet of dried flowers for your wedding, look into our earlier blog post, Your Guide to Dried Bouquet Flowers.

However, if you chose to have a bouquet of fresh flowers, what are you going to do with them after the wedding? Do you want to preserve them as memories to last a lifetime? Well, you could air dry your flowers or shut them in the middle of a book and step away for a few weeks. You could even press your flowers into a translucent phone case to display wherever you are, but did you know there's a method out there to microwave the flowers?

Follow these steps from ProFlowers:

1. Find a microwave-safe container that will hold your flowers and fit into the microwave. (Do not use a dish you want to use for food again after this project.)

2. Cover the bottom of the container with an inch or two of silica gel, a bit more for larger blossoms. Place flowers blossom-up in the gel and then pour more gel over the petals. Pour gently so that petals don’t get flattened.

Simple, elegant, easy to hold for pictures... What more do you want in your bridal bouquet?

The hoop bouquet has been around for a couple years now, but it continues to gain traction in wedding trends of the West. It's a modern and elegant way to follow the long-held tradition of the bridal bouquet without getting caught up in the bulkiness of a traditional bouquet.

You can have a metal hoop, a wood hoop, or anything your heart desires!

Photo credits: @bouquetsposa, @mundo.noivinhas

You can have as many or as few flowers as you'd like!

With just a huge variety in flower and accent choices!

Possibilities are endless!

Are you going to try hoop bouquets in your wedding party? Maybe your bridesmaids will have hoops while you have a traditional bouquet? Let us know on our social medias! What do you think of this trend?

Fluffy bouquets?!?! Christina, what do you mean by, "fluffy"? Fluffy is NOT a bouquet term, just so you know.

Yeah, I get that, but whilst looking through the many wedding and bouquet-related hashtags on Instagram, I've noticed a growing subset of brides who are adding dried grasses, flowers, and accents that make a bouquet just seem, well, fluffy!

As a fan of fluff in all its forms (blankets, sweaters, pillows, stuffed animals), I may be biased in seeing this trend in bouquets, but I'm also a self-proclaimed expert on fluff. Seriously, go to WalMart with me sometime and watch how many things I impulsively need to feel as we walk past. I love to feel fluffy things of all kinds.

So, whether you use these fluffy additions as a collar for your bouquet, as accents, or as something completely new and creative, rest assured you won't be too out of style! I think it's worth highlighting because it's a style that exists and can help you make decisions to build a bouquet.

Lavender

Lavender isn't only an amazing herb with a great fragrance, but it's also an awesome way to add texture to your bouquet!

When I was thirteen years old, I was offered the opportunity to travel to China and had the very good fortune to be able to go. Being an anime nerd, I was excited to possibly see the cherry blossoms bloom, but I didn't realize how short their bloom is! Unfortunately, we were about two weeks late for me to see them, but to this day I still love their aesthetic and I would definitely return to the East in order to experience them.

With that in mind, let's talk about these gorgeous multi-colored flowers!

You'll find cherry blossoms spread across Japan, China, Thailand, Nepal, Korea and many more countries in the eastern side of the globe.

The cherry blossom is considered the national flower of Japan (along with the chrysanthemum), and has deep roots in the country’s history.

Photo credit: @youyourwedding

• Flower walls are sweeping Instagram and capturing the hearts of florists everywhere! A picturesque place for photos, a wall that smells amazing, a decoration to draw every ones' eyes! What's not to love?

Flower walls are similar to bouquets in the sense that you can use any combination of fresh, dried, or artificial flowers; you can add in accents; and you can be creative with it to your heart's content! First, build your own bouquet and then center the rest of your event's flowers around it! We can help you with that!

Photo credit: @springroseflowerwall

For that matter, so can Instagram and Pinterest! Flower walls and bouquet ideas are all over the internet and there's no shortage of inspiration! If you get lost or overwhelmed, you can always play around with your own ideas with the Bridal Bouquet Builder app and ask your florist to help guide you. After all, we all want to make your special day as perfect as possible!

Christina's Bridal Builder Vision Board

What is a Vision Board?

A vision board or a dream board is a group of images you gather in one place in order to inspire yourself to reach your dreams or to spur creativity. Vision boards can look like post-it note reminders about what you still need to do sprinkled with images (like Christina uses to keep Bridal Bouquet Builder's marketing plan moving); like a collage of dresses, cakes, and flowers for your special day; or like a digital collection of images that inspire you to work toward your goals every day.

How Many Vision Boards Should I Have?

That depends on what you want to focus on and how you want to split up the tasks. For a wedding, you could have one, all-encompassing vision board full of your various ideas, perhaps organized into groups, or you could create separate vision boards for your cake, your dress, your venue, etc. For that matter, you could do a hybrid of the two and have one board that's for your number-one priority (say your dress is the most important thing to you) and then another board for everything else in the wedding. It all depends on how you work best.

The other day, I was scrolling through #weddingbouquet on Instagram to see what's worth talking about and I stumbled upon a rather whimsical kind of arrangement: a pom-pom bouquet.

Pom-poms are fluffy, spherical objects that you'd normally see on the top of a winter hat, in an elementary school crafting drawer, or on a clown's jumpsuit, but they have found an unconventional place as of late in bouquets.

Photo Credit: @pom.pom.pous

In a pom-pom bouquet, large and small pom-poms take the place of or accent flowers in the arrangement. Although the traditional pom-pom is made of yarn, pom-poms can be made of paper, felt, cotton, or a number of other materials. You can find tutorials for the many types of pom-poms out there on the internet and on Pinterest.

• What look are you going for on your special day: chic? Unconventional? Whimsical? Elegant?

No matter what style you envision on your wedding day, geometric designs can add a pop to your decor, invitations, and even bouquets!

Geometry and flowers? Together?

Many brides are using geometric cages to prop up or hang flowers as centerpieces, cutting their flower budget down while maintaining a floral air at their reception! It seems like an odd pair, but geometry and algebra have been used to explain the curves of nature and the ways flowers work for a long time, namely with this little thing called the Golden Ratio. Even if you don't remember the Golden Ratio from your math days, just know that the sharp lines and angles of geometric shapes can complement your flower choices gorgeously!

It's amazing what a can of spray paint can do.

• What kind of bride are you?

Do you like to be the star of the show? Then a small bouquet may be for you!

Would you rather not be in the spotlight? Then a bigger bouquet will draw peoples' eyes away from your face.

Photo credit: @floracultured

Most couples spend 8% of their wedding budget to purchase flowers for their wedding. That number varies depending on the types of flowers that they purchase and how many bouquets, centerpieces, and floral decorations they'll need. That's a sizable thing to handle, so let's make sure you get your bouquet right!

One easy rule of thumb:

Make sure the bridesmaids flowers do not outshine the bridal bouquet.

Example: don't make the bridesmaids' bouquets larger that the bride's. Make sure you look as if you belong to the same wedding.

Sandy says, "One saying that I learned in design school was 'when in doubt, leave it out' . If you do not love it, leave it out. We're going for, 'I love my wedding flowers!'"

• We usually help you build a bouquet, but today we're looking beyond!

#1: A Flower Crown

You have a little of that wild-child spunk, that country girl who enjoys fields of flowers, or you just really like flowers in your hair! A flower crown will draw eyes up from your bouquet and accent your gorgeous face, so they're a great consideration for brides who are a little on the wild side. If you're not a fan of the idea for you as the bride, you can always consider flower crowns for your bridesmaids and/or flower girl instead.

Photo credit: @modernpressedflower

#2: Pressed Flowers in Your Invitations

Need a little of that floral magic before the big day is even here? A really fun way to add a touch of elegance in your invitations is to press small flowers and include them inside! You can attach the flower to your invite, leave it loose inside the card, or get creative. No matter what you do with this idea, your invitations will smell nice right out of the envelope and they'll stand out from other invitations your guests might receive.

Today, you get to hear some tips about bouquet color straight from Sandy!

Use your Color Scheme

Choosing colors for wedding flowers causes many brides to stress out. Fortunately, you don't have to pick flowers that are the same exact colors as your décor.

You should be picking blooms that complement your overall wedding color scheme. Look at the colors for the invitations, attire, table decorations, and random accents that you are including in your wedding.

Match your Wedding Style

Your flowers should stick with the theme. If you are having a black-tie traditional wedding, you should stick with tidy arrangements. At informal weddings, you can make the bouquets more creative and looser with the flowers and include this same theme in the wedding centerpieces.

Embrace your Wedding Season

In general, you can choose whatever flower you want at your wedding, but is the flower in bloom during that season? Depending on the time of the year you are getting married, you should research flowers that work well in certain seasons. For example, tulips and peonies in the spring or dahlias and mums in the fall. Keep in mind that seasonal flowers vary by region and everyone has their opinion on what a certain seasonal color is.

What can I say about a round bouquet?

Round bouquets are a classic and widely-recognized style of bouquet that often use a single type of flower and are often monochromatic. "Round" refers to the dome-like shape of these bouquets. In all reality, you can get very creative within the style of a round bouquet.

This is an example of a more modern round bouquet. It still follows the typical tight domed shape of a traditional round bouquet, but strays from a strictly monochromatic palette. This is a great place to start if you think you want a round bouquet!

You can go on Instagram and look at #roundbouquet for a lot of great examples of tighter, smaller bouquets and larger, messier bouquets.

Funnily enough, my mom used a larger bouquet to hide her baby bump at her wedding. She used to tease me when we looked at old photos that I was behind her flowers at the wedding!

They can be as messy or tight as you'd like them to be! To the right is a good example of a little bit of messiness in a round bouquet. By using leafy or grassy greenery and small flowers such as baby's breath, you can turn a snug bouquet into something with a little more flare and dimension.

If you're in the United States like we are, you've seen a poppy before.

They're a symbol of remembrance for all those who passed in World War I. According to The Maritime Executive, the Red Flanders Poppy was introduced as a symbol of remembrance through the Canadian soldier, John McCrae's, poem about the red flowers that sprouted from the ground following World War I. A short five years later, the American Legion adopted the poppy as its official flower and later Congress designated the Friday before Memorial Day as Poppy Day.

You've likely seen poppies represented by the red and black paper flowers that are distributed by the American Legion every year. For those who might be missing this tradition in the wake of COVID-19, know that Memorial Day and Poppy Day are not holidays that will be forgotten.

There's a handful of things you NEED to know in order to build a bouquet that will make your special day perfect... perfect for you! Below is a list of the posts you should read in order to be fully prepared for your next meeting with your wedding florist!

1. Color

The color of your bouquet is a big deal! Sometimes, you can start by choosing your wedding color palette and go from there. Other times, it can be more complicated than that, but we're here to help you! Click here for our complete guide on bouquet color. Your florist will be able to help you with any questions specific to your wedding!

2. Size

How big is your bouquet going to be? There's a lot to consider when handling this decision- mainly, "Do I want to be the center of attention or should the flowers take the spotlight?" Sandy has A LOT of thoughts on bouquet size and you can take a look at her ideas here. She has 30 years of experience with a variety of brides, so you can trust her judgement when it comes to these things.

• It’s important to continue taking care of yourself during stressful times – like wedding planning! You have a lot on your plate right now as a bride or bride-to-be, so Sandy and the team are here to remind you to take it easy! Here are some tips to keep in mind as the big day gets closer:

1. Get plenty of sleep.

We all despise hearing it, but the truth is that you can’t make sound decisions when you’re tired or overtired. If you’re having trouble getting to sleep, it’s a good idea to get up and go back to bed to try again later. Other great tips include: stay away from screens at least an hour before bed, avoid caffeine as it interrupts natural sleep cycles, and start a regular bedtime routine that signals to your body, “It’s sleep time now.”

2. Stay hydrated.

Half of us love water and the other half went all 4 years of high school and/or college without ever thinking about the substance. It is important to our kidneys, heart, and the rest of our body, though, and staying hydrated can help rid your body of fatigue, fight off illness, and cut out other unhealthy stuff (like caffeine). Keeping a reusable water bottle, using a hand-written water tracker, or using an app are all great ways to track and increase your water consumption.

Cascade bouquets are something we get requested quite often through Bridal Bouquet Builder’s “Suggest a Flower” feature. It’s obvious that brides want this bouquet style in 2023 and we can’t wait until we bring it to you in the app. In the meantime, let’s talk about cascade bouquets. What are they and how do you build a bouquet in this style?

A cascade bouquet is similar in shape to a round bouquet, except that the flowers on the bottom end of the bouquet drape or cascade down toward the floor. Cascade bouquets can be small and tight or large and messy, just like the other bouquet types we’ve explored in this blog. In fact, your cascade can be as long as you want it to be (although I wouldn’t suggest letting your flowers drag on the floor!).

Cascade bouquets have been around since 1910, according to bridalmusings.com, but reached popularity in the 20s and 30s. Princess Diana brought the cascade style back in the 1980s with her gorgeous bouquet. This style of bouquet is experiencing a small renaissance now as brides everywhere recognize its elegance and versatility.

Update January 15, 2023

We're now up to 1432 flower suggestions in total - that's 691 more than 2021! As of this morning, the top 5 flower rankings are as follows:

1. Delphinium

2. Daffodil

3. Lily of the Valley

4. Magnolia

5. Hydrangea

Suggest a Flower to get your votes in!

Wondering how we decide which flowers will be added with the next update?

Truth be told, the small team here at Bridal Builder is working on something bigger than just handing our users more flowers, but we know that our users want more flowers. You want more flowers and more colors more than anything in the world. We hear you, so I thought I'd share our flower picking process and give you the behind-the-scenes scoop on some of the work Marketing Intern Christina does!

The "Suggest a Flower" Button

Bridal Bouquet Builder "Suggest a Flower" Button

Last week, we talked about how Bridal Builder ranks which flowers are most popular.

You can find that post here if you're curious. Overwhelmingly, our fan base's favorite flower for a bouquet is hydrangeas. Who'da thunk?

Let's talk about this flower, why it's so popular, and what to expect from your florist when you show them a bouquet design with hydrangeas in it.

?What is a hydrangea

Photo credit: @ann_helg

A hydrangea is a plant that's native to Asia and the Americas with a lot of species diversity. Hortensia is another common name for hydrangeas. The flowers we refer to as hydrangeas grow on a shrub typically and bloom in large heads of many small flowers. Hydrangeas are known for needing lots of water, which is why their name roughly translates to "water barrel" in Greek, according to PlantAddicts.com.

Pearls, lace, burlap, ribbons, jewels...

#1: Macrame bouquet wraps

Alright, I'm not the type of lady who goes gaga over macrame usually, however it is a very elegant and playful addition to a bouquet handle. I first saw this idea on Pinterest and I thought it was a darling white drape over a bride's hand. And, for that matter, you could use any color of macrame cord.

Photo credit: @thelittleavocadoshop and @dawn.charles

#2: Golden goblet/fixture handle

Oooooo, I saw this idea and the extra renaissance faire chick in me fell in love. The thrifter in me also said, "Keep your eyes open for something gorgeous and handle-shaped at the thrift store, and you'd have a classy AND cheap bouquet add-on!" Just make sure to okay something like this with your florist before spending money. Your florist may have to mount your flowers differently or you might have to find something with a hollow handle big enough to fit your bouquet stems in. It's all in how you and your florist plan the bouquet together.

• This week, we talk about our #3 most-suggested flower, the dahlia.

You guys seem to be big fans of the dahlia, as well! Let's talk about this flower, why it's so popular, and what to expect from your florist when you show them a bouquet design with dahlias in it.

Photo credit: @_backyardblooms_

According to The Spruce, Dahlias are very diverse flowers, ranging in color and bloom size as well as petal shape. This flower is native to Central America and has 30 species. Dahlias are considered cut flowers by most florists. They're somewhat persnickety to grow, as their temperature and sunlight have to be right to yield preferable results, but are quite long-lasting. The stems are especially sturdy, so they make good arrangements (such as bouquets)!

We at Bridal Bouquet Builder actually have 5 flowers tied for 4th place on our flower suggestions ranking, which of course is compiled from your suggestions through our app.

Delphinium/larkspur is one of those tied for fourth, so it's probably about time that we chat about this gorgeous addition to a bouquet.

Photo credit: @thethriftedplanter

What is delphinium?

• We at Bridal Bouquet Builder actually have 5 flowers tied for 4th place on our flower suggestions ranking, which of course is compiled from your suggestions through our app.

Lavender is one of those tied for fourth, so it's probably about time that we chat about this gorgeous addition to a bouquet.

What is lavender?

According to HGTV (Forney, n.d.), lavender is a good cut flower for bouquets. It has a pretty aroma and can be used either fresh or dried in a bouquet. The tricky part about lavender is that you have to harvest it at just the right growing stage, or their stems won't be thick enough to support the weight of the flowers. You also have to wait until conditions are dry and sunny to cut lavender for similar reasons, since lavender is very good at catching and holding on to water.

We're still talking about our #4 most-popular flowers this week! Next on the list is Lily of the Valley, so let's get to talking about this popular flower to build a bouquet with.

Photo credit: @figaandco

What is Lily of the Valley?

According to Grower Direct, Lily of the Valley is an originally-European flower that has been distributed to North America and Asia. It's a flower with a lot of different names and symbolism throughout the world. Catherine Middleton's bouquet even featured Lily of the Valley in her 2011 wedding to Prince William of England. They're a very aromatic flower and therefore can add another dimension to your wedding bouquet!

What do you need to know about Lily of the Valley in a bouquet?

• Here we are, at #4 most-popular flower once again! For a recap on how we find out which flowers are most popular in a bouquet, click here.

What is a carnation?

Photo credit: @johnsonslanding

According to FTD.com, carnations are a high-sunlight, mild temperature flower that can be perennial or annual. They’re a flower that often goes unbothered by pests and can come in tall and short varieties, not unlike hydrangeas and dahlias. Carnations are traditionally considered a first anniversary flower. They’re considered very fragrant and would add an extra element of smell to your wedding bouquet.

Here we are, at #4 most-popular flower once again! For a recap on how we find out which flowers are most popular in a bouquet, click here.

What are lilacs?

Firstly, they're my favorite flower. Growing up in rural Wisconsin, lilacs were the flowery bush of choice in front of little country houses and their smell always gets me in the mood for late summer - despite all the heat and humidity.

According to Wikipedia, lilac, also known as syringa, is a woodland flower that grows in temperate regions, but originated in Europe and Asia. Lilacs grow on small trees and have simple heart-shaped leaves.

What do you need to know about lilacs in a bouquet?

Growing season

Daffodils are the newest contender for #2 most-suggested flower! After a few days of consistent submissions, daffodils have risen up the ranks. For a recap on how we find out which flowers are most popular in a bouquet, click here.

What are daffodils?

Photo credits: @studio_floweresque

According to Wikipedia, a daffodil (AKA narcissus or jonquil) is a springtime flower. Daffodils typically have six petals centered around a "corona," which is a kind of tube that projects out of the flower's center - which makes sense because "corona" means crown. Daffodils have little crowns!

• Back to working down our list of most popular flowers, magnolia and forget-me-not are currently tied for the #6 spot! For a recap on how we find out which flowers are most popular in a bouquet, click here.

  What are forget-me-nots?

  Photo credit: @springhillflorals

  According to Wikipedia, forget-me-not (AKA scorpion grass) is a common flower of the northern hemisphere. It is the state flower of Alaska and official flower of Dalsland, Sweden. They're commonly confused with a New Zealand island's "giant forget-me-nots," which you can find more information on here.

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• Magnolia is our #6 most-popular flower, tied with last week's featured flower, the forget-me-not! For a recap on how we find out which flowers are most popular in a bouquet, click here.

What are Magnolias?

According to Wikipedia, magnolias are an ancient flower with hearty centers. They appear to have evolved so that beetles could pollinate them. Magnolias are a type of spreading, deciduous tree with large, fragrant, bowl-shaped or star-shaped flowers (we'll refer to the flowers as magnolias in this post because that's how brides often think of them and refer to them). The magnolia grandiflora is the most commonly-known species of magnolia for US brides, as it is native to the southern United States.

• Lily is our #7 most-popular flower, but you guys can get mighty specific about the type of lilies you want to see. In all reality, lilies as a whole are much more popular because stargazer lilies, tiger lilies, spider lilies, water lilies, Asiatic lilies, corn lilies, day lilies, calla lilies, and all the lilies in between add up to make a very popular flower. Has the word "lily" lost all meaning for you, yet, like it has for me? For a recap on how we find out which flowers are most popular in a bouquet, click here.

What are Lilies?

Photo credit: @rosenouveauweddingflowers

According to Wikipedia, a lily is a plant that belongs to the lilium genus, but there are a lot of other plants known as lilies. They typically grow in the northern hemisphere, ranging from the temperate regions to the tropics. Lilies are tall plants that grow from bulbs into big, flowers with multiple petals. The flowers are very fragrant and have distinctive tepals in their center.

Snapdragon is our #9 most-popular flower! Tied with lisianthus (which can be seen in a dark purple variety in the @bloominghillflowers bouquet below), these charming and playful blooms are great for adding some POP to your bouquet! For a recap on how we find out which flowers are most popular in a bouquet, click here.

What are snapdragons?

According to Wikipedia, snapdragons are native to North America, Europe, and North Africa. Snapdragons get their name from the way their blooms look like a dragon's head with an open mouth. Snapdragons are a very diverse flower with many variations, such as the dwarf snapdragon in the UK.

What do you need to know about snapdragons in a bouquet?

Lisianthus is our #9 most-popular flower! Tied with snapdragons, these blooms are great for adding some POP to your bouquet! For a recap on how we find out which flowers are most popular in a bouquet, click here.

What are lisianthus?

Photo credit: @botanical_rose

According to Wikipedia, lisianthus is a warm-region flower and it's considered a high-end cut flower. It's relatively finnicky to grow and lisianthus blooms grow in groups of 1-2 per stem. Unlike other flowers we've talked about, they have a very small genus of two or three species, so they're considered less "hearty" and have less diversification than other cut flowers.

• Black roses have 5 votes in our flower ranking right now, which doesn't make them an extremely popular flower, but since we at Bridal Builder are trying to cater to a diverse set of brides, we are hoping to add black roses to the app sooner rather than later. They're actually one of our #14-most-popular flowers and we're looking at them before some of our other flower options because they cater to a very specific set of brides who would be lost without this very prolific flower in their bouquets. For a recap on how we find out which flowers are most popular in a bouquet, click here.

What are Black Roses?

Photo credit: @vesselfloralevents

Ask Gomez and Morticia; black can be a very romantic color. Whether you decide to go full-on black dress and matching veil or you just want a touch of the dark aesthetic in your special day, you'll be wanting as many spooky/gothic/Halloween/Autumn flower ideas as you can get your hands on.

For this moment, there's the new Bridal Bouquet Builder Pinterest Board and a short post on the ways you can add variety to your dark bouquet.

Handles

Photo credit: @kittysolocosplay and @bythebayfloral

Handles are always a fun way to add expression to a bouquet. I've seen a lot of brides in this "theme" using hoop bouquets rather than handled bouquets, but I've also seen Tim Burton fans use black and white ribbons to theme their bouquet handles. Additionally, a more Gothic bride may find it intriguing to add a collar of black lace or ribbon around the base of their bouquet. Play with ideas and search around the internet for more ideas!

• You might not realize this depending on where you live, but white-dress weddings are decreasing in popularity fast and that's partially due to the increased popularity in themed weddings. Weddings that are themed around things like "vintage," "fantasy," "tropical," or "spooky" made up about 25% of weddings according to the Knot in 2016. These themes coincidentally affect the dress codes and lead to less weddings that are just black-and-white.

In the spooky season, this includes weddings where you ask your guests to dress up. Here are just a couple do's and don'ts of this exciting wedding theme idea.

Don't Ask Your Guests to Rent Costumes

As much as your significant other and you may love costumes and/or may have experience with making costumes for cheap, not all of your guests will have the same savviness. For many people, having an elaborate costume for an event means renting it, which can be pricey. Even if you don't intend for your guests to spend big bucks on a costume at all, communicating a strict dress code of costumes-only at your wedding may pressure some of your guests to do so. Don't worry, though: there are many ways to have a costumed get-together while avoiding this mix-up in interpretations (read on).

• Pumpkins are a staple of the fall season - pumpkin pie, pumpkin spice, jack-o-lanterns. They're as impossible to escape as autumn leaves. If you're a fan of the fall aesthetic, there's plenty of ways to include pumpkins in your wedding day, too! Let's talk about that.

Small Pumpkins As Bouquet Accents

Just like pine cones, charms, or gems, you can add small pumpkins into your bouquet to give it more texture, dimension, and/or POP! Nestled in amongst your greenery or dried grasses, little pumpkins are an adorable way to bring "fall" to your special day. Read on to see the variety of choices you have in regards to pumpkins!

Pumpkins in More Than Just Orange

Of course, orange is the staple color of a fall season pumpkin, but did you know that pumpkins come in a wide variety of colors via crafting stores and other places that have fall sales? Fake pumpkins can come in any color you want and you could even dip your pumpkins in glitter if you really wanted to! Popular colors on Instagram include white, gold, light pink, and grey.

Happy Halloween, everyone! Tomorrow is the official spooky day of 2020 and we've traversed a lot of eerie topics on this blog throughout the month of October. Today, we'll take a look at skeletons- a perfectly scary and whimsical addition to a Halloween wedding.

Skulls and Your Wedding

Believe it or not, having the bride and groom in skull face paint is a bit of a mini-trend on Instagram in the past few years. Some couples have taken the face paint to be a symbol of their vows: "Til death do us part." I'm sure that for others, it's simply a fun addition to their wedding day that expresses their spooky passion loud and clear. No matter the symbolism or nature of this idea in your wedding, it can be a very bold statement and very clearly celebrate a Halloween wedding.

Skeleton Hands

Skeleton hands (which can be found cheap at the Dollar Store, DIY'ed, or otherwise found all over the place during October) have been used in a variety of settings in the wedding scene: in a bride's hair, on the cake, or even as goblet stems! All you have to do is get creative with this enchanting decoration.

We've published a new Pinterest board just for the brides out there who are anticipating a fall wedding in the coming years! Fall can be a versatile season with many different ideas for a wedding theme!

Color Palette

Whether your fall wedding is rustic or not, you need to start with a color palette. A traditional fall wedding may be thought of as red and orange (or a combination known as "Rust"), but as you can see in our new Pinterest board, muted blues, purples, or even burgundy could set an elegant fall tone. Some colors will give the day an exciting and vibrant look, while others will set a sleepy or low-key tone. Ask your wedding vendors (such as your wedding planner or florist) for help on this decision if you're overwhelmed with your options!

"Fall" Doesn't Have to Be "Rustic"

You don't have to prescribe to an all-brown-and-tan wedding, nor do you have to put out pumpkins and barrels as décor if that's not your style. Don't get me wrong - I'm a huge fan of barn weddings with a million fairy lights and never-ending pumpkin pie, but it isn't for everyone. The cool thing about your wedding is that the fall season doesn't dictate your theme - to really deviate from rusticness, try a sage or burgundy color palette or include a lot of elegant (dare I say black-and-white?) signage and decorations that move away from the barn and barrel appeal. Macramé, for instance, could lend a beach feel to your wedding instead of a rustic one.

• Last time we talked about wedding wellness, we left on the note that the best thing you can do in these hard times is focus on your significant other. After all, the point of your wedding is the union between you two. It helps to keep a clear focus on that end goal rather than get lost in the minutia of all the other things you had to push off or miss out on.

That being said, it's also okay to grieve the parts of your wedding that you haven't been able to enjoy. Whether you had to completely cut out parts of your wedding, delayed them, or are missing a loved one due to the hardship that 2020 has brought, you have every right to grieve what you've had to let go of this year.

Taking care of ourselves as humans has become a monumental task over the course of the year, but for brides, the it has been an even bigger battle. Coordinating changes with vendors, losing deposits you've already made, letting your family and friends know about the situation, and dealing with the idea that your wedding is "up in the air" due to the coronavirus pandemic are just brief glimpses into the stresses that brides have handled this year.

• Freesia is our #11 most-suggested flower, tied with three other flowers, and it's freesia's turn to get a spotlight on the Bridal Bouquet Builder blog! For a recap on how we find out which flowers are most popular in a bouquet, click here.

What are freesia?

Freesia is a genus of flowers with 16 species. The flower commonly known as "freesia" is actually a hybrid between many freesia species. These common flowers grow from a corm (similar to a tulip bulb) and have many branches that may grow one-sided shoots of fragrant, funnel-shaped flowers. Freesia are unique in that the majority of the professionally-grown flowers come from a collection of about 80 growers in the Netherlands. Freesia have various uses because of how good they smell, but their main use is for wedding bouquets - which means brides have "first dibs" on the flowers more often than not.

Thanksgiving (in the United States) was yesterday, so now that we've expressed our gratitude for all of the big things in life, I thought it prudent to be grateful for the small business wedding vendors that are involved in your future wedding or were involved in your wedding. There's a lot that goes on behind-the-scenes of a wedding vendor (photographer, caterer, venue, florist, planner, etc.). Here are 5 reasons to be grateful for your wedding vendors (and to send them a "Thank You" email or text)!

They know their stuff.

There's a million small facets to each part of a wedding and you look to the experts to guide you through the confusing labyrinth of minutia. For instance, O & B Photo Co. out of Wisconsin have so many great blog posts on topics such as wedding planning while quarantined, how to include your dog in your engagement photos, and unique engagement session ideas. Not only do you get experts in their fields when you shop small wedding vendors, you also get people who are forced to live and breathe their specialties (often on weekends, late nights, and holidays) to keep their business alive and functioning. They are passionate about what they do and they put in the hours to prove it - you trust them with your wedding day for a reason.

Of course, "winter" means something different depending on where you live, but in colder climates, brides may have to contend with a unique difficulty: their wedding flowers could wilt in the cold! Fresh plants often have a hard time staying beautiful while walking down the aisle on a chilly day or taking pictures out in the snow. What can a bride do about this conundrum? Let's talk about it!

What can I use fresh in my cold weather bouquet??

Your best bet to have fresh pieces in your bouquet is to include those that match the season: pine cones, acorns, evergreen sprigs, berries. These plants will have natural protections against the cold and snow that other plants don't typically have. If these ideas don't trip your trigger, try asking your florist what your options are where you live. Depending on your area, some fresh flowers may be in season for you to use in your bouquet.

• Though it isn't absolutely necessary to have your wedding favors match your bouquet in some way, it is a very cute touch that will leave your guests with memories tied together through the ceremony and the reception. In winter, there are some very themed ideas to keep your guests warm and stay with the season, but I encourage you to get creative with it! For now, let's get you started with a couple of ideas to get your gears turning.

A Couple Wedding Favor Ideas

Add a Sprig of Evergreen

Some brides will tie a small sprig of evergreen into the tie of their wedding favors. This could also go for another accent in your bouquet, such as pussy willows or dried grasses. Whatever you choose, it'll add a small bit of extra texture to your tables and can be very cheap if you choose an in-season sprig.

Use Pine Cones as Name Card Holders

Photo credit: @lovemydress

I stress ate most of 2020 away and I can feel some of the brides-to-be out there doing the same thing while they plan out their special days and try not to pull their hair out. If you're like me and love food of all varieties no matter what your emotional state is though, you might be the internet definition of a "foodie." Food brings people together - and isn't that what a wedding is all about? If you love how food looks, smells, tastes, and so does your significant other, I can't recommend the following ideas for your wedding day highly enough!

Mini Bars/Food Stations

Photo credit: @lizzylizevents and @24carrotscatering

Cheese, charcuteries, donuts, popcorn, sliders, soup, tacos, sub sandwiches... The possibilities are endless. If you're having trouble agreeing with your fiancé on what food should be at your wedding, try having to or three different food bars for your guests to peruse. These bars can function as appetizers/snacks or be treated like a buffet-style meal. This way, you can get a little bit of all your favorite foods on your wedding day. The most important thing is that YOU have fun at your wedding, after all!

We've talked about wedding favors in the past - the little keepsakes you give to your guests to take with them after your special day has ended. We talked about food favors in last week's post and we talked about winter-themed favors in another post, but have you thought to give your guests the gift of a plant to remember your special day? "Let love grow!"

Live Plants

Photo credit: @queenofsucculents

Succulents are an especially great gift to give your guests, as they're generally harder to kill than the average daisy. They also don't take up much space and, depending on where you live, can be relatively cheap. A live plant will give your guests something they aren't going to just shove in the back of a closet for all eternity: it'll be something to nurture once every week or two and a reminder that they're an intimate part of your new life together.

• I've put up a new Pinterest board for your viewing pleasure! Find some beautiful wedding day inspo around the flower baby's breath here. In the meantime, let's talk about the flower a little!

Photo credit: @littlefloralllc

What is baby's breath?

They're small, white flowers that tend to grow in clumps. Baby's breath is traditionally used as a filler flower, but has caught some traction with modern-day brides as a centerpiece flower in their décor and bouquets. Because they're so trendy right now, it seems pertinent to make an inspiration board and share some nuggets of information with Bridal Bouquet Builder's followers!

What do you need to know about baby's breath?

This week's topic is a bit somber compared to most, but it crossed my mind whilst planning my mom's upcoming wedding: how can a bride and groom honor their loved ones who have passed on? My mom is exploring a photo collage of sorts, but I thought other brides may feel like they would rather have a smaller gesture towards their loved ones, so let's talk about the little ways you can incorporate them into your flowers.

Photo credit: @giftsbyme2015

Charms

You can add charms of all kinds to your wedding bouquet, from a small portrait of your loved one dangling from your bouquet handle to small charms decorating your flowers that symbolize the loved ones you're missing. Likewise, boutonnieres and corsages can be adorned with a small memorial charm.

• Signage is a necessary part of your wedding day because it diffuses confusion for your guests, but the signs you choose can also add some whimsy, humor, or elegance to your special day. I've created a Pinterest board full of diverse wedding signage ideas here for brides to peruse. Give it a look and we'll talk a little bit about the things I noticed while making this board below!

Photo credit: @clarity.n.co

Signs of All Mediums

One thing I noticed whilst meandering through Pinterest was the variety of textures signs are taking on nowadays. I saw signs made of sandwich boards, black boards, and wood as we traditionally have seen. I also saw signs made of cotton fabric that hung loose in the breeze, signs of glass or clear plastic, and even signs made from forks. You can really get creative with your wedding signage and there's a lot of great ideas out there to get your gears turning!

Flower crowns are versatile and fun way to add more flowers into your wedding day! Flower crowns go back as far as bouquets themselves in wedding celebrations and can be worn by anyone from the bride to the flower girl. Since the flower crown is hardly a forgotten staple in wedding planning, you might be wondering if you should have one on your head during your special day.

Photo credit: @the_custard_cat

A flower crown as unique as you

Flower crowns are very customizable to a bride's personality, similarly to a bouquet's customizability. You can choose large, colorful flowers if you wish to draw attention to your head or face, while small, muted-toned flowers can add a flare of elegance without drawing too much attention to you. The sky's the limit. You could have a crown of just baby's breath if you'd like a messy, but elegant accessory or you could have big ranunculus like the flower crown pictured here!

• Confetti is traditionally a collection of small, plastic-based flakes that are absolutely pretty and a staple of celebration. In recent years, a conversation has started about how harmful confetti can be to the environment in a similar fashion to traditional glitter, so biodegradable and environmentally-conscious alternatives have emerged on the scene. As a bride, if you're considering throwing something in the air on your special day to punctuate the occasion, you have options other than glitter or traditional confetti that won't leave a carbon footprint.

Photo credit: @run.wild.flora

Confetti cones are a DIY bride trend

One of the reasons I decided to broach this subject is that confetti cones are on the rise for 2021 brides. Like those pictured here (@run.wild.flora), a confetti cone is essentially a paper cone filled with confetti of some variety that is offered to your guests as they enter. This way, all your guests can participate in the confetti-throwing moment and they have a handy receptacle to hold it in in the moments leading up to it. Confetti cones are a rather adorable and affordable addition to your wedding!

• Spring bouquets are more versatile than I first thought. Originally, I equated spring bouquets to Easter colors and tulips, but I found more wiggle room in that regard than I thought I would. Let's talk spring bouquets and what I found most fascinating about them when making our spring bouquet Pinterest board!

Texture! Texture everywhere!

I surprised myself this week, being that I'm normally a fall-and-Halloween-centric kind of girl, in that I really enjoyed some of the bouquets I saw while scrolling through Spring-themed bouquets. I always thought spring bouquets were all about bright and pastel colors, large blooms, and all things that remind me of Easter. What I found instead was that Spring-themed bouquets tend to be more about texture than color. For instance, I saw a bouquet made entirely of pink tulips, but with a baby's breath collar (adding smaller blooms with a fluffy texture to an otherwise stark arrangement). Dried grasses and fluffy elements are also commonly used in Spring bouquets and as a girl with a thing for texture, I was drawn in! I even saw a bouquet with carrot-like protuberances which added a harsh texture - quite unique, indeed.

I'm a fan of filling out the Bridal Bouquet Builder Pinterest page lately, so this week's project was to make a board for blue wedding flowers! Other colors will be coming soon, but I wanted to start with blue pallets because of the Western tradition where a bride carries, "something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue," down the aisle on her wedding day.

In my family, our "something old" and "something borrowed" tends to be a handkerchief out of my late great-great grandma's collection. Our "something blue" is usually also "something new", so we get to be creative with what blue thing we carry down the aisle. Why couldn't our flowers be blue?

Blue color pallets have variety!

The Pinterest Board I put together has a handful of blue color pallet choices near the top. I decided to include these because you might have a specific kind of blue in mind that I didn't think of right away. If you're not sure what you want your colors to be yet and just want to browse to see what speaks to you, looking through the color combinations you can make with blue flowers can be a great idea to get your gears turning, too!

In my time researching the wedding bouquet space for this brand and this blog, I've stumbled across these cool tools called, "bouquet breakdowns." I thought bouquet breakdowns were the perfect tool for a bride just starting to put together ideas about her flowers, so I took it upon myself to put together a Pinterest Board dedicated to these graphics.

Photo credit: @fabulousfloral

Two Kinds of Bouquet Breakdowns

A bouquet breakdown is a picture of various flowers that are labelled for a bride to pick out from the group. There are two kinds of bouquet breakdowns I included in this board, including:

1. A picture of a bouquet, completely put together with arrows pointing to the individual flowers.

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Believe it or not, there's a small science to how you hold your bouquet on your wedding day! Your florist or photographer may have their own tips and tricks to throw in, but I wanted to give you a brief glimpse into the age-old question of what to do with your hands when picture and video time arrives on your wedding day!

Photo credit: @atriaphotography

The traditional bouquet position

The average bride will hold her bouquet with two hands, just below her belly button when walking down the aisle. For more casual shots, you may be asked to hold your bouquet with one hand, near your hip or above your head. Some brides will also get pictures with their bouquet held closer to their face, highlighting both the flowers and your gorgeous hair and makeup! There are many poses you can strike during your wedding photos, but keep in mind that the standard "walking down the aisle" pose is with the bouquet just in front of your belly button

Summer of 2020, Sandy set out to make the lives of her brides easier.

Earlier this year, Sandy put together her thoughts on the beginnings of Bridal Bouquet Builder:

Just a little bit about our history. I have been a wedding and special event florist an event decorator since 1990. And I still LOVE smelling the roses!

My wonderful husband, Todd, and I decided to create a program to help brides visualize their wedding bouquet. Let me tell you...I underestimated the time and effort (and money) it would take.

Our first 2 attempts were a computer program. I was impressed with both programs.

We had every kind of flower you can imagine, and about 25 different styles of bouquets you could choose from. We needed our programmers and web designers to work together to make it happen. With technology moving so fast, we just could not get the final puzzle piece in.

In January 2018, we decided to go another route, an app (pictured above). We have a long way to go before we will have all of the features we had in our programs, but we are working on it.

But then...as we were adding to our app, Bridal Bouquet Builder 3 ( the app with 3 flowers in the logo) the programming company dissolved.

Going with the theme of Bouquet Breakdowns that I posted about recently, I wanted to make a Pinterest board to collect DIY bouquet making videos. I thought this would be really helpful to brides who need a more dynamic or step-by-step visual reference in order to confidently DIY their own bouquets and the like. Little did I know that finding step-by-step videos on Pinterest on this topic would be so difficult.

Not Just Bouquets

I started this venture trying to put a board of only bouquets together, but after going hunting for step-by-step bouquet videos, I didn't find a lot. Those that existed were heavily interspersed between videos of florists simply showing off their completed bouquets. Don't get me wrong - there's nothing wrong with those videos, especially for bouquet brainstorming, but they weren't exactly what I was looking for to provide value for you. So, I added in a few videos here and there that show DIY paper and cloth flowers, centerpieces, flower cages, and other décor that you can extrapolate the skills for making a bouquet from. I hope you enjoy that little shake-up of the board's premise!

I wrote a short post a few weeks ago about testing out the new version of Bridal Bouquet Builder on my mom's wedding flowers. Well, the big day is coming up in just a couple weeks, so my mom and I had to sit down and make the tough decisions about the bouquets, boutonnieres, and decorations.

Although the test version of BBB didn't have the exact flower types that my mom wanted in her bouquet, the models we made with the app informed what bloom sizes and colors we put where in the bouquets. Following Sandy's advice for designing wedding flowers, we started by designing the bridal bouquet (pictured below) and then moved to the bridesmaids bouquets and boutonnières. The wreath was the last to be put together since it wasn't a necessity, but rather just decoration. You can see more photos of these arrangements and the inspiration photos on our Pinterest.

I was perusing Pinterest and the larger internet in hopes of finding ideas that would inspire me to write a blog post and, of all things, the phrase "aisle meadows" caught my eye. Coined by floral designer Shean Strong and quoted in Brides.com's post about 2021 wedding trends, my adventurecore aesthetic-fueled heart had to follow this trail of bread crumbs in pursuit of making this trend a wedding must-have for our readers!

Photo credit: @jonathansborba

In a world of minimalism and downsizing, it might not surprise you that one of the recent trends in wedding flowers is petite bouquets! Bouquets come in all shapes and sizes, but brides seem to be leaning towards littler bouquets for their special days this year.

Photo credit: @fioriquotidiani @studioputino

Small Bouquets draw the eye to the bride

As discussed in past blog posts, big and colorful bouquets will draw your guests' eyes away from the bride and more towards the flowers. When you have a small or muted bouquet, however, the guests will notice your gorgeous face, hair, and dress before they take in your gorgeous flowers. Is this a good sign that brides are embracing their natural beauty and being less shy in 2023?

Photo credit: @magicgardenflorist

Another cool trend to talk about is brides who have chosen monochrome bouquets in recent years. When I heard the term, "monochrome bouquet," I thought it would be a very minimalist style with little variation to offer, but after scrolling Pinterest to create a board for you to reference, I found that there are multiple ways to make a monochrome bouquet dynamic and eye-catching. Ideas such as using different tints of the same color, using different bloom sizes, and even using texture elements can help your monochrome bouquet pop.

I was scrolling through Pinterest the other day and found an old-fashioned bouquet preservation technique that tickled my fancy: cloches, otherwise known as bell jars. The same goes for flowers that are placed in glass jars of any shape or size. I have a giant jar in my closet with a darling cork at the top that once held dried roses from my partner (now it holds my rock collection!), so I'm a tad partial to the look of shiny glass over the fragile and gorgeous visual texture of flower petals. Let's talk about why I love this touch so much and what you can do to shake it up and stand out in a crowd of bell jars and florals

.https://www.instagram.com/octoberwallflower/

The "Beauty and the Beast" Aesthetic

Maybe I got my fascination with flowers behind glass from the Disney classic, "Beauty and the Beast," where the magical rose that loses petals throughout the film floats inside a large bell jar at the top of Prince Adam's tower. Regardless of if you put a rose in your jar or not, flowers inside of a glass cocoon can make your special day feel like a fairytale. Try varying the sizes and shapes of the jars you use to encase your flowers in and experiment with lights in the form of glow-in-the-dark-paint, glitter, and/or fairy lights for an extra spark of magic at your wedding. If you're looking for a more rustic look, try wrapping mason jars in twine or wrapping your jars in a cute ribbon.

@bridalbuilder

Last week's post was on dice tables, a tool that can be used to help indecisive people make decisions by using the randomness of rolling dice. I was so busy explaining how to use the dice tables that I forgot to explain the impetus for making them in the first place! Let's talk the origin of these dice tables before I forget.

Firstly, I'm a tabletop nerd.

So is Joe, Bridal Builder's one and only app coder, and he's even written whole tabletop RPG games! He's an insanely talented nerd and if you'd like to check out his books and games, click here. Long story short, Joe is part of the reason I got into tabletop games and we've become really good friends through them.

Dice Tables for Indecisive Brides

How to use a dice table: Find the category of bouquet decision you need to make: Bouquet Type/Shape, Flowers (Big Bloom, Medium Bloom, or Small Bloom), Greenery, Accents, or Handles. Then, roll a die to randomize which item on that list you add to your bouquet! The number on the die corresponds to the number on the list that is chosen. For example, if I roll a six-sided die when choosing my Bouquet Type/Shape and the die rolls a 5, I’ll be building a hoop bouquet. Don’t like what you rolled? Discard that roll and roll again! - It’s that easy!

If you don’t have dice at home, use one of these virtual dice rollers instead:

• For d12 tables: https://rolladie.net/roll-a-d12-die

• For d6 tables: https://rolladie.net/

Bouquet Type/Bouquet Shape

Use a d6 (a six-sided die) for this table.

1. Round

2. Cascade

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What does "earth-toned" refer to?

Earth tones are a somewhat vague set of colors defined by having a brownish hue added to them. Since brown is the color of dirt, this set of colors is referred to as "earth tones." Earth tones are generally thought of as browns, peaches, and tans, but can also include hues of other nature-inspired colors such as light blues, sage greens, and even dark reds or burgundies!

Any rich, warm color can be included in a bouquet of earth tone flowers.

What kind of variety can I see in earth-toned bouquets?

Dried grasses

As stated in past posts, I'm a sucker for texture and dried grasses are my personal preference in adding soft whimsy to a bouquet. Many grasses, when dried, turn a tan or brownish hue and work especially well in a earth tone color palette. If you want the texture of grasses in your bouquet, but don't love highlighting the more brown hues in your bouquet, try getting them sprayed with other colors, such as the blues, greens, and reds I wrote about above.

Muted colors

Colors that also go well with earth toned flowers include muted blues, greens, reds, oranges, and other near-pastel variants of colors you'd expect to see outdoors. A popular combination I noticed while scrolling Pinterest and Instagram was earth tone bouquets combined with muted blue accessories, such as shoes or handbags.

What is Floral Spray Paint?

Floral spray paint is specifically designed to be kind to flower petals. True DIY brides can go with traditional spray paint if they truly prefer, but floral spray paint has a number of benefits that traditional spray paint doesn't. The first is that floral spray paint is formulated to not weigh down or break down the petals on a flower. Secondly, floral spray paint has a different base solution and therefore blends more naturally than traditional spray paint does between coats. Lastly, floral spray paint sticks to a wider variety of delicate and hard surfaces than traditional spray paint does.

Photo credit: @ellisrosefloraldesign

Is it Eco-Friendly?

We've all heard about how harmful spray paint can be to the environment, but floral spray paint companies have formulated their products with this in mind! There are brands such as the Kennicott Brothers-suggested COLORTOOL Line by Design Master that have eco-friendly, lacquer-based solutions that won't harm our ozone layer.

Last week, we talked about bouquets with a monochrome color palette. This week's topic is similar in nature to the monochrome bouquet, but is substantially less popular. I think when I get married, I'll want to have a bouquet that's monochrome with one added color that makes the bouquet POP. You know, like those black and white photos where they take out all the color except one (usually red)? I want that, but in my bouquet. As such, I went in search of enough of these bouquets to make a Pinterest board and found inspiration to write a blog post about the bold statement a bride can make with complementary pops of color in her bouquet.

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