One of the most important floral elements of your wedding is your bridal bouquet. Your bouquet will appear in numerous photos and is the largest accessory you will wear. Below are examples and descriptions of some of the most popular bridal bouquet styles.
hand tied bouquet
This bouquet style is probably the most popular. As it’s the easiest to construct, the hand-tied bouquet is one of the most affordable. For this style we gather stems into a spiral form and bind them together part way down the stems. The stems can be left bare or fully covered with ribbon. Typically a hand-tied bouquet will include greenery either as a collar to border the blooms or mixed in among the flowers. You’ll love this style from any angle.
composite bouquet
A composite bouquet is a bouquet style that’s constructed by using the petals from a specific type of flower to create one larger flower. We constructed this bouquet using the petals from a cymbidium orchid. These are striking bouquets that can be enhanced with streamers on the handle or crystals at the center.
cascade bouquet
A timeless and elegant style, the cascade can be short or long – the distinctive characteristic of the cascade being its form. This bridal bouquet style starts full and wide at the top and then tapers down towards the bottom creating a waterfall effect. Because of the time, the complexity of construction, and the volume of flowers, a cascade will fall at the upper end of the price range for bouquets.
Free form bouquet
Very much on trend now, the free-form bouquet style (also referred to as “gathered & styled”) tends to be more horizontal in form and uses a lush amount of greenery to highlight the blooms. These bouquets have a more wild and unstructured look to them and may use branches to create a base for the flowers to rest in. Look for one or two blooms, larger or different in color, to create a focal point with a mix of smaller flowers in a supporting role. Materials may also create unexpected angles, as in the bouquet above where we angled the variegated ivy upward. These bouquets may also have a definite back to them that’s full of greenery.
Other Bouquet styles
In addition to the above bouquet styles, some of the other unique bouquets include the pomander, the presentation bouquet, and a very stylized botanical purse (pictured above).
Pomanders are spheres of flowers commonly made of roses or carnations, but are also lovely made with hydrangea. Daisies or dahlias work well too. The attendant holds the pomander by a ribbon that’s attached to the sphere. This style is charming for flower girls.
The presentation bouquet evokes images of Miss America. The bouquet is meant to be carried in the arms with one side spilling out beyond the body. The back of the bouquet is flat and is usually a combination of taller flowers and mass flowers, such as hydrangea, lilies, or clusters of roses.
The stylized botanical purse, pictured above, can be a very avant garde look. We designed this purse using small pieces of leaves and flowers. Since they can take a bit of time to design, they tend to be at the upper end of bouquet prices. These are definitely statement pieces. Smaller versions would be adorable for flower girls.
I hope that this will give you an introduction to understanding bridal bouquet styles. If you need help navigating through all the styles, send me a note – I’d love to help you sort through the varieties so that you find the perfect fit.
