Weddings, Brides and Flowers
Weddings are never complete without flowers. Not only are flowers used for the ceremony and reception decorations, but they also play a very important role during the wedding as ornaments for the bridesmaids, maid of honor and most especially the bride. Flowers are mainly there to add effect to the dream wedding of the bride.
Brief History of Bridal Bouquets
Before there was the bridal bouquet, brides during the ancient Greek and Roman times wore garlands on their hairs as wedding ornaments. These garlands were not even made of flowers, but they utilized herbs that have strong scents. It was said that the herbs' strong smell drives away the evil spirits who wish to harm the bride or ruin her special day.
In due course, bouquets were introduced and were used primarily to disguise the unpleasant odor of that time. Although flowers made their way into the bouquet, it still contains the herbs with strong odors. The most popular herb used at that time was the dill, which, in fact, is eaten by the bride, her groom and the guests during the wedding celebration. The dill was said to be an aphrodisiac and boosts sexual desire, so it was a favorite.
During the Victorian era, flowers have replaced herbs in the bride's bouquet. This is also the period were posy was introduced. Posy or nosegay is a small arrangement of flowers bunched together to form a circle so that it can easily be held by the bride. Come the 20th century, bouquets have become much more elaborate with large flowers and ribbons to accent it.
Significance of Bridal Bouquets
Bridal bouquet is a sign of fertility. Because herbs and flowers grow more abundantly in soils that are rich and fertile, bouquets have been known to represent the bride's fertility for her groom. Flowers that are associated with fertility and are commonly used by the brides are orange blossoms. They also add in lilies of the valley in their bouquets, which signify happiness. Flowers brides avoid are tulips which represent unfaithfulness and lavender which is said to signify distrust. The lovely anemone flower is also avoided because it means declaring war.
For our modern brides, they no longer focus on the meaning of the wedding flowers and the use of herbs in their bouquets. They focus mainly on what their bouquet will look like, and this is very important to the bride. The bridal bouquets are now only used as visual effects and decorations to add beauty to the special day.
Use of Silk Flowers
With the many changes the bridal bouquets have undergone, from herbs to natural wedding flowers, silk flowers have also been introduced as alternatives to bridal bouquets and are used in the ceremony and reception decorations. Silk flowers are becoming very popular as an alternative to natural flowers because they look almost like the natural flowers and are available in a variety of colors. Silk flower is so suitable for wedding ceremony. They even come in different kinds of flowers even those rare to find. Because flowers easily wilt especially during the hotter seasons, the use of silk flowers is much more practical. Not only can wedding flowers be cleaned easily, but they can also last a lifetime and can be reused in other celebrations.
If you are looking for wedding gift, I wrote something about it. It's regarding wedding gift dilemmas.
