Wedding Flowers; or These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

I work at A Stem Above, a floral design and event decor company here in Chicago. Today, while writing proposals for the upcoming season's brides, I found myself in need of a bit of inspiration for a bride with no color palate or specific wants other than the color periwinkle. I thought I would share a few of my personal favorites and an antidote to all the cold and grey us poor Chicagoans are putting up with these days.



This first image comes from Floral Verde, a design company in Michigan. This is a favorite of mine for a number of reasons. As much as I appreciate the tradition of carrying all white, it's often so boring and outdated, so lifeless! This is a bridal bouquet with lots of color and personality, but still lots of dignity. I love the dusty purple scabbiosa and succulents and the texture of the seeded eucalyptus pods. I also really appreciate the use of two different varieties of blue delphinium. Full disclosure here: this is almost exactly the bridal bouquet that I've thought up for myself during the boring hours at work. (We all do it, it's the florist's curse!) The differences being that I would want dusty purple roses, yellow mimosa, and maybe some craspedia to brighten things up. I've always really loved the dusty purple, soft yellow and light gray color palate for weddings.



This bouquet is the matching bridesmaid's bouquet to the above one, also from Floral Verde. I love the trade-off between the textural subtlety of the bride's bouquet and the relatively simpler design of the bridesmaid's, made up for with a punch of color. The soft blue ribbon-wrapped handle is an especially nice detail. But in truth, I would probably like almost any bouquet that included craspedia, those funny yellow balls you see above.



This image comes from Brooklyn Bride Online, one of my favorite wedding blogs to peek at now and again. The bouquet is made by Blossom and Branch. I'm not crazy about the folded-leaf-cuff look, but I love the elevation of marigolds to a wedding flower, and I'm a sucker for matte grey brunia you see. The contrast with the bright colors of the roses and marigolds is great, and I love that not too many floral varieties were used in this particular bouquet.



This image comes from the almighty Martha Stewart, and I have to say it's one of the few instances of faux floral work that I like. These silk leaves catch the light beautifully and would look wonderful arching downward against a white gown. Just goes to show that you don't always need bright colors and crazy imported floral to make a splash.



l And finally, another image from Martha. I saw this in Martha Stewart Weddings (Fall '06, to be exact) a few years ago when I first started as a florist, and I've thought of it ever since. Just beautiful. Here's a link to a few images of the spread on her website. The 'Tulip Mania" bouquet is especially dramatic.