Which Wedding Bouquet Style is Right for You?
The world of Pinterest means there are so many ideas and sources of inspiration for wedding bouquets. It’s really handy to have Pinterest as a website with a never ending choice of bouquets to Pin onto wedding boards, but at the same time, all that choice means having to narrow down allll those ideas.
Thinking of having a wedding bouquet for your big day?
Here are the 3 main wedding bouquet designs to choose from so you’re confident knowing the best one to suit you and your wedding day style. There are bouquets more suited to lively weddings where the bouquet is guaranteed to be tossed for everyone to catch, there are bouquets that hold sentimental value because they’ve incorporated a family heirloom and there are also bouquets that accentuate what you’re wearing because of their shape.
Choosing the bouquet style and design that’s right for you will help you feel more relaxed on your wedding day. Knowing you’re comfortable holding your bouquet, and the flowers and design link through with the styling you’ve been planning for months, will help you feel like things have slotted nicely together for the day of celebrations you’ve planned.
Handtie bouquets for a sunny wedding in the Sussex countryside. Photo by Sarah London Photography
Handtie Bouquet
One of the most relaxed and robust styles of bouquet. It’s the easiest bouquet to hold without thinking too much about its positioning and it’s the the best design for tossing the bouquet. These are the bouquets that look great in casually walking into the sunset photos. It’s also the bouquet for you if you don’t want to think too much about whether you’re holding your bouquet in exactly the right position.
The handtie design can be a wild asymmetrical look bouquet or a more round and neat design. The stems are usually spiralled and tied together at the base of the flowers. I tie ribbon or twine in a band around the tie part and it’s where the bouquet is held so you don’t have to hold onto the stems.
a handtie bouquet with King Protea. Photo by Helen Cawte Photography
a handtie bouquet full of roses, delphinium and dahlias
2. Trailing Bouquet
The trailing wedding bouquet design is one that draws the eye downwards, through the flowers and foliage, and works really well with a long flowing dress or a long trouser suit set. They also tend to go really well with a wedding train as both of those look great together down a long dramatic aisle.
These bouquets can include lots of foliage in dusky green shades with flowers coming down the design. Their shape is usually in a tear drop shape but can still be wild and natural looking. They’re gorgeous tumbling and trailing designs that are real show stoppers. I usually wire and strengthen some of the flowers and foliage in the trailing bouquet so the angle of them can be directed downwards and into the tear drop shape.
To make sure you’re holding the bouquet the right way round, they take a little more thinking about, but I always tie the knot in the bouquet ribbon so it’s facing you so you know you’re holding the design the right way up!
a trailing bouquet with french ruscus, olive and eucalyptus foliage. Photo by Fazackarley
3. Handle Bouquet
As you’ve guessed from the name, this type of bouquet is made on a handle. For Hollie and Andy’s wedding, Andy’s family traditionally incorporated a silver handle heirloom into all the wedding bouquets in the family. The handle was one from a silver hand held mirror. I created a wire framework for the handle to be secured onto and then the flowers were arranged in that framework too. Hollie then just had to hold onto the silver handle and her flowers were arranged above it looking like a handtie bouquet but actually none of the stems were showing.
If you’d like to include a different type of family heirloom into your bouquet, another idea would be to attach a little photograph in a small frame to the bouquet, these can simply be attached with a small piece of ribbon. You could also incorporate a small locket into the bouquet design.
Handle bouquet. Photo by Will Fuller Photography
Walking to the church with the bridal party and the handle wedding bouquet. Photo by Will Fuller Photography
Depending on your style of wedding, you can choose your wedding bouquet design to match you and your day. Things to think about when you’re choosing your bouquet style include: do I want to have to think about which way to hold my bouquet, do I want to incorporate a family heirloom into the flowers, will I be throwing the bouquet to my guests at the end of the night, do I want to accentuate what I’m wearing with the shape of my wedding bouquet. Whether it’s a handtie bouquet, a trailing bouquet, or a handle bouquet, as long as you’re happy and feel comfortable holding the arrangement then that’s the one that’s perfect for you.
Learn how to make a handtie bouquet in this video workshop
Click the button to watch the intro and learn how to arrange flowers at your kitchen table. I’ll show you the techniques I use to create handtie wedding bouquets. [affiliate link]