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Thursday, February 17, 2011

Wedding Bouquet Decisions

Our oldest son is getting married in May and the wedding details are slowly falling into place.  In order to keep costs down and to add personal touches we are doing some of the things for the wedding ourselves.   One of the things I volunteered to do is make the wedding bouquets. 

Ages ago I wrote a post about different colour bouquets that would coordinate with a red bridesmaid dress (which you can read here).   Christie, my daughter-in-law-to-be, looked at the choices and decided that she preferred an assortment of bright flowers (like in the last few photos).  I searched on-line for directions that looked manageable on how to tie the ribbon around the stems to hold the flowers in place and have found several good sources (for example here and here). 

Since it's always fun to look at wedding bouquets I've pulled together some images so we can consider what style of handle would be best.  I was not able to find all of the bouquets in the colours we will be using, but you can still get the idea of how the handle is formed.  There appear to be eight main handle wrap styles:


1)  The ends are tied into a bow (sometimes a big bow as in the first photo or sometimes smaller as in the second and third photos).


Martha Stewart


Bride


Bride



2)  The ends of the ribbon can be tied in a simple knot with the ends left trailing.
 
Martha Stewart

Wedding Dream


3) A wide ribbon is used to wrap the handle and another narrower ribbon is layered on top to finish the look (the first one being a simple version of this and the second one much more complicated).


Martha Stewart

Chez Wedd

4) The ribbon is pinned into the handle with pearl head pins.

Wedding of my Dreams


5) The end of the ribbon is held in place with a decorative button.


Martha Stewart

6) The ribbon on the handle is decorated with one or more pretty brooches.

Wedding Flowers

Style Me Pretty

7) The handle is wrapped with a handkerchief embroidered with the wedding date.


Martha Stewart

8) Moss or vines are wrapped around the ribbon to finish the handle.  Although I think this looks really pretty, it might be a bit messy.
Brides

Aren't they all so gorgeous.  It is hard to decide what style of handle wrap looks best.  I'll be interested to hear what Christie says.  

Once I began collecting inspiration photos, I realized there is a second decision to be made - what colour of ribbon to use.  There seem to be three main choices.

1) Green so it blends in with the colour of the stems.


Better Homes and Gardens


2) White so it coordinates with the bridal gown.


Better Homes and Gardens


3) A colour taken from the flowers or the bridesmaids' dresses.


Better Homes and Gardens


I think looking at those pretty flowers was just what I needed after months of our long snowy winter.  


What type of handle do you like best?  Are there any others that I didn't mention?  


I'm going to check in with Christie after she reads this post (which I know she does) and see what her preference is.

17 comments:

  1. I like the embroidered hankie #7, for the lovely memory keepsake, and the white goes with the wedding gown.

    They were all beautiful bouquets. Happy wedding planning, and best wishes and lots of love to the happy couple.

    FlowerLady

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  2. I can't choose. I saw the first couple and said I preferred one of those and then each time I saw another choice, I liked it too. I did seem to like the simpler version of each one but I love the simple ribbon, the button, the handkerchief, all of it. Can't wait to see what she likes.

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  3. I liked numbers 1 and 7 the best by far, although they are all beautiful! Let us know what you pick, even if it's after the wedding!

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  4. I love the ones by Martha Stewart the best....so stunning. Crazy how this quickly brings back all those memories from my own wedding...some good and some not so good. :) How exciting for you and what a lucky daughter-in-law to have you working with her.

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  5. These are all things I am sure my future DIL is going to be pondering. I think I would want the handle wrapped so the green doesn;t accidentally smear on the dress. I do like the brooch thing as well. She's lucky to have you help her.

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  6. They're all so nice but I love that yellow button by Martha Stewart - very unique.

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  7. Oh Gosh Grace what a great post. How fun will it be to do those bouquets? I have 2 favorites...the one with the button and the one with the embroidered handkerchief. I'm a sucker for anything with a button. Anyone planning a wedding could use this post as an inspiration. My daughter isn't even engaged but I'm sending her this link! Well done.

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  8. All of those are so pretty! I think I like the handkerchief the best, but the ones wrapped with thinner ribbon so it looks latticed with the buttons or pins is gorgeous, too.

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  9. Beautiful!
    My favourite is photo no.2 of Martha's. I love the colour of the flowers...very calm.

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  10. What fun! I wish we could all come and help you. I like the simple one with the button and I also like the red roses with red ribbon.

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  11. Grace, Congrats on your son's soon to be wedding. What an exciting time for you too. All of the bouquets are wonderful but I like the first photo the best.
    Hugs,
    Sherry

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  12. Wow Grace, they are all gorgeous, so I think you'll have a winner with any of these choices! I can't believe the wedding is coming up so quickly! I love the color combination that Christie selected, so pretty!! And I look forward to hearing what she ends up picking for the ribbon wrap!

    Kat :)

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  13. lots of wonderful options. I prefer the options that do not leave the ribbons trailing as I think it takes away from the bouquet and flowers slightly. Just a thought :)

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  14. Congratulations on your son's wedding, Grace! What fun to do the flowers! When my daughter got married, the florist wrapped the stems in white satin ribbon that was braided all the way down and the ends tucked in....gorgeous! Just another option for you and and Christie to think about! However, I loved the hankie idea with the date!!!

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  15. I really like the ones with the trailing ribbons coming from it. Both the bow and the button look really nice. I personally think the white looks the best, since it blends with and adds to the dress.

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  16. Yay! So fun! I always think, that after the people & sentiment themselves, flowers are the most beautiful things at weddings. Gosh, I suppose I'm just in love with flowers in general. I'm not sure if you've ordered flowers or not yet, or have a supplier, but a lot of my friends have ordered theirs through Costco and have had fantastic results. I think however you do them up is going to look awesome. I had my great Grandma's hanky tucked into mine for my something 'old' and loved that special lil part-I love the image of the hanky with their wedding date above too. Have fun with everything.

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  17. Oh my goodness, those are all so lovely!

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