Reflections

Personalize Your Wedding Bouquet

As you seek personal or heirloom touches for your ceremony, don’t forget your bouquet. Consider not just basing them on colour but letting the flower’s significance flavour your decisions.
While I certainly love an artfully created “professional” bouquet, on the morning of my own wedding I walked barefoot around my dewy yard carefully clipping plants and flowers to carry on my special day:

  • First, I chose an oak branch – the symbol of strength & stability woven throughout our ceremony
  • I added fall-tinted currant branches transplanted from our first home together and purple cherry branches from our new home
  • Sedum flowers from a plant started from a special friend’s home in Newfoundland
  • While Sweet William symbolizes passion & gratitude, I also thought of my grandparent’s yard filled with their scent, where I loved to play as a child
  • I added poppy pods from the poppies that are my groom’s favourite and Fern to represent family and many other meaningful flower choices

…And then, I wrapped the stems with a little lace glove, saved for many years from when I wore them as a flower girl for a favourite aunt and uncle. I added a tiny antique padlock and then the little key (to my heart) was attached to the boutonniere created for my groom.

I went a little overboard, but these things held great meaning for me. You can just choose to add a single touch to a much more formal bouquet. My daughter added Bells of Ireland to her bouquet to represent her family’s Irish heritage and tulips to represent her groom’s Dutch family culture. Perhaps a small locket bearing the photo of a loved one who cannot be with you on your wedding day would give you joy.

The “language” of flowers has been around even before its popularity rose in Victorian times.  Traditionally red roses have represented love and peonies offer thoughts for a happy life. Why don’t you put in some extra thought and perhaps do a little research to bring extra personalization and meaning to your special day?

Today I Married The Love Of My Life

The venue, the dress, a photographer, the hair, flowers, and shoes – so much energy is consumed by the frenzy about this one special day. It is understandable, and I remember times when I was caught up in my excitement too.

What I have come to believe, and what I would like to suggest is; what is central and what really matters the most is the intention to make a lifetime commitment.

I’d like to share the story of a family friend, (I’ll call her Jan for today) – Jan did all of those things: White dress, bridesmaid outfits, gorgeous bouquets, and she created a beautiful setting with a hand-built rustic arbor for her wedding in a country park. She spent months visiting estate sales and antique shops finding enough hand-made quilts so everyone would be comfortable sitting on the haybales she had delivered. She created a unique seating chart and fretted about family dynamics.

The day dawned with glorious blue sky and sunshine. Every quilt and flower was perfectly in place, family and friends were milling around waiting to take their seats… and then, just as the limo was pulling into the park, a strong wind whipped up and blew dark, heavy rain clouds from behind a tree-covered hill. Despite family grabbing items and running to seek shelter, her beautiful vision, was drenched and destroyed.

You might imagine the bride’s tears and distress as her perfectly set tables and beautiful centrepieces in the reception area were roughly pushed askew to accommodate the dripping flower-covered arbour that her soaking wet brothers hauled indoors; but Jan didn’t despair and cry, she put on a big smile and walked down a much shorter aisle to share her vows.

A guest later shared sympathy about the rain damaging all her wedding plans, and her heart-felt words stay with me; “I didn’t come here today to just have a WEDDING, I came here to be MARRIED to the love of my life – and that’s what we did!”