Flowers on Your Wedding Day

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You may wish to explore alternatives to a traditional bouquet for several reasons.  Cut floral bouquets are expensive.  In many cases, they use non-local flowers which must be flown in from the growers and trucked from the airport to the florist.  Flowers are liberally treated with various chemicals from fertilizers, to pesticides, to preservatives.

 Instead of carrying flowers down the aisle, you and your bridesmaids can carry beautiful parasols.  You can choose them in white.  You can choose them in colors to match your wedding decor.  Or you can select colors to match or coordinate with your bridesmaid’s dresses. 

 After the wedding, the bridesmaids can either keep the parasols as a keepsake, or you can find an organization which can benefit from them.  The important thing is to keep the parasols (along with all your other wedding supplies) from ending up in the landfill.  Contact local high schools to see whether they would be able to accept the parasols as props for their drama department.  Or you can offer them to a friend or relative who would like to use them in their own weddings.

 My mother witnessed many weddings when she lived in the Azores.  The brides carried fern fronds instead of floral bouquets.  She said it looked absolutely beautiful to see the long flowing fern fronds swaying as the bride walked down the aisle.  If you can find a florist who can provide you with organically grown local fern fronds, you might want to consider this unusual option.

Faux flowers can be absolutely lovely.  In many cases, they are indistinguishable from the real thing.  Only you will know the difference.  Purchase a beautiful glass vase for each bridesmaid so that they can turn their bouquets into flower arrangements that they display in their homes after the wedding.

 Consider carrying a bouquet of balloons down the aisle.  The bride can carry white and pearl balloons.  The bridesmaids can carry either balloons to match the bride’s, or to coordinate with their outfits.  As a nice touch, the bridal party can pass the balloons out to children on their way out of the ceremony site.  Of course, one thing you should not do is release the balloons outdoors after the ceremony- it isn’t environmentally friendly.

 For a religious ceremony, the bride and the bridesmaids can carry bibles and/or  rosary beads.  This can be particularly meaningful if the bride has an heirloom family bible to carry, or rosary beads handed down from a beloved relative.

 If you are having an outdoor wedding, you can carry pinwheels.

If carrying fresh flowers is non-negotiable for you, consider growing your own flowers so that you will be sure that you are carrying a bouquet that is organic and has not been produced with the chemicals found in pesticides and fertilizers.

 The possibilities are endless.  Have fun.  It’s your special day and you can do whatever you want.  You can have each bridesmaid carry a framed photo of you and your groom.  You can all carry pineapples.  You can make bouquets of carrots.  You can all carry potted flowering plants or hanging plants. 

If you have pets that you want included in the wedding, you can have the bridesmaids escort them down the aisle.  If you have a hobby, you can carry items which represent that hobby. 

 You can carry cowboy hats, golf clubs, lanterns, candles, disco balls, fans, or anything else.  It’s your special day, you decide!

If music is important to you, you might want everyone to carry a musical instrument.  Lyres, harps, banjos, ukuleles, harps, guitars, flutes, or any other musical instrument that you think will make your wedding look unusual and lovely.

 Someone recently suggested to me that he thought it would be great if the bride and bridesmaids carried footballs, or football helmets, instead of bouquets.  While I may not agree, if two rabid football fans are getting married, it might be an appropriate touch.

 For a fall wedding, you might want to carry pumpkins, or for a whimsical touch Jack o’ lanterns.  For a winter wedding around Christmastime, you might want to use wreaths or holly (faux or real, it’s up to you depending on your beliefs).  Then you can reuse the wreaths or holly as decorations at the reception site.  If you are getting married around Independence Day, or if you and the groom are particularly patriotic, everyone can carry an American flag (the size is up to you).

 Remember the purpose of the day is to unite you with your beloved.  Wilted flowers do not spell love.  If you keep flowers out of your ceremony, you will keep them out of the landfill.