The Verdila guide to your wedding bouquet

Getting married is so exciting but choosing your wedding bouquet can be daunting! Creating many wedding bouquets over the years I have put together my top 5 Verdila tips for helping  to choose the flowers of your dreams.

From posy to trailing, loose to compact, there are many bouquet shapes to choose

peach fuzz is the colour of 2024

Pick your colour first
Colour is the most important factor really as your flowers will complement all parts of the wedding, Don't worry so much about flower types! Your florist will help with that.
Colour brings everything together for a cohesive feel to your day.
The pantone colour for 2024 is peach fuzz, a delicate pinky orange. I have more info on this in my insta post.
I am finding that muted and dusky colours are still a very popular choice too, along with pretty pastels and lots of foliage, for a more natural effect.

Choose your  bouquet shape
A loose, free bouquet or a trailing floral piece? May be a neater bouquet is what you had in mind. Most bouquets have natural stems now a days but if you want a large trailed piece then it may be wired by an expert florist to ensure it is light to carry and has a good shape.
Wiring can also support stems or ensure a perfect outline on a very regular, rounded shaped bouquet. It is a skill that a good florist will recommend where appropriate. If you are after more of a ‘just picked’ feel then natural hand tied stems will be the way to go.
The main shapes for a bouquet are a tighter close dome; a looser dome; a free form shape that is often oval or stretched; and a teardrop, trailing or waterfall bouquet. The latter is longer and wilder than a teardrop which looks like its name. You can also go with asymmetrical or crescents but they are not so so common to be honest. May be I should start a revival of these forms as they do look amazing made with softer, modern materials!
Bear in mind your dress shape too. If you have a dreamy large skirt a tiny posy might look a bit lost.

Choose your style
When you have a wander on Pinterest and social media there are so many wedding images for you to see. It is easy to get bamboozled!
Bear in mind that many are perfectly staged wedding shoots rather than real live weddings.
In the real world, flowers need to last all day and not be too fragile or dangerous. Not sure brambles in your bouquet is such a good idea, as seen on one post the other day! BTW: professional wedding photos from real weddings are so amazing compared to the quick snaps I manage to take (!) so definitely take the time to choose the right photographer to record your big day and to get the most perfect shots of you all and your bouquet.
I always recommend finding at least three examples of bouquets you like the look of when going to see a florist. Believe me when I say it is often hard to come up with just three! They may not be perfect, as, after all, your bouquet will be bespoke just for you, but they give a good idea of the general style you are after. You can also pull out key features of a design that appeals.
I would just like to add in here that you might also like to consider a wrist floral design as well as or instead of your bouquet. Great if you are not a very flowery person but also fab if you are, as you do not hold your bouquet all day but the wrist floral can stay in place for the whole day long and be made on ribbon or a special band or cuff.

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Spring is a lovely season for wedding flowers

Use seasonal materials
It is not necessary to be a flower expert to sort out your bouquet! But if you want certain flowers it is a good idea to realise that some flowers have a limited availability depending on the time of year (for instance peonies are mainly May and dahlias from July, August) otherwise they are very costly.  
It somehow always looks right if you use seasonal flowers in your bouquet and table pieces.
Tulips come in a massive array of types and forms from frilly to double peony types and all look fabulous in spring time bouquets. They can also be locally sourced and better for the environment too.

Talk to your florist
When you talk to a florist  your bouquet  is the key design from which all others will be based. I put a lot of effort into getting this right from the start. Your florist is the expert  so it is not essential to know all flowers and names for things, just what you like or do not like!
So if you have an idea of your main colour/s, along with an idea of your preferred style and your dress, this will make the consultation process generally go so smoothly. Details can be changed closer to the day as your florist will guide you into the process.
 
Just have an idea of the sort of look you are after.
Your chosen season and colours will be a great start for your conversation to help create the wedding bouquet of your dreams.
 
Hope you found this useful and happy wedding planning!
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Helen