The Power of the Flower
You’ve booked in your qualified marriage celebrant. The venue has been arranged. The guest list is coming together. The wedding dress is undergoing final alterations. What have you forgotten?
Oh heck! Flowers!
Choosing wedding flowers to create a bouquet can be a bit of a challenge. You’re walking down the aisle with them. You’re tossing them back for single ladies to have some fun scrambling AFL style to catch them. They’ll appear in a lot of the wedding photos.
My personal opinion is this: Choose flowers that you like whether that’s for look, feel, scent, sentimentality, or a mix of those reasons. Don’t overthink it. Use the “blink” method where you go with what immediately impresses you and your heart jumps at. But maybe I’m just cavalier that way because in truth floriography or the ‘language of flowers’ has a long and important history that dates back to Victorian times. Floriography was used as coded communication. By offering certain flowers and arranging various flowers into bouquets, people could express feelings that may not be prudent to speak aloud.
So, if you do want to be more considered and you enjoy symbolism, here is a rundown of the symbolic language that can be found in some popular wedding flowers. Note that some flowers have been given multiple meanings and can depend on culture.
Angelica
Inspiration
Bluebell
Humility
Calla Lily
Beauty
Carnations (Red)
Love
Carnations (Pink)
Boldness
Carnations (White)
Talent
Chrysanthemum (Red)
Wealth, truth and when given can be essentially saying “I love you”
Daffodils
Happiness
Dahlia
Commitment and eternal bond
Gardenia
Purity and Joy
Hydrangea
Understanding
Iris
Understanding
Lilac
Love’s first emotions
Lily of the Valley
Happiness
Orchid
Beauty, love fertility
Peonies
Love, happiness, ambition
Rose
Romance
Stephanotis
Good fortune, marital happiness
Tulip
Love, passion
Zinnia
Enduring friendship, lasting affection