Flower Names and Bridal Bouquets | Connecticut Wedding Photographer

You’re in charge of doing DIY flowers for a wedding, or you might be just pulling your hair out trying to figure out what kind of bridal bouquet you might want. When I first started planning my wedding, I thought that it was going to be simple! As a wedding photographer, I primarily tried to envision our wedding portraits, which was the most important thing to me, and then spent WAY too much time trying to pick the type of wedding bouquet I wanted. It’s been annoying to see articles of bouquets but no identification of the flowers or greenery!

Let’s face it, if your bridal bouquet looks as if your fiance just pulled some flowers together from your last walk, or if it looked like your dog chewed the flowers’ petals, it WILL show in your wedding photos!

I am no florist, but I can tell you what my observations are!

Bouncy and stemmy bouquets are perfect for non-traditional, outdoor weddings!

A larger, bridal bouquet with more stems and wisps adds a more whimsical feel. As the bride walks to her groom, her bouquet bounces lightly and because there is more movement in the florals, it kind of contributes to a relaxed atmosphere. A bouquet with lots of hanging Eucalyptus, or grasses has texture that is light, fun, and pleasing to the eye. Check out this wildflower bouquet of flowers grown by Wild Rose Farm in for a camp wedding in Massachusetts.

This is a bouquet of wildflowers grown by Wild Rose Farm of Florence, Massachusetts. Wisps of grasses, Bachelor’s Buttons, Hydrangea, Queen Anne’s Lace, Daisies.

Add frosty-looking Dusty Miller leaves to a winter wedding bouquet

Check out this big bouquet made by Arcadia Florist for a winter wedding in New York. White roses, white berries, Israeli Ruscus, Seeded Eucalyptus, and Dusty Miller leaves. My clients wanted a rustic, natural aspect to their indoor wedding, so they didn’t go for a traditional rose bouquet. I have seen a lot of bouquets for winter weddings to include Dusty Miller leaves, which is a bright grayish leaf that looks like it’s covered in winter frost.

Here is a winter bouquet full of white roses and berries, with some Israeli ruscus, and seeded eucalyptus which looks like lilac before blooming.

Have a more dense, rounded bouquet for a more traditional wedding

Can you tell that these gorgeous, rounded, hydrangea bouquets are suited a more serious, traditional, ballroom wedding? The bridal bouquet is mostly white hydrangea, with pink peonies, white roses, and pink and white ranunculus.

Traditional bouquets are generally more rounded like above, with only a few different types of flowers, typically mostly roses. However, you can have a more traditional but different feel by having a cascading bouquet of more roses, like this one created with the help of Karen from Bloom on Woodstock Hill, a shop of DIY bouquet-making (BYO wine!)

Cascading bouquet of red roses, white berries. The greenery is a mix of Israeli ruscus leaves and soft Asparagus Ferns

Add unique plants to a bouquet…such as succulents!

My husband would tell you that I am obsessed with succulents! When I saw Mellissa’s bouquet, made by Sean Maher of La Jolie Fleur of Worcester, MA, I was stunned! La Jolie Fleur is passionate about creating unique and French-inspired bouquets and arrangements for a lot of rustic weddings.

These flowers didn’t move one bit in this large, compact beautiful bouquet of Succulents, pink and orange roses, Antique Hydrangea, large white Scabiosa, and yellow Ranunculus. Bouquets of succulents, pink and orange roses, yellow Ranunculus, and blue-purple Scabiosa (Pin Cushion Flower). The large white flower in the bride’s bouquet is white Scabiosa.

Use tiny flowers like Baby’s Breath for texture

You don’t want to be spending a ton of time making your bridal bouquet…I mean, you’ve got things to do and people to see! If you want to make your own bouquet, you’re likely to spend less time putting it together if you stick with one or two types of flowers. Keep it simple by using a lot of Baby’s Breath for texture and beauty.

This simple, Baby’s Breath bouquet was for a simple wedding at Rocky Neck State Park in Connecticut.

Caitlin’s bouquet of roses, orchids, and baby’s breath was made by The Flower District of Glastonbury, CT.

Love the touches of Baby’s Breath (and Caitlin’s wedding at The Barns at Wesleyan Hills!). In this pave style bouquet: Pink Hydrangea, White Polo Roses, Baby’s Breath, White Cymbidium Orchids, White Ranunculus, White Freesia, Seeded Eucalyptus.

Love color? Make your wedding day colorful through one bouquet

At a wedding at Tyrone Farm in Pomfret, CT, the table decor didn’t have any flowers. However, because the bride had a colorful bouquet, it seemed to add just enough pop of fun color. One of the catering companies that works weddings at Tyrone Farm quite often, Pranzi, also offers professional flower design. They are located in Providence, Rhode Island, and serve brides and grooms all over New England.

The couples’ colors and bouquet, as well as colors of some other decor, were matching. Consistency in color makes an event simple, and beautiful! There’s Blue Delphinium, Brunia (the finger-looking plants), white Ranunculus, Thistle, pink Spray and Garden Roses, Asparagus Fern, and Flat Eucalyptus.

This bouquet made by Pranzi Events & Catering of Providence, RI, is full of Blue Delphinium, white Ranunculus, Thistle, Spray Roses, Garden Roses, Fern, and Flat Eucalyptus. Here is another bouquet made by Pranzi Events (Rhode Island/New England). This bouquet has: Hypericum Berry (the light red/yellow berries), sprigs of Astible or “False Goat’s Beard, Celosia, Scabiosa, green Pennycress, Antique Queen Anne’s Lace (small, subtle purple flower), Celosia, Silver Dollar Eucalyptus (large big green leaves that flitter)

One single, primary, large flower says GORGEOUS!

I don’t know a ton about flower design, but I think that bouquets with one attention-getting flower is beautiful. You can request for your florist to use one main flower such as a peony, or a large pink Protea like in this photo below:

Whole Foods Market in Massachusetts made this rustic bouquet of white Hydrangeas, Dusty Miller leaves, one large magenta Protea, and seeded Eucalyptus.

Add yellow flowers for a happy, summery wedding

Love this sunny day and bouquets of Goldenrod and yellow-orange Ranunculus Add huge sunflowers for a big and bold effect.

Hopefully this post has inspired you! I am writing this in March and can’t wait until the weather gets warm where I can plant some of my own flowers! Please leave some feedback or any questions for me below!