A Cascading Bridal Bouquet
The recent weddings of the Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Charlene of Monaco have brought about nostalgia for all things royal, even in floral design. Brides are looking to more romantic flowers such as garden roses and peonies, preferably arranged organically as opposed to more traditionally structured shapes. The return of this trend has reintroduced the free flowing cascading bouquet, which were at its peak of popularity during the 70s & 80s. Undoubtedly, the bouquet Princess Diana held at her wedding to the Prince of Wales in 1981 solidified its modernity and inspired brides around the world.
Princess Di's long and trail bouquet consisted of Gardenias, Stephanotis, Lily of the Valley, Freesia, Ivy and Myrtle which are traditional flowers for the Royal Family.
When Brides Magazine asked us to create a updated cascading bouquet, we looked to it's history for inspiration. We picked a palette of whites, creams, and touches of greens with pops of peachy undertones. Base of the bouquet consists of a tight arrangement of white garden roses, white & peach Ranunculus and white Lisianthus. We created the trailing effect with long stems of flowering jasmine to give the bouquet an unstructured and free shape. The bouquet compliments the romantic Jenny Packham gown and art nouveau feeling of the story.
Cascading Bouquet
Great Bridal Expo in New York
In Bloom New York participated in the Great Bridal Expo held on Friday April 9, 2010 at the Marriott Marquis hotel in Times Square. We were very excited to be involved in this bridal show - it was a great opportunity to meet prospective brides and new vendors. We decided to go against the grain and chose three high cocktail tables instead of the traditional long table. The individual tables allowed us to showcase two different designs and color schemes instead of having a hodgepodge of arrangements and bouquets on a single table.
Our table on the left involved a primarily pink and white color scheme. The tall centerpiece consisted of white Cherry Blossoms, white Cymbidium Orchids, gorgeous Antiqued Hydrangeas, pops of yellow Oncidium Orchids and pink Lisianthus. We left the design very natural and free flowing, allowing the flowers and branches to mix together well.
The matching bridal bouquet consisted of white Cymbidium Orchids and the Antiqued Hydrangeas. We chose not to add every flower included in the large centerpiece to remain clean and simple. We added three sterling silver julep cups filled with pink Lisianthus and pink Cherry Blossoms to complete the look. The heavy-weight cotton linen we chose was in a Berry tone that added beautiful, contrasting color to the overall floral design.
For the second display, we decided to go with a black and white theme using green flowers as the pop of color. We fell in love with this Black Etoile Print heavy cotton linen at Party Rental Ltd and made use of this substantial black glass urn for the tall centerpiece. Since we picked a busy linen we decided on a simple arrangement of green dogwood branches. Always delicate and beautiful, flowering dogwood branches can come in either green, white, pink or red.
We added 6 haning, mercury glass votives from the branches as well as several mercury glass cups filled with green Snap Dragons, Mini Hydrangeas, and green Roses. We created a beautiful bouquet with green Cymbidium Orchids, green Roses, green Hypericum Berries, and green Mini Hydrangeas. This bouquet seemed to please everyone for its simple color scheme yet luxurious texture.
Thank you again to all the brides that came out on Friday to the Great Bridal Expo and who entered in our raffle contest. In Bloom New York appreciates your support. Don't forget to check back this week for a view of our full set up at the Wedding Salon event at the Roosevelt Hotel on Monday April, 12th.
