A Floral Education

I recently shared how lack of enthusiasm from one vendor made choosing my florist an easy decision. Then I realized I failed to share my actual floral selections! (I'm sure y'all were on pins and needles! ;) )

When it came time to pick out flowers for my bouquets, I was lost. Besides my unhealthy obsession with yellow roses, I didn't know the difference between ranunculus and lisianthus. (Flower names seemed like a foreign language!) I tried looking up a floral dictionary website, but without any background information, I was completely overwhelmed. I turned to sites like Pinterest and the Knot, searching for inspiration. I saved anything that peaked my interest (and made sure to list the flower names when saving the pictures). I quickly discovered that big bloom flowers were my favorite:

Garden Roses

Image via Flowers by Shirley

Peonies

Image via Flowers by Shirley

Hydrangea (mixed with white roses)

Image by The French Bouquet

I wondered if they would gel together since they are all large blooms, but I found several pictures that eased my fears. Plus I knew I wanted a full, rounded bouquet.

I would love to carry this bouquet with softer, more muted colors. Image via Kelly's Wedding Flowers

After talking to my florist, I decided that in my bouquet, the peonies, hydrangea and garden roses will be in shades of white and cream.

Image via The Flower Lab

The bridesmaids bouquets will be similar but feature a mix of soft pinks and will be tied with a yellow ribbon to match the dresses.

For someone who knew nothing about flowers, I actually found making these decisions to be quite fun!

Will you be carrying a floral bouquet down the aisle or something different? If you are going with a bouquet, what flowers are you using?