Wedding Flowers: The 5 Most Popular
With wedding planning comes a myriad of choices—the dress, the venue, the guests. Another prominent decision that has to be made is the selection of flowers you will incorporate into the ceremony and the reception. Choosing flowers and flower arrangements can be a daunting task—there are thousands of types, colors and scents to choose from, so how do you select just a few? In this post we will highlight the top five most popular wedding flowers and tell you just what makes those flowers so special on your wedding day.
Roses – With more than three thousand rose varieties commercially grown year around, this flower choice is anything but boring—and is one of the most popular choices for wedding bouquets and arrangements. The rose is a classic symbol that embodies beauty, love and passion—emotions that will without a doubt be experienced on your big day. Surprisingly affordable, roses are available in solid colors and bicolor varieties, and there are striped roses and tipped roses, and though roses are associated with luxurious fragrance, not every rose is scented. The most common rose varieties seen at weddings are the classic hybrid tea roses, spray roses with their garden look and expensive, opened headed, fragrant garden roses. Roses are durable – they’re neither tough nor prone to bruising. However, in warmer weather they are more likely to open.
Tulips – The tulip has long been a common site at weddings thanks to its delicate yet bold deposition. Tulips are available in a variety of colors, including white, cream, pastel pink, pastel yellow, magenta, red and purple. The most often-seen tulip varieties include the common Dutch tulips, the elegant, large tapered bloom French tulips and more intensely colored, striped petal, parrot tulips. While tulips hold up pretty well out of water they are vulnerable to heat, which lends them to open up and result in loss of petals.
Hydrangeas – This bushy, bold, scentless and bright flower is the perfect way to make a statement with your flower arrangements. This flower comes in brilliant shades of pink, blue, purple, white and burgundy-one of the more popular hydrangeas changes color from bubble-gum pink to sky blue. The hydrangea can be used to create texture and volume in flower bouquets and arrangements – making it an affordable wedding investment. Most handy for allergy sufferers, hydrangeas are scentless but extremely thirsty. We do not recommend them as a hand-tied bouquet as they tend to wilt easily, no matter which color you choose, although the white variety is more prone to bruising. Hydrangeas do best arranged in water or wet foam.
Orchids – These elegant, delicate flowers, representing charm and beauty, are the epitome of a tropical destination wedding. Available in a multitude of varieties and colors, ranging from green to white to, the rarest blue. Orchids can be used in full arrangements or as a single stem. While orchids are resilient in heat, they are sensitive to cold, and will bruise. However, due to their resistance to lack of water and warmth, they make great body flowers and bouquets, even in summer weddings.
Calla Lilies – This elegant bloom is perfect for taller flower arrangements or presentation-style flower bouquets. Its beautiful trumpet-like blossoms symbolize “magnificent beauty” and truly make a statement when incorporated into your wedding. Also known as the arum lily, they are commonly available in the large-headed variety, with long, smooth stems-used for arrangements and presentation bouquets-miniatures are ideal for boutonnieres. The most popular color for weddings is, obviously, white but they come in an array of colors ranging from yellow to dark purple. Callas are not an inexpensive choice. While callas are another flower that hold up especially well in summer weddings, they’re ideal for bouquets and body flowers since they’re not harmed by body heat or lack of water, however, they are not recommended in cold temperatures.
Check out our blog on when some of your favorite wedding flowers are in season, here.