Royal Wedding Flowers – how to recreate the wedding flowers & bridal bouquet
Like much of the UK – and indeed the globe – we tuned in to watch William and Catherine’s wedding on the 29th April. Our focus, rather than on the dress and celeb-spotting, was turned to the flowers and arrangements they chose for the big event.
We had some indications of what the couple had in mind but it wasn’t until the day itself the bouquets were revealed. We have seen a lot of weddings (and you can take a look at our wedding flowers) but we wanted to give you our thoughts on THE wedding of the year.
Our wedding florists have also come up with some suggestions to recreating the flowers and displays if you don’t have access to a large budget or Windsor Great Park’s gardens (from where many of the flowers were sourced).
The bridal bouquet
Catherine chose an understated, white bouquet with lily-of-the-valley, hyacinth, myrtle and of course sweet William. According to the official blog, Catherine is interested in the language of flowers (in Victorian times, the meaning of flowers in bouquets sent coded messages to the recipient) and her choice of flowers reflected this interest.
Lily-of-the-valley symbolises trustworthiness or return of happiness (different sources give different meanings); myrtle signifies love, hyacinth to indicate constancy of love and sweet William meaning gallantry.
The bouquet itself was relatively small, including delicate flowers and arranged in a loose style and shield shape, with a touch of greenery. The myrtle in the bouquet was a sprig taken from a 166-year old myrtle plant growing in the sheltered gardens of Osborne House, originally own by Queen Victoria (who also carried a myrtle sprig in her wedding bouquet).
Recreate the look
If you are looking for the same bouquet, it could be tough; lily-of-the-valley are in season for only a short time in the UK and the other natural garden flowers can be difficult for a florist to source. There are plenty of alternatives if you are looking to recreate the style – at any time of the year.
Our florists recommend:
The bridesmaids’ bouquets
The bridesmaids’ head wreaths were designed to match Catherine’s bouquet, incorporating lily-of-the-valley woven around ivy. The bridesmaids were carrying bouquets with similar flowers to the bride’s bouquet including the lily-of-the-valley, hyacinth and sweet William.
It looks like the bouquets were also tied with a ribbon so the girls could drape them over their wrists (this can be quite practical and prevents them being dropped).
Recreate the look
Again, lily-of-the-valley can be very hard to source out of season and head wreaths should have smaller flowers and be light and easily worn (especially if children are wearing them, they shouldn’t be uncomfortable).
Our florists recommend:
Westminster Abbey was decorated with seasonal, cut British flowers including azaleas, rhododendron, euphorbias, beech, wisteria and lilac. These were all taken from Windsor Great Park gardens and other British flower growers. The most unusual element to the decorations at the Abbey included an avenue of trees consisting of six English field maples, two hornbeams growing in planters and intending to give the Abbey a natural ‘garden’ feel.
The trees will be replanted in the gardens of Highgrove, The Prince of Wales’ and Duchess of Cornwall’s home.
Recreate the look
Create loose, country garden style arrangements with draping foliage and beautiful floral scents. Although the flowers for the Royal Wedding were seasonal and sourced locally, there are plenty of ways to get a similar feel for the flowers, whatever the season and to suit your budget.
To recreate the avenue of trees, it would be worth checking with the wedding venue to make sure they are happy to have trees (on occasion, the venue may be used for more than one function in a day, and it maybe logistically difficult to get the trees in and out of the venue in good time!).
Our florists recommend:
The Wedding Cake
Although the wedding cake included over 900 flowers – none of them were real. They were all delicate, sugar flowers including roses, apple blossom, lily-of-the-valley and sweet William. The flowers were chosen to match the bouquets and head wreaths and also the gilded décor of Buckingham Palace.
Recreate the look
Our florists recommend:
You still have a few days to see the flowers arrangements and trees, as they will be in the Abbey until the 6th May. The bouquet has been laid on the grave of the unknown warrior at the Abbey (a tradition of Royal brides, started by the Queen Mother, when she left her bridal bouquet there in 1923 in honour of her brother, killed in World War I).
For more inspiration, see our beautiful wedding bouquets and wedding flower displays.
Filed under: Flowers, Weddings on May 4th, 2011
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The flowers symbolize strength and moral integrity, the bloom represents infatuation and symbolizes piercing the heart with passion. What more could you want your wedding flowers to say?