Happy Monday friends! We had a fabulous weekend of designing for some beautiful weddings as well as for the Engaged Bridal Gala. We had a lot of fun getting ready for the gala and we were all so happy with how it came together, and loved getting to show off our new branding too! Thank you to Orin at Special Event Rentals for providing us the stunning chairs and place settings that complimented our flowers so beautifully. Another super huge thank you to Lindsay Nickel Photography for taking time out of her day to take some photos for us. For any of you who missed getting to come out we will be sharing her photos soon so you can see all the goodies! You can also find us at With This Ring Bridal Gala on September 27th from 10-4:30 at the Westerner.

Our booth at Engaged Bridal Gala, captured by Lindsay Nickel Photography
Today’s monday mini tip is how to properly hold a bouquet. It may seem simple, but I can’t count how many times I have seen brides (real, models or actresses) carrying their bouquets wrong. This is important not only for the bride to know, but also her bridesmaids! If you have a wedding planner they may be able to help give you some pointers, otherwise you will want to know what to look for. To start off, you are really going to make sure that you are standing up tall, chin up, shoulders back, no staring at the floor. It doesn’t hurt to do a little practice walking in your dress and shoes so that you feel comfortable on the day of. Now, how to carry your flowers!

One of our brides, Amber, beautifully holding her hand tied bouquet at a great level (showing off the bling on her dress!) and angled slightly so that all the flowers can be seen.
HAND TIED BOUQUETS
These are currently the most popular bouquet, a standard bouquet that is fairly round in fashion with the stems of the flowers having a decorative wrap. These are simple to hold, it should feel relaxed with the bouquet sitting at or just below waist level (around your belly button). Slightly angle your bouquet so that the grouping of flowers (the prettiest part!) can be seen better by both your guests and the photographer.
CASCADING BOUQUETS
This bouquets are making a comeback! These bouquets can range in style from tight little tear drops to big, dramatic designs with greenery and blooms water falling down the front. These are typically designed into a foam bouquet holder with an angled handle to help make holding it a little easier. They are a little more challenging to hold as they can be fairly large in size and depending on product is used can also be on the heavy side. Again you will want to keep the bouquet around waist level and you may want to practice holding in front of a mirror to ensure that the cascading part of your bouquet is centered and being held at an angle that shows off the bouquet best.
SPECIALTY BOUQUETS
We are seeing a lot more fun bouquets that aren’t full on cascades, but have lots of overflowing greenery goodies with gorgeous shape and body. Or if it is a unique bouquet like an over the arm bouquet, flowers designed onto an item like a purse or fan, etc. These bouquets are different than hand tied or cascades and you will want to talk to your floral designer either during your consultation or at the time of pick up/delivery so they can explain and/or show you how to best carry it down the aisle.
The most common mistakes we see are bouquets being held MUCH to high (hint: your flowers should never be anywhere near your boobs) or cascading bouquets being carried at strange angles so that the flowers poke out awkwardly instead of gently flowing down. Taking a few moments to practice with your bridesmaids before the ceremony pays off! It is important to carry your bouquet properly so that you look relaxed, your beautiful bodice aren’t being hidden behind flowers, and so that your flowers look as beautiful as they should! There is no point paying for a stunning dress and gorgeous flowers if they aren’t being showcased!
I hope you find this Monday mini tip helpful and perhaps we will see you at the bridal gala in a couple weeks, so you can test drive some bouquets!
Katrina