Your wedding is one of the very few occasions in your life where you will be walking around with a bouquet of flowers in your hands. Unless you are royalty this will be new skill to master. To learn how – why not watch the royals. They handle flowers with respect and keep it carefully away from their clothes in the process.

Talk to your florist about your bouquet to avoid nasty surprises like the poor bride that wanted a ball of flowers as her bouquet.

The ball arrived at her dressing room. Made from a solid ball of green oasis inside a plastic ball, it was about the size of a melon. The oasis soaked overnight and the ball looked fantastic filled with roses, some greenery and gyps flowers.  A thin ribbon attached to the ball acted as a handle for her to carry it. As the ball could not be put down, it came hanging on a coat hanger.

The moment the bride picked up her bouquet for the first time, she let out a yelp of pain. The weight of the oasis was almost a kilo and the thin ribbon cut into her hand. Within minutes, her fingers started going a bit dark blue from her circulation being cut off. There was nothing else she could do but wrap a piece of cloth round the ribbon and off to church we went. She could not put the ball down anywhere, so she held it with one hand all the way.

She struggled up the isle with the ball, changing hands every few seconds. As she stood listening to the sermon, the flowers started dripping. First a few drops but soon a steady amount of water was forming a faint green flow line on her dress and made a little puddle at her feet.

As she walked out of the church, a married woman, she cried out – ‘Watch out!” and like an Olympic hammer thrower she tossed that ball of pain down the pathway.

Notes on bouquets:

• Choose a bouquet to compliment you dress and not one that detracts from it.
• Size does matter – heavy flowers may be difficult to hold for long times – especially standing at the ceremony.
• No water should be part of the bouquet as it will succumb to gravity and find its way to the ground.
• Your bouquet may be displayed on your table – thus saving you money as it doubles up as a table arrangement.
• Ask you florist to remove any stamens that may open up and produce pollen that will stain your dress.
• Hay fever sufferers should avoid strong smelling flowers or simply have your bouquet delivered to the church and not take it in the car with you.

Enjoy finding that special accent to your wedding dress and practice with some other flowers to find a way to handle these flowers. Photographers will also guide you on how your bouquet will work best, so ask them for advice.

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