Bouquets: After the Wedding?

You carry your bouquet down the aisle, perhaps display it at the reception…but then what do you with it? It’s beautiful, and you’ve considered its every detail for several months—colors, size, style, and more. Maybe you want to keep it and the precious memories that go along with it.

You could consider preserving your bouquet to keep forever. Be sure to hand off your bouquet to someone reliable after the reception, make sure they put it in water overnight and then take it early the following week to the florist for the best results. Check with your florist for recommendations of how or who can preserve your bouquet. You could also get crafty and use the dried petals in a shadow box or similar display with other mementoes from your wedding.

Not so sure about doing the traditional “tossing” of the bouquet (often times a smaller arrangement of similar flowers to your bridal bouquet) to your single-friends all gathered together in a mass as “Single Ladies” plays over the dance floor? I see fewer and fewer brides who want to do this, so what can you do if you don’t want to blindly toss a bouquet?

I love the idea of giving a smaller bouquet, or even your own if you don’t want to keep it, to a special guest. You could say a few words at the reception and give the bouquet to any number of people such as a woman who has meant so much to you, the woman who has been married the longest, or even someone who has been going through a difficult time or recently loss someone close to them. Or you could also give it to a new mother or newly engaged friend. It could also be a special moment to present it to your mother, in thanks, in love, and in excitement of all the future holds. The possibilities are endless. Who would you honor?

I think this is an graceful gesture to honor someone who has meant a lot to you and may fit in with your vision of your reception and friends gathered together better than “all the single ladies…”