With snow white landscapes and bright blue skies, winter can provide a stunning backdrop to your wedding day. And with the season in the UK running from November practically right through to March, there are plenty of colour schemes and flowers for the winter bride to choose from. As the autumn leaves fall and frost and snow starts to set in, white flowers for winter bridal bouquets are a popular option. But tints, tones and shades of purple, blue, red, gold and green can work well too, and create a range of different effects, from icey and cool to rich and warm. Flowers in powdery blues, soft whites, silvers and greys can be combined in bridal flowers and bridesmaid bouquets to go with a frosty winter wonderland theme, while if you’ve chosen to create a cosier or more festive atmosphere, a colour palette using tones of red, gold and green provides a softer effect. Deep purples and blues are popular for winter weddings too, creating a regal and more luxurious feel as these colours are typically associated with royalty, nobility, luxury, power and wealth.
As winter draws in, there are some fabulous wedding flowers still available or coming in that are great for bridal bouquets. Dramatic dahlias and hydrangeas are usually available in early winter, as are the unusually shaped bouvardia, long, tall bells of Ireland, trailing amaranthus, or orchids for those looking for an exotic or upmarket feel. Calla lilies, gerberas, roses, ranunculus and freesias are also readily available at this time.
With Christmas come amaryllis too, which as striking, large flowers, can be wonderful just by themselves, but equally when teamed with things like roses or other flowers with round heads to offset their form. Popular bulbs such as tulips and hyacinths can be found now too, and using hyacinths will of course also bring a wonderful scent to your winter wedding bouquets. In terms of additional, secondary ‘filler’ flowers, things like brunia, scabiosa heads, thistles, astrantia, viburnum, dill and snowberries look sweet in winter wedding designs and add variety in texture and form.
A wealth of foliage is available to offset your wonderful winter wedding bouquets, from the deepest of evergreens, through to the soft silver hues of lambs tail and senecio. Holly, ivy and mistletoe can add a Christmassy vibe and fluffy springs of pussy willow a nice soft, countryside touch. Berried ivy and flowering ‘pop’ or eucalyptus are also often used in winter wedding floral designs as they add a seasonal and festival look too.
When it comes to bouquet design, one big trend in recent years that works well for winter wedding bouquets is the brooch bouquet. This can mean creating an entire bouquet simply using brooches, but if you combine them in amongst your flowers it makes for a more subtle effect and gives a fantastic sparkle to your design, which is perfect if you’re going for a glitzy winter wonderland type décor. Framed bouquets or bouquets with ‘collars’ can be effective too, as either twigs or ivy could be woven around the bunch to give a seasonal finish.
Cascading teardrop or shower bouquets are fabulous if you’re looking for something impactful and extravagant, and are perfect for taller or more statuesque brides. Materials such as ivy and amaranthus, pussy willow, orchids and calla lilies work well in these and will most certainly cause a stir as you walk down the aisle.
Loose, rustic or vintage-style hand-tieds designs are extremely popular today and are probably the most typical style of our times. Perfect if you’re after a more natural, wild look, they often consist of local, seasonal blooms to mirror an English country garden style, and are simply tied with a piece of ribbon, or, often, hemp with the ends left loose. Another vintage style wedding bouquet is the arm sheaf, popular in the early 1900s, which lays up along one of your arms. Calla lilies are perfect for this.
Finally there is the classic and ever-popular bridal posy bouquet, which is normally a neat, compact, round design. Round shaped flowers are most frequently used for this type of arrangement, such as roses, gerberas, anemones and chrysanthemums. This is a nice arrangement for petite or smaller brides, or for those who décor is along a more classical line.
