A Primer on Different Wedding Bouquet Shapes
One of the first questions I like to ask in a flower appointment is about what you LIKE. Tell me, what kind of bouquet shape are you drawn to? And if you’re one of those people who doesn’t know what they like yet, then consider this your primer on different wedding bouquet shapes.
So I’m totally biased, but I really think that your wedding flowers should be your favourite part of your wedding. Aside from your new husband or wife, that is… ;)
Flowers are an incredibly unique thing in that they are living, breathing art. No two flowers are ever the same - they grow and open up in many minuscule different ways - and so no two bouquets will ever come together in the same way. Your wedding bouquet is a perishable work of ART - I treat it that way, and I hope you will, too!
One of the first questions I like to ask in a flower appointment is about what you LIKE. Tell me, what kind of bouquet shape are you drawn to? And if you’re one of those people who doesn’t know what they like yet, then consider this your primer on different wedding bouquet shapes.
Classic, Round Handtied Bouquet
The classic, rounded bridal bouquet will always be a desired look. Full and sort of voluptuous (never thought I’d used that adjective to describe a bouquet!) , this bouquet shape is best suited to a bride wearing a classic ballgown with an elegant, romantic, timeless sense of style. The setback with this style is that a lot of the rounded bouquets you’ll see are VERY boring and can come across as super dated in style - but it doesn’t have to be that way! With a combination of ruffled blooms mixed with textured fillers, different sized and shaped flowers, and some space and movement between the layers of the bouquet, you can achieve a much more modern take on the classic, rounded bridal bouquet. It does NOT have to be a dome of roses that looks like a generic grocery store bouquet. Let’s elevate it.
Photos by Charmaine Mallari
Cascade or Teardrop Bouquet
The cascade bouquet has seen an uptick in popularity over the last few years, but these bouquets are designed VERY differently than they were in the 80s and 90s! We are not looking for that overly pointed shape and I do not design the bouquets in a plastic holder (which are filled with toxic floral foam, FYI). Instead, we started with a luscious combination of trailing greenery to create the teardrop shape, and then start layering in a combination of focal flowers, line flowers (to evoke that draping feel), and textured fillers to finish it off. The modern cascade bouquet is lush, full, and often oversized. Simply due to the number of stems needed to create the shape, these bouquets can get pretty heavy - just a warning!
Photos by Cynthia Bettencourt
Garden Style Bouquet
If you’ve been following my work for any time period at all, you’ll probably be able to tell really quickly that my personal favourite bouquet shape is a garden style design! Every single gardenesque arrangement is going to come together differently - sometimes they’re wider, sometimes we incorporate a lot of trailing greeneries, often I’ll create an asymmetrical shape. The goal is to create a lot of movement and depth between the flowers, placing each bloom on a different plane, so that the bouquet has an airy quality and feels more natural and freshly picked (though please don’t misunderstand: this design style is not as simple to create as it might look. It’s not simply shoving a bunch of draping greenery at the bottom of a rounded bouquet).
Photos by Charmaine Mallari
Modern Sheath or Arm Bouquet
It’s not often that I get a request for a sheath bouquet (also known as an arm bouquet or a pageant bouquet)! Jessica was having a mid-century modern inspired wedding and this shape was very current then so it was really fun for me to try my hand at this. The design has to be very intentional - a limited number of stems can fit, you need to incorporate some long, reaching stems to create the shape (here I used those gorgeous oncidium orchids and locally grown delphinium), and of course, I need to teach YOU how to hold it correctly! If this bouquet were held vertically, it literally looks like the worst DIY bouquet of all time. Held correctly, over the arm, and it feels somewhat dainty, light, and romantic.
Photo by Brittany Mahood
More to come from this gorgeous wedding soon!
Looking for a Wedding Floral and Event Designer in Winnipeg?
2021 wedding dates are now booking! Whether it’s an intimate wedding for 30 or a celebration the likes of which have never been seen before, reach out to Stone House Creative for stunning bridal bouquets, truly unique ceremony backdrops, and beautiful floral centrepieces to create the perfect ambiance for your wedding!
Sunset Inspired Boho Wedding Inspiration at Manitoba Club
A sunset inspired palette, boho Australian vibes, and one of my favourite downtown Winnipeg wedding venues? Sign me up.
When Shaelynn from Manitoba Club approached me with the request to design the florals for this shoot, I was on board. It was a busy summer and this didn’t come at the best time in my calendar, but I couldn’t say no. The Club had the goal of promoting their outdoor space, the Bonnycastle Gardens, and needed to create some beautiful imagery to show it off.
A sunset inspired palette, boho Australian vibes, and one of my favourite downtown Winnipeg wedding venues? Sign me up.
When Shaelynn from Manitoba Club approached me with the request to design the florals for this shoot, I was on board. It was a busy summer and this didn’t come at the best time in my calendar, but I couldn’t say no. The Club had the goal of promoting their outdoor space, the Bonnycastle Gardens, and needed to create some beautiful imagery to show it off.
Even better? I pretty much had free reign over whatever I wanted to do! We were really inspired by the Australian wedding trends and wanted to tap into that boho vibe.
This bridal bouquet was a really fun one for me. It was a different palette, featuring those sunset tones with the faded caramel, touches of rusty orange, mauve, and a bit of coral to liven it up. I really let the flowers dictate the shape, and just kind of let them go and do whatever they wanted to do.
Bridal Bouquet Ingredients:
locally grown zinnias, lisianthus, amaranthus, and cosmos with imported garden roses, standard roses, lunaria, gardenia foliage and acacia foliage.
Ceremony space! This was actually plan B, and I’m so glad that plan A didn’t work out. I pulled in my gold metal stands and pretty much just moved the flowers up and down to create an interesting shape for the eye to follow.
We grounded the space with this beautiful blue rug - it wasn’t planned for, but it couldn’t have been more perfect!
And moving over to the reception! Obviously the Garden is a smaller space, but for a dinner for about 50 people or so, I think you could have a really incredible intimate evening. With bistro lights strung from one side to the other and the brick patio, and then on the other side of the fence is the Upper Fort Garry park, it’s a really beautiful setting!
The tablescape came together really beautifully. Shaelynn had selected this incredible rusty orange satin linen with the idea of laying it over with the lace, which tied in so well with the boho bridal gown. We planned to use the black chivaris from the beginning, so I brought in these black vases and paired them with my black metal candleholders and burnished copper votives.
The place settings were a last minute design that worked SO well. I’d suggested that we use some actual terracotta elements, and Maria from Little Dove Calligraphy hand-wrote the guest’s names on shards of a planter that Shaelynn had smashed up! On the shoot day, while I was working on the ceremony setting, Shaelynn was pacing up and down the table looking at a few different options for place settings, using different coloured napkins, different ways of folding the napkin to show off the menu, different placements for the terracotta name card. I LOVE the way the blue napkin offers a soft contrast to the orange linen and pick up on the cool tone of the acacia foliage. Other excellent touches are the amber glasses and the white/gold flatware.
Look at that bouquet 😍😍
I love the idea of setting up a special lounge seating area for your guests! Even better when all of the rental items can come from the same place 😅Trend Decor is a newer company in Winnipeg and they’re providing a totally different line of rental options from everyone else and it’s really refreshing! A bit more modern, great textures, varied options for furniture - you’re going to want to check out their inventory! I’ve personally got my eye on their green velvet chairs for my cousin’s sweetheart table later this summer!
Planning and Venue: Manitoba Club Weddings ~ Photography: Black and Gold ~ Florals and Design: Stone House Creative ~ Linens and Chairs: Planned Perfectly ~ Stationery: Little Dove Calligraphy ~ Rentals: Trend Decor ~ Dress: Bliss Bridal Boutique ~ Suit: EPH Apparel ~ Makeup and Hair: Fifth | Makeup: What’s Her Face Beauty | Hair: Hair by Abs
Looking for a Wedding Floral and Event Designer in Winnipeg?
2021 wedding dates are now booking! Whether it’s an intimate wedding for 30 or a celebration the likes of which have never been seen before, reach out to Stone House Creative for stunning bridal bouquets, truly unique ceremony backdrops, and beautiful floral centrepieces to create the perfect ambiance for your wedding!
Intimate Backyard Wedding in Steinbach
Well, let me start this off by saying 2 words to you: DREAM WEDDING.
Sam and Kat’s backyard wedding at the family home in Steinbach was truly a dream wedding - there’s no other way to describe it! If I were getting married again now (to my husband, obvs), I would definitely want our celebration to look and feel something like this - though I wouldn’t have an easy time with keeping the guest list so intimate!
Ariana (one of the top wedding photographers in Manitoba AND the sister of the groom) messaged me about 5 weeks before the wedding asking if I could be a part of the Thursday afternoon affair. Technically I was planning to take the week off, BUT sometimes, you just can’t say no because the ask if just too good.
Well, let me start this off by saying 2 words to you: DREAM WEDDING.
Sam and Kat’s backyard wedding at the family home in Steinbach was truly a dream wedding - there’s no other way to describe it! If I were getting married again now (to my husband, obvs), I would definitely want our celebration to look and feel something like this - though I wouldn’t have an easy time with keeping the guest list so intimate!
Ariana (one of the top wedding photographers in Manitoba AND the sister of the groom) messaged me about 5 weeks before the wedding asking if I could be a part of the Thursday afternoon affair. Technically I was planning to take the week off, BUT sometimes, you just can’t say no because the ask if just too good.
“Thank you Lauren, for taking the reigns on florals with only a small inspiration photo and some keywords to go off of. You are a true artist and we knew you’d nail it!"
Guys, the cat collar. I just can’t. It was so hilarious.
Bridal Bouquet Ingredients: garden roses, spray roses, amaranthus, scabiosa pods, strawflower, lisianthus, campanula, bunny tails, bleached ruscus, ninebark, and camellia foliage.
I have to say that I LOVE that they didn’t include flowers for the wedding party. Sam and Kat just wanted to keep the focus (and the $$$) on the things that were important to them: an amazing bouquet for her and boutonniere for him, the hat of all hats, and the reception table. This is such a good way to allow you to splurge a little more on the things that you care about the most!
When Ariana first reached out to me, she sent me a few pictures of the backyard where everything was to take place, and a single inspiration picture of a bridal hat. The entire wedding was inspired by the palette of the florals tucked around this hat, and I really went for it. Seriously, this warm neutral palette! GAH!
I obviously loved the challenge of designing for the hat (from Lack of Color). It’s definitely something I hadn’t done before, but I basically designed it as a floral crown made to fit perfectly to the hat.
I also tucked a little bleached ruscus into Kat’s hair, which is just another reason why I LOVE being around on the wedding day!
Look guys, this intimate reception couldn’t have been more dreamy. One long table for about 30 guests, bistro lights criss crossing above, the warm summer breeze, and total freedom for me to design WHATEVER I wanted to. I chose to do a few long, low floral arrangements in the centre of the table, a collection of stem vases and petite arrangements, and mixed black metal candleholders and pillar candles.
I had such a lovely time making this reception design happen. It was an incredibly beautiful summer day (a Thursday!), a stunning Steinbach backyard, and the kindest people. I brought my baby with me and a couple of the bridesmaids just played with him in the shade and it was so awesome!
Looking for a Wedding Floral and Event Designer in Winnipeg?
2021 wedding dates are now booking! Whether it’s an intimate wedding for 30 or a celebration the likes of which have never been seen before, reach out to Stone House Creative for stunning bridal bouquets, truly unique ceremony backdrops, and beautiful floral centrepieces to create the perfect ambiance for your wedding!
Garden Inspired Wedding Style Spilling Over with Colour
Classic and neutral palettes will always be popular, and for good reason…but for all of you who are in love for colour but might be afraid to use it, this one’s for you!
Coral, peach, blush, taupe, plum, terracotta. Rich, jewel tone greens. Crisp black accents. An energetic palette like this one lends a sense of happiness, of life, to a celebration but here’s the thing: you don’t have to go “Crayola bright” to use vibrant colour. This is bold but still feminine, modern and still elegant.
Classic and neutral palettes will always be popular, and for good reason…but for all of you who are in love for colour but might be afraid to use it, this one’s for you!
Coral, peach, blush, taupe, plum, terracotta. Rich, jewel tone greens. Crisp black accents. An energetic palette like this one lends a sense of happiness, of life, to a celebration but here’s the thing: you don’t have to go “Crayola bright” to use vibrant colour. This is bold but still feminine, modern and still elegant.
Many of these florals were locally grown, which makes them even more beautiful - ranunculus, snap dragon, lisianthus, lilies, foxglove. My favourite element to design was the indoor garden - who wouldn’t want to say their vows in the midst of a sweet garden spilling over with colour, fragrance, and beauty?
So let’s talk about COLOUR. Like I said, you don’t need to go Crayola to go colourful. For this palette I layered together coral and peach with subtler shades of taupe, mauve, blush, and terracotta. It feels a little vibrant here because of the fuchsia backdrop I painted, but against white, it’s a little softer.
You know what would be amazing? Getting married right in the middle of a garden grown just for you. Whether your wedding is indoors or out, I would LOVE to make this happen.
And we can’t not talk about that dress! It’s a vintage Donna Karan in a soft taupe silk and it’s AMAZING.
One of my favourite things about SMITH (and, of course, the main reason why I wish I could be invited to a wedding there!!) is the FOOOOOOD. I mean, look at that charcuterie board. Every time I’m setting up a wedding here, they are firing up the kitchen. I steal a glimpse at a menu and literally start to salivate. If that’s not a good enough referral to a venue for you, I don’t know what else could be.
Here, we had the beets with creme fraiche, cauliflower fritters, NY steak, and the charcuterie board.
One of the joys of my career is being selected to work on the full event design for a couple. Even though this was a photoshoot, I still wanted to apply a similar level of focus and detail that I do for a client who has hired me for event design. A detailed design brief develops a layered colour palette, textures, and design ideas that form a really incredible base for your wedding. Interested? Contact me here!
Brittany Mahood Photography ~ Stone House Creative ~ SMITH REstaurant ~ Mad ABout Style Warehouse ~ Jessica Janel for Tiopo & Co ~ Gossamer Vintage ~ Minted ~ The EveryDay HOst ~ C&T Rentals ~ Grace Hill Salon
Elegant Peaches and Cream Wedding at Cielo's Garden
Mmmm, this bridal bouquet. About 6 weeks before the wedding, Carly told me that she wanted to add some colour to her otherwise white and green colour palette. She showed me an inspiration picture that had some oranges and peaches, and I was SO on board. Those additions bring lightness and freshness, and I think they look really good with the stormy grey/blues of the bridesmaid dresses, too.
June at Cielo’s Garden - two of my favourite things!
Carly was such a lovely, lovely person to work with. She was open to my suggestions and interested to hear what I had to say, which in my opinion, always results in the best possible end product! This wedding featured an incredible ceremony design, a delicious peaches and cream palette, some really juicy locally grown flowers (including a few stems from my own garden!) and an elegant reception design that I just can’t wait to share with you.
Mmmm, this bridal bouquet. About 6 weeks before the wedding, Carly told me that she wanted to add some colour to her otherwise white and green colour palette. She showed me an inspiration picture that had some oranges and peaches, and I was SO on board. Those additions bring lightness and freshness, and I think they look really good with the stormy grey/blues of the bridesmaid dresses, too.
Bridal Bouquet Ingredients: peonies, ranunculus, spray roses, godetia, sweet pea, hypericum berries, Bells of Ireland, eucalyptus foliages, and white bleeding heart from my garden!
Carly really wanted to make a statement in the ceremony space. Like the rest of the flowers, this was originally going to be all white and green, which definitely would have been nice, but the added peach, pink, and orange tones really added dimension here. I love that this design really frames the couple in and creates a beautiful stage for their vows.
Amanda Douglas Events did a beautiful job of designing this reception space. Cielo’s Garden transitions really easily from a casual tent setting to an elegant, formal venue and this wedding was one of the most elegant that I’ve seen there! Gold-rimmed glassware and gold flatware, candle after candle after candle, and really pretty blue accents brought in through linens on the head table.
Carly chose a combination of fuller floral arrangements mixed with cut glass stem vases with petite arrangements and single stems.
Looking for a Wedding Floral and Event Designer in Winnipeg?
2021 wedding dates are now booking! Flowers are the best way to make a statement at your wedding. Whether you already have a specific vision or want me to dream up something custom just for you, reach out to Stone House Creative for stunning bridal bouquets, truly unique ceremony backdrops, and beautiful floral centrepieces to create the perfect ambiance for your wedding!
