5 Things to Consider When Choosing Attendant Bouquets

One: Budget Considerations

I tell brides to pick flowers for their own bouquet first. As the Bride, you are queen for the day and your flowers should reflect you star status. When it comes to your attendants, you now have to decided based on your own bouquet, how much you want to spend per bouquet. Sometimes brides will come in and tell me they want their attendants to carry bouquets the same as theirs, but just a smaller version. This is a valid strategy, but if you are in the High Range for your wedding bouquet, this could be a very expensive strategy. If price does not matter, go for it! However, as a rule, the flowers that you select for your attendants should be less than the flowers you carry. While our Wedding Budget Estimator provides approximate ranges for the cost of wedding flowers, I can say that the average bridal bouquet at our shop is about $175. The average for attendant bouquets is anywhere from $65 to $95.

Two: Style

Most bouquets are designed as European hand tied bouquets. Here you want to pick a design that has the same style and felling as your bridal bouquet. In the wedding below, the bouquet located in the middle is a design that features white Calla Lilies, White Roses, and Pink Carnations (Carnations happened to be our bride’s favorite flower and she was told at another shop that they were inappropriate for a bridal bouquet). The attendant bouquets were similar except they did not include the very expensive Calla Lilies and added a Blue Delphinium which picked up the color of the dresses. All the flowers coordinated, but he bridal bouquet was distinctive.

Three: The Honor Attendant Bouquet

Usually when I work with Brides, we plan the bouquets for the attendants first, and then we consider the honor attendants. This would be your Maid of Honor or Matron of Honor. Traditionally, their bouquet is always a little different than the rest of the bridal party. Sometimes their bouquets are a little bigger, or maybe they have a slightly different flower mix. I say traditionally because more and more brides are not doing much to change these bouquets around. It is a matter of personal preference. The wedding pictured below is summer wedding featuring Zinnias and Spray Asters. In this case, the bridal bouquet had white roses, and the attendant bouquet had a deep coral rose. But this bride wanted to do something special for her honor attendant by changing the rose color from coral to light pink. In this case, the change did not alter the cost of the bouquet. If you desire to have something different for your honor attendant, your Bridal Consultant will be able to give you some good ideas on how the change up the design for the attendant bouquets.

Four: Your Color Pallet

A good Wedding Planner – not a person, but a book planner- should have a color wheel that explains the use of color. The dresses that you choose determine the color theme of your wedding from your table clothes down to your flowers. It is a good idea to have some understanding of what colors you like and do not like with the dresses you have selected before you sit down to plan your flowers.

You need to decide what kind of bride you are. Do you like things simple and uncrowded? If so, a monochromatic color scheme might work for you. Monochromatic means one color or family of color. The pink bouquets to the right and left illustrate this point. If one color looks too uniform, you can add various shades of the same color as we have done in the bouquet on the right. In this bouquet we have introduced two shades of pink roses. We have added white Hydrangea as a base to create texture contrast.

If you are a Bride who wants color, think about what side of the color wheel you want to be on-the warm side or the cool side? The warm side of the color wheel includes yellow, pink, orange, and red.

The cool side includes blues, greens, and lavender shades. Start with the color of your dress. Where is it on the color wheel?

Five: Theme Weddings

In addition to planning a color theme, more and more brides and grooms are turning to a theme for their wedding. Themes can make your wedding personal and unique. One of our personal favorites was a bride and groom who were embarking on their second wedding. It was in the summer on the water, and since they were both Jimmy Buffet fans they chose Margaretville as their theme. Instead of bouquets, the bridal party wore leis made from Dendrobium Orchids.

In another case, we had a bride and groom who were both English teachers. They loved books. When I say loved, I mean exactly that. The groom proposed to his bride in a book store. For them, we used old books purchased from used bookstores to create their centerpieces. Plus, we added printed pages from old books to their designs.

Neither of these ideas may be for you, but start to think about what makes you YOU. A good Bridal Consultant can help you take your ideas and create something truly unique.