For a scented bridal party, try herbal bouquets

Handtied bouquet of white roses surrounded in sage

Here’s why you should opt for herbal bouquets:

1.  Instant wedding memories at every Sunday roast.

Imagine this. If you have herbal bouquets, then every time for the rest of your life tha you have a nice roast lamb stuffed with sage or a juicy roast chicken stuffed with rosemary and thyme, you’ll be transported back to dizzy wonderfulness of your wedding day.

2. Unbreakability.

Herbs are easy to play with if you’re doing a DIY bouquet, and set off roses nicely. However bad you are a floristry, they still wont wilt or snap.

3. You can make the boys buttonholes herbal too.

Leave your ushers smelling sweetly with rosemary and rose buttonholes like these:

Rose and rosemary buttonholes for the gents

4. Herbs symbolise all manner of positive things.

Rosemary symbolises remembrance, love, loyalty and fidelity. And apparently it can improve the memory.

Sage symbolises wisdom, long life and immortality.

Thyme symbolises activity, bravery, courage and strength.

Sedum symbolises welcome and traquility. Technically it is a herb,  not an edible one, but still a herb, and a good filler.

See more herb symbolism here.

5. Herbs are cheaper than flowers. Innit.

You can get a huge two-handed bunch of mixed herbs from New Covent Garden Market for a tenner (if you’re prepared to get up at 5am two days before your wedding).

Me with a small forest of herbs and mixed roses in my hands

So normally I don’t like to show my mug on my blog, but here’s a once-in-a-blogtime exception, so I can show you my bouquet. It’s a mix of pink tipped roses, hot pink roses with green tips, ivory roses and pink roses mixed with sage, thyme and rosemary. I felt like a walking bouquet garni (in a good way).

My best woman and flowergirls with a selection of the finest herbal bouquets

These are my lovely flowergirls and best woman – each has a different colour rose and a different type of herb (except the sedum, which is technically a herb, but not the sort you’d put in a dressing). The ribbons are all different colours, matching with their mismatching outfits. But more about this in subsequent posts…

The green bridal bouquet

All-green, textural bouquet with herbs, cockscomb, and mums

If lavish expense is not going to be a feature of your bridal bouquet, then you need something else to draw the eye. What could this key feature be, that would stop everyone noticing how utterly inexpensive your bouquet is?
Well, how about a green bouquet…

1. Green as in eco – Seasonal, locally grown flowers are environmentally friendly and far cheaper than their hothouse cousins.

2. Green as in foliage – This is a marvellous double-fingered rejection of the classic wedding obsession with petals. And, sexy foliage is far cheaper than any sort of bud.

3. Green as in the colour – The colour, if not the quality of flowers, will encourage amazed gasps.

4. Green as in a herbs – Waft your way down the aisle with a bunch of rosemary, lavender, oregano and thyme. If you believe the old wives’ tales, rosemary is the herb of remembrance, sage indicates long life, good heath, and domestic sweetness and Sweet marjoram spells goodwill. Here‘s what all the herbs signify.

Herbal bridal bouquet with lavender, rosemary, mint, and basil

Herbs make smellicious boutonnieres for your ushers

5. Green chrysanthemums to some are funereal. Poppycock. These bouncy pompoms of limey lusciousness are clearly harbingers of positivity and happiness.

green chrysanthemums