Read on for the best flowers to include in your wedding bouquet*
Bouquets, buttonholes, statement backdrops, centrepieces, venue flowers, floral hoops… Big or small, your flowers are an integral part of your wedding day and showcase your unique and personal style, which is why I'm a big advocate for keeping them forever by having them preserved (obviously!).
Many florists will work on the general principle of including a range of flowers and foliages in your bouquets which covers the following shapes or types: focal, filler, interesting, spike, daisy. This basic recipe provides interest, texture, shape and contributes to the overall look and feel of your wedding flowers. Bouquets with variety are the best for pressing and framing in my opinion, as they provide plenty of opportunity for me to be creative but also allowing me to create that fully bespoke frame that is unique to you. Some of my favourite flowers to see included in your wedding bouquets when they are delivered to me for pressing include:
Roses
The epitome of romantic, the classic, hugely popular and varied rose is a must for many brides as a focal flower, and rightly so given the huge selection of colours, forms, textures and sizes that roses present themselves in! Ruffled and reflexed have become really popular lately but my absolute favourite roses for pressing are the small spray roses, plain and simple. They work best in the flower press as they've less layers and usually the petal edges are more rounded which means they hold their shape and form while being pressed. So by all means go big, ruffled, frilly, complicated with your roses as the main show but also ask your florist to fill out with some heads of spray roses, they will sit quiet and pretty in your pressed flower frame amongst the other elements of your bouquet. I'm a big fan of locally grown British flowers, and many flower farmers will grow simple, open structure roses which are also beautifully behaved in the flower press and give some stunning results.
Astrantia
I love astrantia, mostly because they can be pressed in several different flat-lay profiles which means you get a lot of looks from one stem! Astrantia are actually quite dry when cut so they are super easy to press, and are great for dotting around collage style pressed flower frames. Astrantia come in several shades of pinks, reds and white, and have several smallish flowers per stem so they tend to crop up in lots of bouquets as a filler with interest. Ask your florist if they can include some Astrantia stems- they are really popular with florists so hopefully they can oblige!
Ranunculus
Available for a short window in Springtime, these cool weather
blooms are a must for Spring bouquets and are a great focal flower to include. They
come in a variety of colours so can be incorporated into most colour schemes, and the on-trend butterfly ranunculus add an extra touch of elegance.
Grasses
A gorgeous textural treat in any wedding bouquet, grasses come in lots of different shapes and sizes, from statement pampas, to fluffy miscanthus, to dainty sprigs of bobbing briza, and everything in between. Grasses can add to lots of varied looks and your local flower farmer will more than likely have some interesting grasses to offer. My favourites to press are briza, miscanthus and bunnystail. Grasses are often used already dried or semi-dried, but they can still be worked into a pressed flower frame- so dont hesitate to include them!
Lisianthus
Available in many colours, ranging from pure whites and delicate pastels to dramatic purple, Lisianthus are great as fresh component in wedding bouquets. They can however be a challenge when pressing as they can throw out some really interesting colours when pressed! All flowers can change colour when being pressed, the degree to which the colour changes depends on the type of flower, how fresh it in going into the press, and also the pressing techniques being used. As with Astrantia, Lisianthus can be pressed in different profiles too, so you can get different effects in your pressed flower frame.
Astilbe
Plume-like spikes of fluffy flowers in reds, pinks and whites, these are another popular choice in wedding bouquets and add an airy feel to bouquets which is good for breaking up clusters of more dense florals. Most importantly (in my opinion), they also press really well so you can keep that look forever! I love having astilbe to work into a collage style pressed flower frame, and the colours preserve beautifully too, often just deepening slightly on pressing.
*if getting it pressed and framed, preferably by Pod & Petal of course!