White Bridal Bouquets

White wedding flowers embody purity, innocence, and romance. Wedding styles come and go, but white never goes out of style: it’s a classic. Not all white flowers are crystalline white: shades of cream, ivory, and blush can shade white flower petals. Hints of green are common in white wedding blossoms as well.

Brides can choose white bridal bouquets for weddings that are contemporary or Victorian, formal or casual. The wide range of white flowers means florists can create white bouquets to suit any theme or mood.

This bride wanted a special way to include the memory of her late grandfather in her wedding. Ms. Skonieczka designed this calla lily arrangement with a customized bouquet charm, featuring a photo of the grandfather. After seeing how her grandmother admired this tribute to her husband, the bride presented her with the bridal bouquet at the end of the evening.

A bride considering an evening wedding or a formal black and white wedding should ask her florist about using white anemones with dark centers in her bridal bouquet. Anemones, also called windflowers, are in season from January through April, but brides willing to pay extra can buy imported anemones in the second half of the year.

Peonies, with their softball-sized blossoms, make a dramatic choice for a single blossom variety bridal bouquet. Keep in mind that you will find the largest peony blooms, up to six inches in diameter, during the seasonal months of May and June.

Peonies symbolize bashfulness in the language of flowers, a sweet sentiment for a soft-spoken bride to convey through blooms. Peonies are softly fragrant, so if you pair them with other flowers you may want to choose unscented or very lightly scented blossoms like chrysanthemums to avoid clashing scents.

Although this was originally conceived as a bridesmaid’s bouquet, the florist could rework this combination for a bridal bouquet. The cymbidium orchid in the center provides a raspberry color accent, and lisianthus blossoms lend fullness to the bouquet. The freesia blooms, several of which are still in bud, emit a subtle fragrance that only those standing close to the bride will notice.

Not every bride wants to carry a large bridal bouquet on her wedding day. This small posy bouquet is easy to carry in one hand, making the bride more likely to keep it with her during each dance.

Medium to large-sized flowers, like roses, oriental lilies, or hydrangeas, should be included in a small bridal bouquet. It’s fine to add small flowers like baby’s breath or stephanotis flowers as accents, but small bouquets need a visible focal point to avoid looking like a Lilliputian’s wedding flowers.

Daisies are very affordable flowers for a low cost wedding, so a bride can have a larger bouquet or can budget in bridesmaid’s bouquets for a large wedding party. Although the language of flowers shares that daisies symbolize innocence, an old wives tale suggests that the bride place a daisy in her left stocking for a pregnancy soon after marriage!

A white bridal bouquet can sport unexpected greenery to make it a memorable accessory. Consider structural greens that contrast with the softness of the flowers in the bouquet, such as the spiky green eryngium, grass-like green flax, or the giant leaves of monstera.

White hypericum berries add a rustic touch to a gathering of white cabbage roses and tulips. Look for in-season winter bouquet fillers like berries and twigs to switch it up from the typical greenery for unexpected character. 

Tropical flowers like orchids are always popular at beach weddings, but brides can still have a traditional rose bridal bouquet with a tropical theme. Delicate shells are as pretty as blossoms, and hydrangeas add a whisper of blue to suggest the ocean backdrop.

The arm sheaf bouquet or presentation bouquet commands attention, even in demure shades of white. The spider mums are an eye-catching blossom for hip brides, and Peruvian lilies add subtle purple accents. Other white flowers suitable for a presentation bridal bouquet include delphiniums, long-stemmed roses, or gladiolus.

This bridal bouquet conveys rustic elegance by the simple addition of a few curly willow twigs to a bunch of standard white calla lilies. The thick, waxy petals of calla lilies, combined with the long life of willow stems make a wilt-proof bouquet for an outdoor summer wedding. Florists could also substitute mini calla lilies in this bouquet to create complementary bridesmaid bouquets.

Brides in love with pearls can add pearl floral picks, pearl floral pins, or pearl floral sprays to their bridal bouquets. A single pearl at the tip of each rose blossom adds just the right flourish without looking like a 1980’s throwback. Clear crystals would look equally pretty as an embellishment to a white bridal bouquet.

There's nothing vanilla about this all-white bridal bouquet. Spiky white speedwell blooms and eryngium add fabulous texture without breaking the bank. Small baby's breath and even smaller bunches of Queen Anne's lace blooms fill every void in the bouquet, creating a casual arrangement that is fresh and inspiring, never boring. 

Using succulent plants in place of traditional greenery is a smart floral trend that isn't going anywhere. Besides the sculptural appeal of chunky succulent leaves, the plants are extremely long-lasting when cut, and may even be rooted as keepsake plants after the wedding ceremony.