Let’s talk bridal bouquet shapes and options with Kelly Atwood Floral Designs

Overwhelmed by bridal bouquet options? Don’t worry! Here, expert florist, Kelly Atwood Floral Designs, will guide you through the multiple bridal bouquet shapes and options to make that important choice stress-free!

Today we are going to walk you through all of the different bridal bouquet shape options that are available to you. The aim is to make you confident in your understanding and can make the right choice for your style and wedding. So, you can have a beautiful wedding bouquet that was really considered and that you love. we will explain what different designs are called, what this means and the characteristics they have and how they are produced, what they are most suited for and very importantly how they are to be held for beautiful wedding photography. Let’s dive in!

Cascading bouquet

A trailing, longer at the front, upside-down teardrop-shaped design. It can be a skilfully hand-tied design but is more commonly a wired bridal bouquet. Therefore, it tends to be a higher price point design due to the technical skill needed as well as the time the piece takes to produce if wired as every piece is wired separately and then put together!

Lovely for both a mermaid, trumpet or modern sheath as follows the slimline style of theses dresses and draws the eye down to the detail and enhances the look. While traditional and often used for an A-line or ball gown style, we personally feel it is not the best style for these shapes. The design must be held at waist height with stems pointing towards your belly button. This means the design is tilted correctly for the full design and cascade to be photographed well. Unfortunately, a lot of brides hold stem straight upwards which means your photographer will only see under the cascade, the stems & ribboning.

Posy bouquet

A small compact domed design perfect for informal weddings. Also perfect for relaxed and simplistic gowns including tea-length and beach style. It’s a small but beautiful design, usually full of smaller blooms.

The understated size also makes it perfect for your bridesmaids. It’s made by hand using the spiralled stem technique and is often finished with simple ribbon binding.

Handtied bouquet

The most popular, contemporary design! More naturalistic as if gathered from the garden, this bouquet style is made by hand using the traditional stem spiralling technique. It also contains foliage to act as background support and frame for the beautiful blooms.

A classic bouquet shape, it can be finished with a simple ribbon binding of silk trailing ribbons or however you would like. Hold stems up but tilt forward to get great photography of your bouquet. Suitable for all dresses and wedding styles.

Nosegay bouquet

This is not a very common design as it can be viewed as old-fashioned. This is a full globe-shaped design with some wired flowers to achieve the shape. It is a much more luxurious and engineered looking design. Nosegay bouquets are usually made up only of flowers, traditionally roses. It is usually ribbon bound with detailing such as pearl pins or broach finishes.

This is designed to be held straight as florals should be seen from all angles. Suitable for a more luxurious and lavish wedding, as it is an ornate piece at a much higher price point. This is due to the number of flowers needed and the skill needed to create.

Traditional round bouquet

The more relaxed sister of the Nosegay! A traditional, yet simple, domed design that usually uses only flowers. Typical, it will contain one to three types of flowers and either none or minimal greenery. It is often traditionally ribbon bound. This is best held with stems facing your belly button for best photography.

It is suitable for all styles of dresses and a very adaptable design to your taste. This is a cleaner more formal and neat alternative to a classic hand-tied design. It is produced by hand using a stem spiralling technique and a tighter neater formation.

Presentation/pageant bouquet

This is a slightly more non-traditional design nowadays. It was historically presented at events such as awards ceremonies or pageants. This is a wider design, held in one arm against the body to overhang the arm and present itself to the viewer. So, this can look fantastic in photography if held correctly.

It is made by hand on the designer’s arm in front of a mirror to ensure the designs floral placements are prominent and that the design hangs beautifully. This design can be quite a cost-effective design as a large amount of foliage to frame the blooms is used as well as cascading materials to build the design. So, it creates a striking effect without using masses of flowers. This is a great piece only when produced by a skilled professional who is confident in this design. This can look both formal or informal depending on your dress, pose, floral choices and style of wedding.

Modern landscape bouquet (wide)

This is currently a hot favourite on Instagram and Pinterest! It is essentially a wide, landscape, hand-tied design. It’s often used for a more naturalistic, bohemian style and is often seen finished with raw naturalistic ribbons, macrame or silk draping ribbons. This design can be adaptable to a lot of different styles and can take any bouquet finishes.

The only word of warning we have with this style is as this is a larger piece and the price will reflect this. Also, be sure to let the designer know your height and size to make sure it does not look out of proportion and drown you and your dress! This is easily done without this information and, unfortunately, all to often seen in the photography.

Well, that’s a wrap! We hope you found this guide useful. If you have any further questions, feel free to get in touch. Check out our video wedding guides on Youtube or keep up to all we are up to over on our Instagram.

About the author

Written by: Kelly Atwood

Kelly Atwood is Founder and Head Floral Designer of Kelly Atwood Floral Designs. They are a floral design business without the stuffiness, offering a friendly, informal, personal service. Kelly will take you on a fun floral design journey to make planning your wedding flowers an enjoyable, exciting, simple experience. Thanks to her experience and expertise, Kelly can make sure your wedding flowers are bespoke and beautiful!