When I got married my Aunt, who by the way owns a really ahhmazing vintage antique shop downtown, offered to do my wedding flowers I was SO excited. It was an amazing gift she had given me and my husband. At the same time I was a little nervous- I had a vision of what my wedding florals would look like, how they would affect the feeling of the day, but I trusted her to take my visions and run with it. It’s so important to make sure that whoever is doing your bouquets, whether its an aspiring florist family member/friend, or a professional florist, that you express to them your vision. Check out pinterest, scour through wedding blogs-florists can’t read your mind so if you’re thinking deep red roses and you get pink gerber daises, it’s because you didn’t indepthly (is that a word?) express your vision.

I’m writing this post as a tip for brides because from a photographer’s perspective the wedding florals create the ambiance, the romance and a huge part of the story telling. And, wedding flowers in the floral world symbolize life, growth and rebirth. Pretty neat, right?

Wedding day flowers are the perfect way to express yourselves! I’ve had brides do gorgeous artificial bouquets, specifically so that they could display the flowers in their homes, broach/jewelry/material bouquets, made of personal items that are extremely unique, and might I add SO fun to photograph, and then brides that do real flowers-specific kinds that they’ve loved for years, that they envisioned since they were a little girl that they’d have at their wedding (that for me, was gerber daises, of all colors). Couples get creative with the boutonnieres (I’ve seen some made of paper, leaves, pieces of tree branches, and even shot gun shells). The other piece to the wedding day flowers are the arrangements that you see displayed throughout the wedding. Center pieces, flowers near cake tables, gift tables. The flowers, as simple or as intricate, play a huge factor in the ambiance and romance of the day.

I had the honor of photographing some very unique and gorgeous wedding day flowers in 2012, and while I sifted through images quickly, I snagged some favorites to share for this post. I hope these give you some good ideas of beautiful flowers, and how they create beautiful images on your wedding day! PS, after the images is a complete list from the knot of just about every variety of flower and what they  mean  and what they symbolize.

To see the complete list on the knot, visit: http://wedding.theknot.com/wedding-planning/wedding-flowers/articles/symbolic-wedding-flower-meanings.aspx