Ian West/AFP/Getty Images
Reuters
Something happened to me. I admit it. I was anti-royal wedding until the second it began. In fact, I didn’t even stay up until 2am PT to watch it. I DVRd it and watched it the next day. But first thing on Friday morning, you can bet that I hopped online immediately to find out what Kate, or should I say Catherine, wore. And from that moment… friends… I was hooked. Absolutely smitten with every single detail, and I had to turn on my DVR right away to catch up.
I loved everything about it. The “real-ness” of Princes William and Harry walking down the aisle, joking with each other. How we were able to hear them speak their vows. Watching Prince William mouth “You look beautiful” to his bride. Seeing Harry turning around to check out the bride and making a comment to his brother, whose back was still turned. Their surprise getaway car in his father’s Aston Martin, strung with balloons and driven by the groom himself. It all just made them so real - know what I mean? And Kate, who is such an everyday {albeit drop-dead gorgeous} girl, how she was transformed in to this magical princess before our eyes. Such a lady in every way. I am so excited to see how this will transform wedding trends moving forward. Will we be saying goodbye to the Pnina Tornai-style bodice fitting dresses and hello to wearing your mother’s gown, minus the puffy sleeves? I don’t know which direction the fashion trends will go, but I know that I can’t wait to watch and see.
So I think it seems fitting that today’s floral spotlight focuses on the simple and pretty bouquet that Kate chose to carry - made up of lily of the valley, hyacinth, sweet william and myrtle. Many criticized it for being too small - on the other hand, I thought it was absolutely perfect. And each bloom was chosen with meaning:
- Lily-of-the-Valley: signifies sweetness and renewed happiness.
- Hyacinth: signifies constancy.
- Sweet William: a tribute for her husband-to-be.
- Myrtle: a traditional british floral inclusion, every royal bride since Queen Victoria has had a sprig of myrtle in her bouquet. From About.com: The myrtle comes from a tree which grew from a cutting of Queen Victoria’s own bridal bouquet myrtle. Since then, each royal bride has included a sprig from the original plant in her bouquet, and they then plant their sprigs in Queen Victoria’s garden as well. In fact, the tradition is that the bridesmaids plant the sprigs in the garden. Supposedly, if it doesn’t root and grow, the bridesmaid who planted it will be an old maid.
Lily of the valley can bloom in late winter to early spring, and typically provides a white, bell-shaped flower, though sometimes it can even be found in the lightest shade of pink. BUT I was told yesterday by a local florist (who later told me how tired she is of seeing mason jars, before seeing my mason jar logo haha) that it can be very expensive for West coast brides, as it is very hard to come across, while on the east coast, it can grow easily in someone’s backyard.
Let’s take a look at some other brides who chose to make this wise decision of including lily of the valley in their wedding day florals.
topix.com
francoise weeks
Of course I have to include Grace Kelly’s bouquet as well.
source unknown
found via Colin Cowie
MagnetStreet.com
Cake Central
Parisian Events
Via Weddingbycolor.com
Caroline Carter
Lamberdebie Flowers
And here is Camilla’s wedding day bouquet - I never realized how similar they were!
Associated Press
And Carolyn Bessette favored these lovelies as well…
Associated Press
There is no doubt that these flowers are simply beautiful, and I can’t wait to see how the floral trends evolve following this weekend’s past events!
Happy Monday, everyone!
I adore lilly of the valley and their perfume! Perfect post to start the new month!!!kisses
This is so sweet and wonderful to spotlight the flowers from Kate’s bouquet. I love that you find the most beautiful bouquets and other things that showcase them so well. I love them on top of that cake! I hope you had a wonderful weekend! :)
Lovely post! I loved the Royal Wedding- and your take on it too! I had no idea about her bouquet, and love all the meaning behind the flowers. I also like how you included other famous people’s bouquets in this spotlight. Very pretty!
Sigh. I am completely obsessed with everything Royal Wedding, Jacin :) I was up at the crack of dawn watching until the very last bit of goodness ended. And as much as Kate’s bouquet wasn’t something I would have picked I love how much meaning was put behind it. So special and fabulous! Happy Monday sweets xo
I woke up to watch the Royal Wedding because my Mom had woken me up to watch Princess Diana’s wedding forever ago. I didn’t expect much from it. Yet as soon as I saw Kate arriving at the Abbey, I was taken hook, line & sinker. I adored every last detail, even her bouquet. Mostly I adored the sweet moments between the couple that you mentioned. I couldn’t have loved the Royal Wedding more!
I really had no idea what lilly of the valley looked like.
They are so dainty and beautiful!
SO gorgeous. I was totally anti royal wedding too until I watched it. Now I can’t get enough! ha
I totally agree! I wasn’t that excited about the wedding and didn’t even watch until I got home from work Fri night. But when I fired up the DVR and saw the commotion and Kate’s insanely gorgeous dress, I was all chills… and maybe a few tears : ) And her flowers were gorgeous!! Not my style, but still such a classic choice! I was smitten.
Happy Monday!
Love it! I’m now secretly hoping my florist will include some in my bouquet! :-)
Kate (Catherine) looked STUNNING. I am head over heels in love with this whole wedding.
I’m the same, I didn’t really care until I got to work Friday morning and googled her dress. From then on I was hooked. They looked so happy, it made my heart melt!
Love lily of the valley. so simply beautiful. timeless and classic for sure! xoxo, chrissy.
just plain pretty & classy!!!!
I couldn’t have agreed more on every point. I was ready for this damn wedding to be OVER, and then the minute I started watching (Friday AM at work…) I couldn’t stop! Each detail was understated, elegant and honest, and you’re right-it felt so very real.
Plus, I have a serious crush on her lily of the valley bouquet!
Carolyn Bessette is one of my favorite brides ever! Catherine looked perfect and the bouquet was beautiful in every way possible!
I was wondering if you were going to become a “believer”! :) I really loved the wedding too and, though we weren’t into the hype, the tradition and the regality of all of it was just stunning and historic. I adore Lily of the Valley and this post is so charming!
I felt sort of the same, and I ended up loving it too! and who doesn’t love lily of the valley…that’s why it is so expensive! But so pretty. I can almost smell it from your post :)
Like you I was almost ‘anti’ the whole big event, but it was kinda hard not to get wrapped up in it once I started watching it. Who doesn’t love love right!!! Gorgeous bouquet inspiration… so pretty!
I truly enjoyed every moment of the royal wedding and truly felt it was flawless! I love how you featured Lily of the Valley in this post! My mother had Lily of the Valley as her bridal bouquet when she got married in 1973 and it is to this day one of her favorite flowers and bridal accents at weddings…I am in fact thinking of incorporating it in my wedding next year as a little nod to her! :) I hope you are having a lovely week so far, Jacin!
Liesl :)
I didn’t realize there was such meaning behind the bouquet, but I should have suspected it! Also.. I was kind of “eh” about the whole royal wedding thing, as well.. then I saw the snippets and all the news on Friday, and I am punching myself for not waking up to watch the whole thing or recording it! Will and Kate are just so cute and perfect together. Love it. Love her dress. Sighhh :)
love this flower! it’s so tiny and dainty. i think it went perfectly with kate (er, catherine)’s dress. i love all the bouquets you found too!
I completely agree! The “realness” of the Royal Wedding really surprised me. They seemed like normal people, who happen to be getting married with millions of people watching :) I fell in love with Kate that day. She is so elegant. Her dress was simply amazing. I think her dress will be starting a new trend in wedding gowns.