Bridesmaid Bouquet Alternatives

[al'sgirl]

My SIL is getting married in July, and she doesn't want to do the traditional bouquets for her bridesmaids. I'm looking for alternatives for her that may or may not have some flowers included in what the girls can carry.

Her colours are deep red (claret), silver, yellow and a deep orange accent. The BM's are wearing the red and the guys will be in black/grey tuxes.

She is adding a lot of music and art into the theme. Her cake topper is a baby grand and a bass violin (they are both musicians).

Any idea anyone? TIA!

Andrea

[sublime311]

How about crystal bouquets? Here is one ebay: Crystal Bouquets (http://cgi3.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=wdo_specials). Here are some more ideas http://www.austrian-crystal.net/

[blueskygirl]

I went to an evening wedding last year where the bridesmaids all carried a taper candle down the aisle. The candles were in some kind of holder that had long ribbons wrapped around it at the bottom that were sort of curled and flowed down. It was pretty and different.

[al'sgirl]

Wow ... those crystal bouquets are beautiful! What a great alternative and additions to real flowers. Thanks!

The candles are a great idea. Unfortunately, they are getting married in a heritage village and the church is dated from the mid 1800's. So, no open flames are allowed. :( But I like the idea for other places.

[nawsgirl]

This is just something I thought of, not sure how easy or practical it would be, but since you said they are musicians.... Maybe they could get some sheet music (their favorite song?) and fold the sheets into flowers (any origami web site should have instructions) and attach them to something stem-like? One "flower" per bridesmaid would be enough, and they could probably do small boutonierres too for the groomsmen.

A little labor-intensive, but it could turn out really nicely!!

[al'sgirl]

That's a cool idea! Thanks nawsgirl!

[maplekitty]

oooh there was a girl on the know who made gorgeous paper flower bouquets. I wish I could remember her screename!! I think the sheet music flowers would be neat, maybe with some crystal stems in them?


Also Maryanne's BMs carried antique lanterns.

Do they have any friends in a choir or symphany that they can borrow a violin, a claranet, a trumpet, or other "smaller" musical instruments to carry? They could attach flowers or ribbons to them to fancy them up.

[nicole]

The sheet music paper flowers sound like they could be really cool! I know Paper Source has flower kits (http://paper-source.com/cgi-bin/paper/kits/flower_kits.html) - they could use the templates.

I've seen BMs carry large single stems down the aisle as well. Pommanders are another alternative. A lot of people use them for flower girls, but I don't see why BMs couldn't carry them.

[MidwesternGal]

Small purses are another idea. You could either fill them with flowers, or get sequined/beaded ones that are decorative in and of themselves.

For religious people, carrying small Bibles or another denominational book works well and looks nice.

[maplekitty]

The sheet music paper flowers sound like they could be really cool! I know Paper Source has flower kits (http://paper-source.com/cgi-bin/paper/kits/flower_kits.html) - they could use the templates.



yes!! those are the flowers that the knot bride made!

[al'sgirl]

Those flower kits are cool! I'll be emailing that to my SIL to see what she thinks. Thanks ladies! :)

I mentioned lanterns to her last week, and she wasn't into that cuz it's an afternoon summer wedding. But I'd do lanterns for an evening wedding anyday :)

Sarah ... I thought of the small instrument idea as well, and haven't heard back from her on that one yet. I was thinking of something like a flute or violin bow with a single or few long stemmed flowers for an arm bouquet. She has a degree in music, so she's got the connections for borrowing instruments if the family doesn't already have enough.

[ruledbymercury]

I've heard of bridesmaids carrying crystal gazing balls instead of flowers. Decorative fans are also a nice alternative. Also, how about an herbal bouquet? That would smell amazing!