New floral trends for a new year

A romantic, traditional Victorian wedding bouquet of blush and white garden roses by Pam Hargraves of Blooming Blossoms. /photo | Sara Zarrella Photography

This year has seen a couple of trends emerge in the wedding floral industry. Most brides are looking for less structured, more natural arrangements with a pop of color.

Bridal bouquets commonly represent a bride’s style and personality, which will set the tone for the rest of the wedding. There are many different shapes of bouquets including traditional Victorian, round, teardrop, cascade and wildflower. In the past few years, brides have tended to prefer all white bridal flowers, which are most commonly used in traditional and round bouquets.

This year, two trends have emerged, according to Pamala Hargraves, owner of Blooming Blossoms in Providence. Many brides are choosing a color combination of blush, cream and gold. Romantic garden-style flowers are commonly desired for these arrangements including roses, garden roses, hydrangeas, and peonies. These flowers tend to work better in traditional and round bouquets. Another emerging style, bohemian chic, features lots of greenery. Bohemian chic bouquets often are cascading or teardrop. Colors for these bouquets also tend to focus on neutrals, from white to cream and tend to include a pop of blush, pink or orange, along with various mixtures of greenery.

Centerpieces reflect these same styles. There are many different styles of centerpieces that can be used for a wedding reception. These include tall flower arrangements, low centerpieces, submerged flowers, clusters of mini flower arrangements, candles, petals and a mixture of different arrangements on different tables. This year, smaller table arrangements have become popular, according to Hargraves. These styles include low centerpieces and clusters, often including candles dispersed around the florals. Colors continue in the blush, cream, gold and green styling popular with the bridal bouquets, with the most popular flowers being roses and hydrangeas.

Throughout the wedding, you will continue to see these floral trends, from aisle arrangements and Huppahs, to wedding party flowers, and reception accessories.

Whatever style is chosen, mazal tov to all the loving couples marrying this year.

RACHEL B. BELL is a Providence area website and graphic designer and is co-owner of SBR Network.