Origins Of The Elegant Tulip Wedding Bouquet

A tulip wedding bouquet is a spring wedding favorite. Available in a broad range of colors, tulips are a wonderful flower to include in a wedding, as they are not only beautiful, but also rich is historical relevance and meaning. Tulips have always been associated with love, making a tulip wedding bouquet the perfect floral selection for a wedding.

The tulip wedding bouquet has its roots in the Far East, where the flower originated. It is estimated that the Turkish people began to cultivate the tulip, which was once a wildflower of the field, in about 1,000 AD. An ancient Persian myth attributes the tulip to the tears that a young Persian boy shed in sorrow over unrequited love. As each teardrop fell into the hot sand of the desert, where he went to await the death he preferred to a life without the girl he loved with all of his heart, a tulip sprang up. This beautiful flower eventually spread throughout the world.

The tulip arrived in Europe in about 1554, and spread rapidly, becoming incredibly popular. The affect the flower had on Holland was nothing short of amazing. The tulip became wildly popular and, inspiring financial investment and fiscally unsound speculation, this simple flower nearly brought down the economy of the entire country when the market crashed in 1637.

The government was forced to step in and bring the situation under control, strictly controlling the tulip market. Holland is to this day closely associated with the tulip, with some of the favorite varieties for use in the tulip wedding bouquet being developed there.

Especially in the Far East, but also universally, a tulip symbolizes a declaration of love, making a tulip wedding bouquet especially meaningful. Different colored tulips, however, refer to different types of love. A yellow tulip is traditionally said to symbolize unrequited or hopeless love, though modern interpretations tend to put a more positive spin on that shade of tulip, leaning more towards admiration or appreciation of beauty.

One of the older meanings of multicolored or variegated tulips is to tell the recipient that she has beautiful eyes. One can almost visualize a veiled woman, with just her eyes showing, receiving this discreet compliment from a subtle male admirer.

Tulips are also closely associated with the hope and renewal demonstrated by the resurrection of Jesus. Tulips are a favorite Easter flower, and symbolic of spring itself. For many, a tulip wedding bouquet has great spiritual meaning, in addition to its obvious beauty and long-term association with deep love. With its rich history and deep spiritual meaning, the tulip carries with it many of the highest hopes and desires present upon the wedding day, especially symbolizing the love and faith that are required to make a marriage last a lifetime.

A tulip wedding bouquet is an elegant touch to a wedding ensemble that is as just meaningful as it is beautiful. Historically associated with true love and deep spiritual values, a tulip wedding bouquet certainly deserves its place among the spring wedding favorites.