The Wedding Bouquet: Tradition And Symbolism

The wedding bouquet has been a part of wedding rites for thousands of years, as have flowers and herbs of various sorts. The wedding rituals of the ancient Greeks and Romans included the bride using wheat to symbolize fertility and the beautiful lily to represent purity and innocence.

As can be seen throughout its history, the wedding bouquet has never been merely decorative, but rather has always been symbolic of the fervent prayers, hopes or dreams of the bride for her soon to be husband and the new life that awaited her.

While on the surface it may seem that, as marriage takes on more secular features, today the wedding bouquet is more ornamental than symbolic, the fact remains that most wedding flower selections are influenced by tradition. Most of those floral traditions arose from the deeper meanings and symbolic value that the favorite wedding flowers have carried with them through the centuries. Indeed, often what we think are new floral trends in wedding planning are actually just revivals of much older traditions.

The recent popularity of sunflowers in the wedding bouquet is a perfect example of this. Often seen as a touch of whimsy or down home country charm, the ancient myths and legends surrounding the sunflower demonstrate the powerful wedding symbol it once was. The sunflower is associated with deep loyalty and constancy in love from its earliest times, as is demonstrated by the mythic story of its origin.

According to the ancient Greeks, a young mortal girl fell in love with a young god who was then drowned by his treacherous Titan uncles. The set him up in the sky and he became the sun god, traveling across the heavens from east to west each day. Broken hearted for her lost love, the girl stood each day with her face to the sky, watching her beloved travel his daily path, always keeping her face to his path.

She became rooted to the spot, and she was transformed into the sunflower, ever loyal to her beloved, always basking in his light, keeping her face turned to his path, following the journey from east to west each day. Thus, the sunflower is powerful symbol of love and loyalty from which to form a wedding bouquet.

Many of the most beloved of the wedding bouquet flowers have stories that extend far back in history. Numerous others have roots in the Christian faith. The lily is said to have arisen from Eves tears, those that she shed upon being sent from the Garden of Eden and discovering her pregnancy. It is closely associated with the Resurrection of Jesus and the Easter season. Lily of the Valley is said to represent the tears of the Virgin Mary and to symbolize humility, sweetness and the restoration of happiness, of completeness.

The wedding bouquet has been a part of marriage rituals almost from time immemorial. Whether directly or indirectly, the symbolism that has always been a part of the wedding bouquet flower selection continues to be a part of the process today.