Heirloom Bouquets

Ideas & Inspiration

Heirloom Bouquets

Bouquet of mauve anthurium, ‘Schwarzwalder’ and ‘Vermeer’ miniature calla lilies, antique carnations and ‘Hypnose,’ ‘Amnesia’ and ‘Quicksand’ roses by Bella Rugosa.

The very nature of a wedding is to look forward to: the ceremony, the honeymoon and a future as husband and wife. But when it comes to flowers, many Seattle brides are increasingly looking back, to a more romantic era when dusty-hued blooms were gathered from a manor garden, loosely arranged and tied with silk brocade. 

“Brides are revisiting elegance,” says floral designer John Gardner of Aria Style in Lower Queen Anne. “Arrangements are looser, less sculptural, with sumptuous ribbon treatments and brooches. They’re like something your grandmother might have carried.” 

In fact, designers encourage brides to borrow not only the style of their ancestors, but mementos such as heirloom brooches or ribbons as well. “I ask the bride if she has any jewelry from her mother, grandmother or great-grandmother,” says Jodi Macko of Woodland Flowers in Duvall, who has integrated heirlooms into bouquets of peonies, tea roses, tuberoses and ranunculus dressed with raw silk and antique lace.  

Daniela Fagét, of Seattle–based Bella Signature Design, might wrap the stems of ‘Demitasse’ miniature roses or tea roses, fluttery sweet peas and elegant gardenias with a piece of lace from the bride’s mother’s veil. “It is imperative to find out what is nostalgic for the bride,” says Fagét, who once used sweet peas in a bouquet at the behest of a bride whose mother had often tucked the sweet-smelling flowers into her lunch box.