When you are getting married one thing you will have to think about besides your dress, shoes, who to invite, the layout of the tables, and everything else, is also your wedding bouquet flowers.
If you are trying to make your wedding unique as well as personal, then you may want to choose flowers that might be unique to you or your partner, but may just be looking for something different.
Well, we’re here to help so that you can have one less thing to think about when you are walking down the aisle, and you can enjoy your wedding without having to reinvent every wedding ritual.
That said, here’s our choices for some flowers that may be quite unique in your wedding bouquet. Just don’t get too attached as you may have to throw it away to the next potential bride anyway!
Keep reading to learn about some flowers that are common in wedding bouquets as well as some flowers that are less common and unique, to make your wedding special and one of a kind for you and your partner. Find this out and more below.
1. Peony
The peony is a flowering plant from the family of Paeoniceae, native to Asia, but also grown widely now in Europe and North America.
They are a herbaceous perennial plant that can grow into woody shrubs, but their flowers are commonly reserved for ornamental purposes, presenting in bouquets, as well as being a popular wedding bouquet flower.
While they are common in wedding bouquets, the inflorescence of the peony can be quite varied, as well as having multiple cultivars that can be very different from each other.
For example, there are single, Japanese, semi-double, bomb, and double flowers that can emerge from a specific peony variety. Ask your florist if they can source a specific flower head type of peony to make your own bouquet a little different.
2. Ranunculus
So, everyone loves roses right? They are often the flower that the majority of people will relate to themes of ‘love’. But, they are pretty common, and a bouquet of roses can just seem a bit basic and phoned in at a wedding of all things.
So, if you like roses but want something a little different, consider the humble Ranunculus.
Available in nearly every color, they can bloom in late winter with certain varieties, which is good for winter weddings and their key to durability, but also bloom in early summer for summer weddings.
In bloom, the ranunculus has a similar inflorescence to the rose, with multiple petals overlapping each other in a circular pattern but while a rose has less petals, a Ranunculus has more, albeit thinner, petals.
They also come in many different colors, in as much variety as roses. One reason they are favored by florists for weddings is because they can be quite durable, more than Roses, and their petals won’t fall too much if they are caught in the middle of a hug.
3. Roses
Some people just love roses, so let’s cover them anyway, and some of their more unique cultivars or varieties. Roses often are the go to flower within a theme of romance, being both thorny and beautiful like any good relationship.
Did you know that there are over three hundred species of rose within the Rosaceae family, with tens of thousands of different cultivars bred purely for their ornamental qualities.
Yet, different species of rose hybridize really easily and this has been seen in the ‘garden rose’ varieties.
In general, when we refer to roses we can be referring to either your generic standard rose shape we all picture in our heads, but there are also garden roses.
Garden roses are generally bred with another flower, such as a Ranunculus, that has a larger petal count.
Garden roses are thus much more unique than generic roses and if you want a rose in your wedding, but also want something quite unique, garden roses can be a good way to go.
‘Juliet’, ‘Distant Drums’ and ‘Koko Loko’ are all cultivars worth looking into for their unique colors and inflorescences.
4. Anemone
The Anemone is another common flower to see in wedding bouquets but is also a flower which has a really wide range of cultivars and varieties, as well as inflorescences, giving you a good range of variety to find something unique.
They are known for their delicate exterior petals and the dark sepals in the center. These center sepal give a perfect opportunity to contrast colors and bring texture to bouquet.
Anemones are in the same family as ranunculus but have their own genus within this. Moreover, while there is a great number of cultivars, like other flowers they can have a large variety of inflorescence forms within the genus.
While Blakan anemones have smaller daisy-like needle petals, wood anemone can have a unique rounded petal, while poppy anemones have a concave shape. As you can see, there is plenty of variety within the flowering genus to look for.
5. Poppy
The poppy is a flower most of us recognize, usually related to remembering veterans in war, but they are another really wide flowering genus that has a lot more variety than most realize.
The genus which is recognized by botanists as ‘Papaver’.
Like anemones a lot of the ornamental cultivars of Papaver can boast some color contrasts that are ideal for bouquets, with an inner section of inflorescence that is often in a contrasting color to the wide papery petals of the poppy.
Some cultivars of Papaver worth looking into are ‘Double Pleasure’ with a lovely peachy color, ‘White Ruffles’ which is pretty self descriptive, or ‘Black Single’ which is a really dark intoxicating purple.
These few cultivars show that there is a lot more to the poppy than the simple Flanders poppy variety that is red.
6. Sweet Pea
The sweet pea is a really beautiful plant with a unique inflorescence and morphology that brings some welcome contrast in terms of flower shape.
The common name ‘sweet pea’ actually refers to the Lathyrus odoratus, a flowering plant within the genus of Lathyrus in the family Fabaceae.
Indeed the legume family of Fabaceae is the agriculturally important family of flowering plants that does also produce fruit we recognize as the various peas and beans of the world, but today we are interested in their unique flower, which isn’t edible but does have a very pleasant scent.
Over 50 cultivars of sweet pea are recognized with the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit for their ornamental prowess.
This is due to the plant’s unique flower head which has few petals that are delicate and form uniquely on the flower head.
They have been cultivated for a long time so there is a huge variety of colors out there to choose from and their unique inflorescence is perfect to bring variety to a bouquet, as well as a pleasant scent.
7. Hydrangea
Hydrangea are a common sight in people’s gardens but also make it into many bouquets for their popular raceme inflorescence that can bring a different shape to a bouquet that’s different to your generic flowerhead.
The natural inflorescence of the hydrangea is to form lots of smaller flowers on one large flower head, a natural bouquet.
Due to this unique flower shape they can make your bouquets feel a little different but also do really well to fill out certain gaps with color.
Once again, there is great variety within the genus of hydrangeas and while their common inflorescence is already quite unique, their flowers can form in different ways too.
They can form on longer panicles rather than broad bunches, or can even form in smaller bunches instead. They are widely cultivated for ornamental purposes as well as for bouquets so they come in a huge variety of colors and different sizes and shapes.
8. Amaryllis
If you are planning a winter wedding the Amaryllis could be the flower of choice. Undoubtedly, their inflorescence is showy and ideal for any bouquet like a cross between lily and a rose.
They are widely cultivated purely for their flowerhead, and can also smell really great.
If you want a more dramatic bouquet with showy flower heads that can have more contrasting colors, it’s worth checking out the widely cultivated Amaryllis.
They can be great instead of roses for a showy flower, surrounded by less showy flowers that compliment it.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, even within the common flowers we see in wedding bouquets, there can be great variety in the shapes of flowers and colors within one genus.
Put simply, you can even find roses with a good amount of variety, in colors you haven’t seen before. This said, there are a large number of flowers out there that aren’t super common in bouquets, but can be really pretty such as the sweet pea.
I love sharing my experiences with individuals in this community, and I enjoy sharing some of the best tips I have learned over the years caring for my own garden at home.
In my articles, you will find the best flowers, most fragrant flowers you can plant in your garden, how to care for your favorite plants, informative guides and how-tos so you can have the best backyard in town!
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