WEDDING dress, decor, cake, ceremony and reception venue are usually planned well in advance – one thing that ties all of these elements together is flowers. Wedding flowers are gorgeous, expensive and only used one day. Wedding flowers are a treasure trove of floral arrangements, bouquets and other lovely items that often go straight in the trash once the event is over.
In Zambia wedding flowers are used as centerpieces on tables, bridal bouquet, boutonniere and put on the bride and groom’s car. The same flowers are used for funeral purposes, so the demand is always high.
Flowers in general make one feel loved, special, adored and remembered. Blessing someone with flowers every day is a good choice, but where can you obtain a massive amount of flowers without going completely broke in the process.
People receive flowers as gifts on Valentine’s Day which is once a year, graduation day after so many years, kitchen party after years of dating and the obvious one, this is non-negotiable, either rich or poor will have flowers laid on the grave yard, saints and sinners have one thing in common they both receive flowers on the day of burial.
No wonder the song writer wrote don’t shatter roses after lm gone, the probability is that he never received flowers in his entire life time. He had a very good point. Some people buy the most expensive flowers to put on the grave yard and yet they never gave the person a single rose stem while alive.
Expensive flowers do not show the amount of love, the intensity of grief shown is not the intensity of love felt.
In Zambia some roses like red and yellow are mainly sold between K1-K2 per stem, while white and other colours are sold per bunch, consisting of 10 stems between K35-K40. An already made fresh flowers bouquet is K60 going up depending on the number of roses used, the more the roses, the more expensive. One has to make an order in advance.
The use of flowers at weddings has been a tradition for so long, that historians have trouble pinpointing the source of their original use. All they know is that the ancient Greeks bundled flowers and plants into garland wreaths, which were worn on the head of the bride.
The Greeks considered these garlands to be a gift from nature and thought them to hold specific protective and fortuitous meaning. For this reason, garlic which is traditionally thought to ward off evil spirits was often included in the wreaths.
Wedding flowers aren’t just a Greek tradition. They’ve been adopted all around the world due to their natural beauty and wide appeal.
In Sweden it was a tradition for young girls to carry small bouquets of fragrant herbs down the aisle. The groom would also put thyme in his pockets. The reason is to ward off any trolls that might decide a wedding was a perfect place to find a tasty snack.
The wedding flowers in German were put together with candles, tied with a ribbon and bride and groom had to carry this.
Wedding flowers in England was a tradition for the bride and her bridesmaids to proceed to the Church together, led by a small girl who would sprinkle blossoms in their path to assure long life and happiness for the bride. The tradition of flower girls remains to this day.
During the European middle ages, wedding flowers were primarily used to minimize the smell of the flower wearers (primarily the bride and groom), as bathing was reserved as a six monthly treat due to the difficulty in heating water and the scarcity of soap.
These bath times usually fell before Christmas, an important time of the year for everyone and during the summertime. The problem was that weddings usually took place in the spring. The result of this was that the wedding party wasn’t usually at their most fresh.
In Zambia at some point we had plenty of soap but body lotion was scarce and too expensive. The bathing soap was used as body lotion, two in one then BP petroleum jelly (Vaseline) came to the rescue, sold at BP filling stations only, although we looked too shinning but it was a better option. It was mind your own business. Moving forward, flowers and herbs would be sewn into the bride’s dress and the groom’s clothing. This masked any bodily odours and made the wedding more enjoyable for both bride and groom.
The bride would also carry a bouquet and intertwine flowers throughout her hair. This made the act of marriage all the more enjoyable at the time, but let’s thank our lucky stars that we no longer need to use flowers to mask our body odour at weddings.
Many people have a good idea of what colour theme they want for their wedding flowers, so it is usually just a matter of deciding which type of flowers will provide the finishing touches to the overall theme on this magical day.
Some couples decide based on the look of the flowers, while some study the meanings behind particular blooms and others choose based on their wedding budget or seasonal availability.
There’s really no longer a traditional variety of wedding flowers, but the most popular are generally calla lily, lily of the valley and of course roses. The foliage incorporated into wedding flower arrangements can also help to accentuate the overall effect.
Wedding flowers have taken off in popularity to the point where you will be hard pressed to find a wedding that doesn’t involve them in some way. Some of the new traditions include, the bouquet which is perhaps next to the bride herself and the centerpiece of the entire ceremony.
A great deal of science has gone into developing a system of matching the blooms present in the bouquet  with the season, with physical attributes of the bride and with the location of the ceremony itself.
Table centerpiece is perfect for the reception ceremony, an extravagant centerpiece on each table leaves guests with nothing but fond memories. It’s now standard practice to include these in every reception.
Pink rose symbolises perfect happiness, white rose are for charm and innocence, red roses for love and desire, orange rose for passion, yellow rose for joy and gladness.
A combination of white and red rose symbolizes unity. Orange lily is for wealth, white lily is sweetness, yellow lily is walking on air and lily of the valley is humility, sweetness and return of happiness.
Some florists have come up with a solution to avoid wedding flowers being taken to waste by sending them to patients in hospitals and especially those who are in the hospice. It’s just a way of showing love and a caring heart to those who are sick.
You can get some to your office and plant them instead of throwing them. The more people plant flowers, the better for all of us as giving and receiving flowers will be the order of the day. Give flowers to relatives, friends, work mates and Church mates to show how much you value them. When you receive just say thank you, don’t start analysing, flowers can be given with no strings attached.
Wedding flowers are steeped in history and will likely remain tradition for many years to come. If you’re looking for an appropriate gift for the couple, flowers will definitely do them proud and will be highly appreciated.
The tradition of wedding flowers remains to this day. We might not fashion wreaths to wear, but the meaning and appropriate nature of flowers remains the same. That’s why it’s such a great idea to provide floral gifts to a wedding couple. This is your thoughtful contribution they will enjoy.
Today is national repentance, prayer and fasting day, take time to talk with God and be in Church so that you are in one accord with others. It has been beautifully said, between the humble and contrite heart and the majesty of heaven there are no barriers, the only password is prayer.
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