Ancient Wedding Flowers

If there was just one universal wedding flower, life would be a lot easier. Because flowers have a rich relationship to love, romance and marriage there are hundreds of species that are appropriate to be used in wedding bouquets. This is especially true if you take into account what flowers mean in different cultures. Perhaps the most commonly used flowers in wedding bouquets are the rose, followed by baby’s breath.

However if you wanted to get into the oldest, most charmed flowers and foilage that are used to protect and ensure marriage in a physical sense then you might want to include the following plants in your bouquet:

Hawthorn:  Hawthorn is not really a flower but more of a foliage. The leaves have always been used to ensure fidelity and protect a union from meddlers. Branches of Hawthorn have been carried by brides or worn on their heads since Roman times and the tradition passed on to Celtic and Druidic cultures in Britain.

Orange Blossoms:  Oranges themselves are a symbol of fertility and riches in most cultures but in early Roman, Greek and also Celtic cultures the coveted sweet smelling blossoms were also used in bouquets and garlands as a way of assuring a betrothed couple wedded bliss.

Yarrow- Yarrow is a tall fern and not a flower at all but it has been carried by brides and grooms in ceremonies for centuries. It is also used in wedding decorations, garlands and table pieces because it is supposed to guarantee that the union will last at least seven years!

Rose- No matter how you look at it, the rose will be the eternal symbol of love. They are not just symbolic of lovers but are also heavily symbolic of the Goddesses in common myth that represent the wife including Hathor, Hulda, Demeter, Isis and Aurora.