500 Wedding Ideas

What is the historical tradition behind brides carrying a bouquet of flowers?

I'm looking for an old time reason for the bouquet.

Public Comments

1. flowers represent life and vitality and a 'gift of nature". Some can also represent fidelity.
2. the reason is too ward off evil spirits, in differnet times throughout the ages there have been numerous reasons, my favourite is for the groom to leave a secret love poem in it. www.loveflowers.com.au has a list of styles of bouquets and their meanings, and the history of the bouquet its a pretty site.
3. This is old wives tale that says flowers give marrying couples fertility, romance and lasting love. Others believe carrying a bridal bouquet of flowers will prevent the couple from evil eyes and bad luck. This is an old custom. people still perform it.
4. They originally packed herbs to ward off evil spirits and because back in the day, people didn't bathe as much so they also helped to hide the smell.
5. well the best I could do is that the Saracens considered orange blossoms to be a good luck symbol for the bride to be fertile. And since orange blossoms are a traditional wedding bouquet, that might be one explanation of the bouquet. Got a good one for the bride's wreath that she wears in her hair, it is a Christian custom, adapting the Jewish bride's crown into flowers for a Christian. A guess at another way we use a bouquet might have ancient English pagan ties, a gift to Mother nature, or a symbol of her. Spring was a good time to get married, establish your garden and harvest it with 2 people to do this before the winter. Not surprised somebody thought of decorating with spring flowers, a sign of newness.
6. It symbolizes fertility. http://www.snopes.com/weddings/customs/bouquet.asp