September 11, 2009

Everywhere today in our nation, people have stopped to remember what happened 8 years ago today in New York City, Arlington, VA, and Shanksville, PA. May God bless all those who lost there lives in these hallowed places on September 11th, 2001. May they all rest in peace and may the perpetual light of God shine upon them.

One of my favorite flowers to use in bridal work is stephanotis. Small, delicate, white and highly fragrant, stephanotis has been a popular inclusion in bridal bouquets for decades. These little blossoms can be wired into arrangements on faux stems to make arranging easier, or they can be left on their natural vines for an elegant trailing effect (if a designer is lucky enough to find is available still on the vine) Often when stephanotis is used the hollow center of the flower is accented with pearl headed pins, crystal and rhinestones.

I had a friend years ago in the floral biz who was a great wedding designer. She went to live in London for a year to finish her graduate studies. While there, she worked in a flower shop part time. She also took several tours of Westminster Abbey. Royal tradition dictates that the royal bride's flowers are laid at the tomb of the Unknown Warrior, and some of the bouquets, apparently have been preserved and are on display there. Her comment about Diana's was, "way too much stephanotis". Well my friend didn't share my great love of this little flower. I am going to do some research and see if I can find out if the royal bouquets have been preserved, and if they are, try to get some photo evidence of this. We are starting to plan a trip to England for a couple of years from now, and I definitely plan to go on location for further investigation of the royal bridal bouquets.

Here is a picture of stephanotis...

Royal Wedding "Flower" tidbit for the day. Longman's Ltd. of London made three identical bouquets for Princess Diana. One for the rehearsal, one for the ceremony, and one for portraits taken back at Buckingham Palace.