May 4, 2011

{Language of Flowers}

Dear Bride-to-Be:
One of my favorite parts of the recent beautiful royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine Elizabeth Middleton was the couple's choice of "organic and local" themed flowers and other botanical features inside the Abbey -- all with a romantic and old-fashioned touch as well.

With a nod to the Language of Flowers, Kate selected a small bouquet design (a "shield-shaped" wired confection) of mixed delicate white and cream flowers and greenery. The flowers were chosen for their meaning and significance to both families:

~ Lily-of-the-valley signifies a return to happiness.
~ Hyacinth means constancy of love.
~ Sweet William stands for gallantry (and, of course, was added to celebrate the groom!)
~ Ivy is for fidelity.
~ Myrtle is also a Victorian symbol for fidelity as well as having close connections to goddess mythology. Kate's sprigs came from the "royal myrtles" at Fulham Palace in London, grown from cuttings from the wedding bouquet of Queen Victoria, William's great-great-great grandmother.

"In a sense, every wedding is a 'royal' wedding," the Lord Bishop of London declared to the world in Westminster Abbey at the grand, yet deeply personal wedding ceremony. So as a bride, wherever your wedding, not only are you regal and "royal," but you can use the precious and intimate language of flowers that was dear to a future queen on her wedding day.  

Love. Listen. Let go.
....with love from Cornelia

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