June 15, 2012

{Brides & Flowers}


Dear Bride-to-Be:
When I think of summertime, I think of flowers. And when I think of weddings, I picture a bride with a beautiful bouquet. Flowers just speak a language of beauty and intimacy and, well, love!

Brides and the language of flowers have a romantic and mystical history. Through the ages romantics assigned meaning to flowers and herbs according to their innate nature—and a language was created!

Bridal folklore tells of maidens entwining creamy white, aromatic orange blossoms into a bridal wreath for their hair, to ensure fertility; or carrying a bunch of sweet smelling white lilacs, representing innocence; or tucking fragrant herbs into their bouquets, rosemary for remembrance and dill, believed to provoke lust. (And both herbs were often eaten for their supposed powers!)

The Victorians of the 19th century had a custom of arranging a bouquet of flowers and herbs “to spell out the groom’s name (baby’s breath, irises, limonium, and lilies for B-I-L-L.”)

Queen Victoria carried a nosegay of snowdrops, representing friendship (they were her beloved Albert’s favorite flower); and Grace Kelly, after much thought, selected lilies-of-the-valley for her wedding bouquet, one of the many delicate flowers meaning purity. For her royal wedding bouquet, Kate Middleton chose flowers expressing what she held dear, including sprigs of "Sweet William" that just happened to symbolize gallantry!

Whatever flowers you choose for your wedding, let them be an expression of your heart and a reminder for you to speak the language of love every day!

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


ps: I hope everyone has a beautiful summer! I'm still working on the rewrite of my new book, The End of the Fairy-Tale Bride...intending for a release later this year! AND if you don't have a copy of my Amazon bestselling book, The Bride's Ritual Guide: Look Inside to Find Yourself, then now is a great time to order because you get 3 free gifts along with the book reviewers call "the perfect gift for every bride's heart." Enjoy...