For relatives and friends of the bride, the presence at the event means not only support for the main character of the action, but also the opportunity, albeit a little far-fetched, to get married. The famous national sign says: I caught the bride’s bouquet at the wedding - you will marry the next, before all the other unmarried girls present. However, tradition involves a much more complex algorithm, but today not everyone knows what to do with a caught wedding bouquet.
What to do with flowers?
Traditionally, a withered bouquet is simply thrown away, but this one has a symbolic meaning - having caught it, the new owner expects to become a married woman soon, and therefore throwing such a chance seems wrong. For this reason, most girls prefer to keep such a symbol for as long as possible, and they see two possibilities as the most logical option.
The most obvious solution is to dry the bouquet, then it will maintain a look similar to the original for a long time. Dry flowers look pretty enough and can be an interior decoration, especially if you put them in an attractive vase. The special symbolism of such a room accessory will be that it means a lot to its owner, raising her spirits with her one look. After all, not a single lady who is ready to believe in such a sign will refuse to marry.
Another common idea for subsequent handling of a bouquet is fill them with a decorative pillow. This decision already requires certain needlework skills, but in the domestic tradition, the future hostess should already have them, so an extra opportunity to practice does not hurt - so the beloved is more likely to appreciate the useful skills of her beloved. Most likely, dried flowers will emit a pleasant light aroma, which once again will give the owner of the accessory a good mood and will remind you of a pleasant event in the near future.
It should be noted that modern brides often take care of their girlfriends, ordering two bouquets at once, one of which is made of artificial flowers. In the majority of episodes with the participation of the bride, it is natural flowers that appear, but she throws an artificial copy to her friends, since she keeps together better, and most importantly, she does not fade. This approach, of course, makes you abandon the idea of a pillow, but you can be sure that such a “catch” will never fade.
Drying Procedure
For the girl who caught the bride’s bouquet at the wedding, the latter seems to be a huge success, therefore, it must be kept in an adequate form for as long as possible - so that he accurately reaches out to the planned celebration. Although drying flowers is not really complicated, it is possible that a potential bride, having become nervous, will not properly dry the flowers. Then they will quickly deteriorate, which can be interpreted as a bad omen. To prevent this from happening, it is worth repeating the basic principles of drying bouquets once more.
- To begin with, the components of the composition should be disassembled. Ribbons that flowers are usually tied to are removed altogether, like leaves damaged during the celebration or tossing of a bouquet. Actually, flowers and greens are sorted, laying out separately, depending on the category.
- Instead of tapes for connecting dried flowers, use wire moreover, it wraps the bouquet not only along the external contour, but also between the individual specimens. This is necessary for the reason that during the drying process, the stems lose their thickness, and whole flowers are able to fall out of the finished composition, spoiling its appearance.
- To dry the flowers faster, they need warm and dry air, while in the cold they simply freeze and wither, and in too humid air they can rot. It should be understood that the source of heat for drying should not be direct sunlight - from them the flowers are also more likely to disappear. Ideally, the bouquet is hung down with petals - in this state it will reach readiness for a good few weeks.
However, a certain violation of the technology is possible even when all conditions seem to be optimal, because experienced people advise periodically checking the condition of the bouquet, reacting to any manifestations of damage.
- Greens are dried separately from flowers, since the green branches in the process of drying very much lose volume and twist. For such a component of the wedding bouquet, ordinary books will become the best place to dry - it is better to save greens according to the same scheme as an ordinary school herbarium.
- As we already understood, individual components of the wedding bouquet are dried separately from each other, but symbolism is inherent precisely in a holistic composition, therefore, at the end of the process, all the elements are again gathered in a whole bouquet. Separate parts are connected using the same wire, however, you should additionally take care of the integrity of the accessory - although it is unlikely to rot or fade, it can easily crumble and crumble. To prevent this from happening, you should spray the bouquet with at least hair spray, and the best solution would be to buy a special composition for processing dried flowers in any flower shop.
How to make a pillow?
It happens that you don’t want to dry the bouquet, or if it’s not possible - then the fragrant pillow remains the only option for storing the caught flowers. In a sense, this option seems even simpler.It should be noted that for filling pillows, usually not the whole bouquet is used, but only the flower petals, because either the bouquet must be very large, or the finished accessory will be very small and can be used exclusively for decorative purposes.
Separated petals, as a rule, emit a characteristic floral aroma, but in the long run it is not worth relying only on the forces of nature, therefore such material is pre-soaked in aromatic oils or water. A certain line should be found between a too cloying, obsessive smell and a fragrance that is almost elusive. When the petals are well soaked and absorb part of the extraneous aroma, they must be thoroughly dried.
The conditions are generally similar to those used to dry the flowers from the whole bouquet - you need a dry and warm place in which high temperature would not be provided due to direct sunlight. As a rule, petals soaked in aromatic liquids dry for no more than two weeks.
During this time, you should prepare pillowcases in the amount of two pieces. The first has exclusively practical functions - it is needed in order to hold the petals and prevent them from falling out even in the crumbled form, while almost any material can be used for its manufacture. The outer pillowcase performs exclusively decorative functions, it can be decorated with embroidery or beads, but certain requirements are put forward for the material - it should be beautiful and pleasant to the touch. You can make two outer pillowcases at once - then it will be possible to periodically change them, constantly maintaining a decent look of a stitched accessory.
The meaning of ritual in the modern world
The tradition of catching a bride’s bouquet exists in many European countries, but it didn’t always look exactly like it is now. Previously, for example, any piece of newlywed clothing was considered a very successful souvenir, but it is logical that such a flap was easier to repulse from the fairer sex. There is even a legend that explains how the bouquet acquired its present meaning: allegedly at one of the weddings, the bride, who faced the threat of being completely left out of clothes due to persistent guests, tried to distract their attention by throwing her bouquet into the crowd of persecutors.
Today no one is already experiencing sentiment along with the groom, and they do not touch the brides - only the bouquet is important. According to tradition, luck to catch such a souvenir means that expect marriage no longer than a year, but no one collected statistics, of course. One can find completely different comments on the Internet on this subject, and it cannot be said that critics or proponents of the theory that this really works are clearly leading.
It should be borne in mind that girls who marry often invite their peers who are already in a relationship to the wedding, because their fast wedding is not such a curiosity, and then the unbridled desire to catch a bouquet is not such a mystical reason for an early marriage .
Separately, we say that in the modern world, many people fundamentally refuse to believe in traditions that look far-fetched, because at almost every wedding there is a girl who basically does not want to try her luck in this way. However, as practice shows, not a single unmarried lady, even from among the skeptics, was disappointed that she had caught such a souvenir.
How to catch a bouquet?
We have already said about the skeptics, but there are also some girls who, in an invitation to a friend’s wedding, see almost the opportunity to get married soon. Such persons set the main goal of the evening to catch a bunch, and on the Internet you can even find special tips on how to succeed. Of course, they are not without a joke, but we will give them too.
- Catching flowers, like a game of volleyball or basketball, requires height and good jumping ability, because a girl who wants to become a happy owner of a bouquet should first train such skills.
- To overestimate the value of the caught bouquet is still not worth it. It’s another matter that at most weddings not only the bride’s girlfriends are present, but also the groom’s friends, and among them there are often unmarried young people who are worth getting to know — this tactic usually gives a brighter effect than catching the bouquet itself.
- The wedding bouquet itself, most likely, doesn’t bring the wedding closer, but it can be used to give a young man a clear hint of his own desires.
- Women's happiness often becomes the envy of even close friends, therefore, after catching a bouquet, you should carefully protect it from competitors.
About what you can’t do with the bride’s bouquet, see the next video.
