Here is a bit more from Laura Dowling, on Parisian Floral Wedding Trends…
Haute couture bouquets. Catherine Műller, who formerly served as creative director for legendary French florist Christian Tortu, teaches the “haute couture” style in her chic new Parisian studio. Her bridal bouquets are characterized by a lavish use of exquisite flowers, intricate details, and elaborately decorated stems. These special bouquets are little jewel-like works of art that are at once striking and delicate. In class we made the Bouquet Chanel, featuring all white flowers – white calla lilies, roses, ranunculas, and phaleonopsis orchids, tied with ivy. We decorated the stems with variegated lily grass, woven into a basket-weave pattern, finished by a single, perfect phaleonopsis orchid. Trés chic!
Color schemes. Color trends for French bouquets typically take their cue from the runways of Paris, the fashion capital of the world. For spring 2008, en vogue color combinations are purple and icy pink, fuchsia paired with vermillion red, and gentle pastels with metallic touches in mink, sand, or shell hues. The French also love white flowers and know that you can’t go wrong with floral bouquets in shades of white and green. A new twist is the scheme of white, silver and crystal, featuring layers of white on white decorations and flowers, silver and crystal accents, and transparent glass. Lime green is a perennial favorite as is orange (Hérmes orange) combined with fuchsia (a la Christian Lacroix).
Overall, current bouquet trends run the entire spectrum from being highly structured bouquets with extraordinary detailing and flourishes – like the haute couture style – to being very natural and unstructured, as if the bouquet is coming from the field or garden and the flowers are springing up from the base. The latter trend of an au natural style is the dominant trend in Paris, and is often juxtaposed against stark, modern backdrops, producing surprising and exciting effects.
Check back for more gorgeous images from Laura’s portfolio!
