Symbolic Meanings of Wedding Flowers

During weddings, you can’t just use any wedding flowers for your floral arrangements and bouquets. There are meanings and symbolizing flowers bring out at the wedding. Though not everyone at your wedding can be fluent in the language, it is still something to consider.

Roses are the most commonly used at weddings due to they symbolize love, romance, and passion. As a florist explain the meaning to the bride to help her to choose the best wedding flowers for her biggest day.

As a bride, you can give your bridesmaid different flower bouquets with the meaning attached to show how you think of her. We have curated for you the common wedding flowers with their meaning and symbolizing to make choosing your wedding flowers easy.

The symbolic meaning of wedding flowers

Baby’s Breath or Gypsophila

Meaning: Innocence
Best For: Filler in bouquets, corsages, and boutonnieres
Scent: None
In Season: Year-round
Price Range: Inexpensive

Calla Lily

Meaning: Magnificent beauty
Best For Bouquets and arrangements
Scent: Lightly fragrant
In Season: Spring and summer
Price Range: Expensive
Floral Fact: This large tropical flower is very popular for weddings.

Carnation

Meaning: Pink represents boldness, red symbolizes love, and white indicates talent. Some other colors have negative connotations (see below).
Best For: Bouquets, boutonnieres, and arrangements
Scent: Very light fragrance or none at all, depending on the variety
In Season: Year-round
Price Range: Inexpensive

Chrysanthemum (or mums)

Meaning: Wealth, abundance, truth
Best For: Bouquets and arrangements
Scent: None
In Season: Year-round
Price Range: Inexpensive
Floral Fact: Mums come in several varieties, which determine their size and color. The name literally means “golden flower.”

Daffodil

Meaning: Regard
Best For: Garden settings, in pots
Scent: None
In Season: Spring
Price Range: Inexpensive (in season)

Daisy

Meaning: Share your feelings
Best For: Bouquets
Scent: None
In Season: Year-round
Price Range: Inexpensive (in season)

Delphinium

Meaning: Swiftness, lightness
Best For: Arrangements
Scent: Lightly fragrant
In Season: Summer
Price Range: Moderate

Freesia

Meaning: Innocence
Best For: Bouquets
Scent: Very fragrant
In Season: Spring and summer
Price Range: Inexpensive (in season)

Gardenia

Meaning: Purity, joy
Best For: Bouquets and boutonnieres
Scent: Very fragrant
In Season: Year-round
Price Range: Expensive

Hydrangea

Meaning: Understanding
Best For: Bouquets and arrangements
Scent: None
In Season: Spring and fall
Price Range: Expensive

Iris

Meaning: A message of faith, wisdom
Best For: In arrangements or potted
Scent: Fragrant
In Season: Spring
Price Range: Moderate to expensive, depending on the variety
Floral Fact: Irises come in several sizes; they are usually blue or white, but you may find exotic varieties (including purple ones).

Lilac

Meaning: Love’s first emotions
Best For: Filler in arrangements or as part of bouquets, depending on the variety
Scent: Very fragrant
In Season: Local lilacs are available in the spring; imported French lilacs are available year-round
Price Range: Moderate to expensive
Floral Fact: The local lilac is grown like a bush, and is used as filler because of its greenery. The French lilac is more flower-like and can be used as such in bouquets and arrangements.

Lily

Meaning: Majesty, truth, honor
Best For: Bouquets and arrangements
Scent: Fragrant
In Season: Summer, but often imported during other seasons
Price Range: Moderate to expensive

Lily of the Valley

Meaning: Happiness
Best For: Bouquets, in combination with other flowers
Scent: Fragrant
In Season: Spring and summer
Price Range: Expensive
Floral Fact: These small, fragile, bell-shaped flowers are considered traditional marriage flowers.

Magnolia

Meaning: Love of nature
Best For: Arrangements
Scent: Depends on the variety
In Season: Spring and summer
Price Range: Expensive
Floral Fact: Magnolias are more common in Southern-style weddings, as most magnolia trees grow in the South.

Orchid

Meaning: Love, beauty
Best For: Bouquets, corsages, and boutonnieres
Scent: None
In Season: Year-round — almost always imported
Price Range: Expensive
Floral Fact: This exotic flower comes in a variety of colors and sizes.

Peony

Meaning: Bashfulness, the American spirit of ambition and determination
Best For: Arrangements
Scent: Lightly fragrant
In Season: Late spring
Price Range: Expensive

Rose

Meaning: Love, joy, beauty
Best For: Bouquets, corsages, boutonnieres, and arrangements
Scent: Lightly fragrant to very fragrant, depending on the variety
In Season: Year-round
Price Range: Moderate to expensive
Floral Fact: Roses are the most popular wedding flowers.

Stephanotis

Meaning: Marital happiness
Best For: Bouquets and arrangements
Scent: Very fragrant
In Season: Year-round
Price Range: Moderate
Floral Fact: These trumpet-shaped blossoms are traditional bridal flowers, no doubt due to their meaning.

Stock

Meaning: Lasting beauty
Best For: Filler in arrangements
Scent: Very fragrant
In Season: Year-round
Price Range: Inexpensive
Floral Fact: Stock can be found in many colors to complement and fill out arrangements.

Sunflower

Meaning: Short-stemmed sunflowers mean adoration; long-stemmed sunflowers symbolize haughtiness
Best For: Carrying a single stem down the aisle; potted arrangements
Scent: None
In Season: Fall
Price Range: Inexpensive to moderate in season

Sweet Pea

Meaning: Pleasure
Best For: Garden setting, in vases
Scent: Fragrant
In Season: Late spring and early summer
Price Range: Moderate

Tulip

Meaning: Love, passion
Best For: Arrangements and bouquets
Scent: None
In Season: Late spring
Price Range: Expensive
Floral Fact: These sweet and stately flowers can be found in a myriad of colors, but they are very fragile.

Unfavorable Flowers

It’s sad but true: You might want to avoid certain flowers (if you’re superstitious, that is). On the other hand, you can always thumb your nose at history and ascribe your own meaning to these “questionable” blooms. Here are the so-called negative indicators:

Christmas Rose: Scandal
Fig: Idleness
Foxglove: Insincerity
Larkspur: Infidelity
Lavender: Distrust
Marigold: Grief
Mulberry: I shall not survive you
Raspberry: Remorse
Red Carnation: Alas for my poor heart
Red Poppy: Consolation
Rhododendron: Danger
Striped Carnation: Refusal
White Poppy: Sleep
Yellow Carnation: Disdain
Yellow Chrysanthemum: Slighted Love
Yellow Lily: Falsehood
Yellow Rose: Jealousy