Overlooked Wedding Flowers

There are a few standard go-to flowers for weddings: roses, irises, lilies, and the like. Those are all solid choices and beautiful in bouquets. But if you’re looking for something a little unexpected in your centerpieces and bouquets, there are plenty of less-conventional choices. If everything else about your wedding is unusual, why not throw in some oft-overlooked flowers? Go beyond the front row of the florist’s cold case with these striking blossoms.

Wildflowers

For a rustic or Western-themed wedding, it just wouldn’t look right to carry a bouquet of roses and baby’s breath down the aisle. Daisies, bluebells, and lavender might not be as highbrow, but they’re beautiful. Plus a lavender bouquet smells absolutely wonderful.

Calla Lilies

These creamy white flowers, cup-shaped with a bright yellow stamen and a bright green stem, make a bold choice for carrying down the aisle. They don’t really need a bouquet to make them stand out, either: a simple bundle of only calla lilies tied with a white ribbon makes a statement all by itself.

Clematis

Clematis grow on vines, not stems, so they wouldn’t work for a long-stemmed bouquet. But these marigold-esque blossoms are full and vibrant. The white blooms are stunning, but they also come in purple, red, and blue.

Columbine

Columbine have a very unique look to them. They’re almost like a flower within a flower; the central petals are framed by another ring of petals in a different color. We’ve seen beautiful Columbine in white and pink form the center of a very eye-catching bouquet.

Peonies

Peony buds are glued shut with a sugary sap-like substance. They open when ants climb onto the buds and eat away the glue. When they’re fully open, they’re almost round; it’s a lavish explosion of petals in white, pink, or red. There are inevitably a few ants hanging around deep in the petals, so we don’t recommend using this one in a bouquet, but a single blossom floating in water makes a fine centerpiece.

Nigella

Nigella pods are often dried and used for fall arrangements. That’s a shame, because the actual blossom is gorgeous. They come in white, blue, purple, and pink, and all feature a double-ring of flowers around twisting green tendrils.

Zinnias

Zinnias have a nice full blossom like peonies, but they come in more saturated hues and vibrant primary colors. They’re perfect for a really striking summer bouquet, or any wedding that has bold colors as part of their theme.

Blue Delphinium

Delphiniums are available in other colors, but the deep blue delphinium is our personal favorite. The stalks with rows of blossoms on them are great for table decorations, and you can use just a flower or two for boutonnieres.

When it comes to choosing wedding flowers, your options are as wide open as the whole green earth. It might be worth taking a trip to a plant nursery or a botanical garden in addition to the florist’s shop for inspiration. With a little extra searching, you can find the perfect beautiful but overlooked blossoms for your bouquets and centerpieces.