If your extended family is large, a number of mothers and grandmothers, fathers, grandfathers and step relatives may expect to be distinguished with corsages and boutonnieres. Of course, you and your fiancé and your attendants are appropriately adorned. The most popular way of dealing with the cast of thousands has been to include everyone in the family with color-coordinated flowers.
Hearts And Flowers
Personal flowers are a small but significant gesture of affection and respect. Brides and bridegrooms especially enjoy giving them to stepfamily members as a way of saying, "I'm glad you're part of my family, particularly on this special day." Bride Mimi was very clear about her objectives. She said, "I wanted to set our families apart, literally and figuratively, from the other guests."
If you want to give flowers, it is important to coordinate style and colors with both the wedding theme and the personal preferences of the recipients. In addition to mothers, it might also be appropriate to provide a small corsage to friends and extended family members who perform special services, such as attending the guest book.
A woman may wear her corsage at her shoulder, on a handbag or on her wrist. The key men, namely the groom and each of the bride's and groom's fathers, usually have boutonnieres similar to, but a bit larger than, the rest of the men in the wedding party.
Petal Dropping
Florists tell me that it helps to know about family relationships that depart from the "norm." For instance, if you have two mothers (your mother and stepmother) attending, the corsages may be quite similar. One florist explains how she handles delicate family relationships. "I am very careful not to put 'Mom' on both boxes. I put 'Mom' on one box and the first name of the stepmother on the other box."
Ask a friend to personally take delivery of the corsages and boutonnieres. This person will be responsible for distributing them and pinning them on the recipients. This can eliminate worries for you, especially if a lot of people are receiving flowers.
