I asked Joe to send reports on weddings when he had time. He does work full time and volunteers other places besides the Marriage Factory. Today he is writing about bouquets and he gives some history. Thanks Joe.
A Rose By Any Other Name
The wedding bouquet has its origins in ancient times, to ward off either evil spirits or the smell of plague. It wasn't until the 19th century that flowers supplanted herbs and leaves. Nowadays, at least at the Marriage Factory, the bouquet serves mainly to get in the way of the couple holding hands and to block the photographers from capturing the moment the bride puts a ring on the groom's finger.
Bouquets take many forms: store-bought amalgams of mums, blossoms and baby's-breath; neatly shorn roses in red, white, pink, or coral; rubber-banded sunflowers with blooms the size of a baby's head. Doesn't matter - they're all difficult to wrangle when the time comes for the vows and the handholding. Still, some brides seem utterly stricken when it comes time to set aside the flowers. I never demand one way or the other. I just wonder how many pictures there are of a bouquet covering the groom's hand as his soon-to-be-wife slides an invisible ring on him.
Fashion report: a beautiful ecru dress matching a traditional Filipino embroidered shirt in the same color, with a flowered headband in the same palette
By the numbers:
Ceremonies: 9
Couples in formal wear: 4
Ceremony where the children outnumbered the adults: 1, although the kids were well-behaved
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