What are you doing with your bouquet?

lehc723

Hi ladies! I'm almost entirely positive we talked about this before, but I have the worst luck with TK's searches and can't find it, and figured some of us may have changed our minds or had brilliant insights since then, so let's talk again!

My question is for those of you who aren't doing a traditional bouquet toss-- what are you doing with your bouquet after? I always said I'd just hand it to whoever was "next", and a friend of mine did just get engaged, but we're not THAT close (her FI and my FI are closer than she and I are), and I don't know if it'd be weird. I know some brides choose to keep it and preserve it in some way, but I'm worried that with the one or two million other things happening that day that I'll forget and won't get to it and it'll just die. Which, is fine, they're flowers, it happens, but I still feel like I ought to think of something else? Another thing I thought of is I might give it to my MOH, who is my best friend, as a thank you, but is that weird? Also, especially since she's waiting for a ring, will her boyfriend kill me? Ha ha.

Anyway. You all always have better ideas than me, so I can't wait to learn from everyone's infinite wisdom here.

minionlover

My question to you is do you want to keep it or give it away?  If you want to give it away, another suggestion is to do an anniversary dance.  All of the married couples get on the dance floor and the DJ then starts asking couples married 1 year to leave, then 2 and so on until the couple that has been married the longest is the only one left.  Then you give the bouquet to them.

lehc723

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_october-2012-weddings_what-are-you-doing-with-your-bouquet?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20Club%20BoardsForum:56b9bcef-1e34-456e-81f5-cfaa107456b2Discussion:e4d64198-7502-4ac1-84c0-ebca98c921baPost:1f287b2f-f612-4b45-9791-b2928be74dea">Re: What are you doing with your bouquet?</a>:
[QUOTE]My question to you is do you want to keep it or give it away?  If you want to give it away, another suggestion is to do an anniversary dance.  All of the married couples get on the dance floor and the DJ then starts asking couples married 1 year to leave, then 2 and so on until the couple that has been married the longest is the only one left.  Then you give the bouquet to them.
Posted by Cathyl7910[/QUOTE]
Cute idea! I think that'd be my parents. Yeah, I don't know if I want to keep it or give it away. I guess one thing I forgot to say is what I'd thought I'd do all along was give it to my sister, who I figured would be engaged when I got married. BUT, she didn't want to wait and is instead getting married in September, a few weeks before me (after getting engaged in April), so it doesn't seem to make sense to give it to her now. Sigh.

ericaandtom2012

We're doing a traditional toss, but I'm using a tosser bouquet for that.  I will probably give my "walk down the aisle" bouquet to my grandmother the day after the wedding because I know she would enjoy it and appreciate it. 

mlperkins12

I'm going to present it to my mother at the reception and have made arrangements to have it preserved for her. 

Heath66

I got super lucky. My MOH's mother is a florist and she is extremely crafty. She will be taking my bouquet the night of the wedding, drying it out and she is going to put it in a frame with one of our invitations. She did this for my friend in June and it turned out gorgeous. 

I love the idea of giving it to whomever is married the longest. 

shoebie

Most people don't toss their actual bouquet and toss a smaller cheaper one. My real bouquet (pictured below) Will go into a bouquet vase and be the centerpiece for our sweetheart table.

TheSlowskys

My grandmother has a form dementia and my grandfather has already said she won't be able to come to the wedding, but he will be there.  I am going to give it to him and ask that he give it to her. She doesn't always remember people or understand events, but I hope she will remember me when he gives it to her.

For anyone that wants to keep theirs, I really like these 2 ideas I saw on pinterest: http://pinterest.com/pin/112519690660504831/, and http://pinterest.com/pin/113012271870168151/. Mine will be calla lillies but if it was another flower I would maybe save a few blooms for the Christmas ornament idea.

achiduck

I'm not 100% sure yet, but either I will do the traditional toss or I will give it to the BM's FI who I like very much. They're the next to get married in either of our circles.

I would avoid giving it to your MOH publicly if she's not actually engaged yet. If it were me, it would make me very uncomfortable (no matter how close I was with the bride) and puts a lot of pressure/negative light on her FI to be.

lehc723

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_october-2012-weddings_what-are-you-doing-with-your-bouquet?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20Club%20BoardsForum:56b9bcef-1e34-456e-81f5-cfaa107456b2Discussion:e4d64198-7502-4ac1-84c0-ebca98c921baPost:d5d0237b-a850-4d74-ab06-65a5b3df7a48">Re: What are you doing with your bouquet?</a>:
[QUOTE]I'm not 100% sure yet, but either I will do the traditional toss or I will give it to the BM's FI who I like very much. They're the next to get married in either of our circles. I would avoid giving it to your MOH publicly if she's not actually engaged yet. If it were me, it would make me very uncomfortable (no matter how close I was with the bride) and puts a lot of pressure/negative light on her FI to be.
Posted by achiduck[/QUOTE]
Yeah, that's what I was thinking in regards to giving it to MOH. It's one of those things that I think could be nice in theory... or disasterous, ha ha.

brainybrunette

We're not doing a bouquet toss either.  I don't want to do an anniversary dance, because the couple that I know would win I wouldn't exactly want to give my bouquet too (we're not that close).  

I'm going to give my bouquet to my grandmother.  I'd also like to pull a few flowers out and bring them to my great-grandmother's grave.  She passed away when I was 13 and we were very close.  I miss her so much!

cbear215

I haven't decided yet, but I'm thinking of presenting my bouqet to my mother.  I saw this done at a wedding last summer and I really liked the idea.  My mom and I are super close and I really want to do something meaningful for her the day of because a lot of the traditions are with my dad.  I may want to preserve it though too - I like the frame idea.  It'll be one or the other.

[Deleted User]

Mine will be the centerpiece on the sweetheart table also. After that I'm not sure....

jessiflower

I really like the idea of having it as a centerpiece at the sweetheart table!  Mine is all paper...I have been making flowers since January...I want to write something on each of the BM and MOH and BM flowers so that they have something from the wedding....I plan on keeping my bouquet after, and since its paper, that wont be difficult....I actually thought about having everyone in the wedding party sign somewhere on the bouquet after the wedding as a keepsake for me..........we are not doing the boquet toss.......

shasha5847

We are not tossing the bouquet either.  Mine is becoming the centerpiece of the sweetheart table.  I'll probably dry a flower or two from it later.

mmmendi

The flowers in my bouquet are silks, and I plan to selfishly keep it

aimeek420

We're doing a generation dance, that other PPs have described above (longest married couple remains dancing the longest and that woman receives the bouquet). We're pretty sure that it'll be FI's parents, who have been married about 45 years, so we're planning to play their first dance song.

lyradimer

We're also not doing a bouquet toss, and I think we'll give it to the longest wed couple of the anniversary dance, which will probably be my parents at 40 years.

nani1012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_october-2012-weddings_what-are-you-doing-with-your-bouquet?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding Club BoardsForum:56b9bcef-1e34-456e-81f5-cfaa107456b2Discussion:e4d64198-7502-4ac1-84c0-ebca98c921baPost:1f287b2f-f612-4b45-9791-b2928be74dea">Re: What are you doing with your bouquet?</a>:
[QUOTE]My question to you is do you want to keep it or give it away?  If you want to give it away, another suggestion is to <strong>do an anniversary dance</strong>.  All of the married couples get on the dance floor and the DJ then starts asking couples married 1 year to leave, then 2 and so on until the couple that has been married the longest is the only one left.  Then you give the bouquet to them.
Posted by Cathyl7910[/QUOTE]

THIS! I loved this idea and FI and I weren't in love with doing a bouquet and garter toss. So we decided to do an anniversary dance.

nataliet02

No toss here. I actually saw somewhere, either Pinterest or another board, of how someone took the roses and was able to grow rose bushes from them. My mom has a huge green thumb so I am going to give her a few roses and have her plant them for me. I also saw on Pinterest on taking the petals and creating a large bloom in a shadow box. Maybe If I can get my BM to preserve them for me while on our HM I can come back to making the shadow box.