"^%^ 



THE 



WAYS OF WEARING s^ 

 ^ WEDDING FLOWERS 



Weddi7igs call for more than flowers from the florist, and he should be 

 prepared to meet all demands upon him, particularly those for advice. How 

 the bride should bear her bouquet and the bridesmaids carry their flowers 

 are points on which he is often asked to render fashion's fiat. 



O ONE, except the parson, 

 participates in more wed- 

 dings than the florist. 

 This is not a charge of 

 polygamy against him, 

 but a statement of fact. 

 He is not always, of 

 course, one of the con- 

 tracting parties. Solo- 

 mon was, so far as is 

 known, the only man who was a con- 

 tracting party at every wedding he at- 

 tended; that accounts for his record. 

 But though the florist's participation 

 is personally, though not pecuniarily, 

 disinterested, he gains thereby a fund 

 of knowledge that places him in the 

 position of matrimonial 

 mentor during the month 

 of June. 



In the month when the 

 jar labeled "becomes a 

 benedict" is so frequently 

 disturbed from its dusty 

 place in the cannery, the 

 florist has a wearying time, 

 not so much of selling 

 flowers as of giving advice. 

 To Nat Goodwin, DeWolf 

 Hopper, et al., one month, 

 connubially considered, is 

 quite like another, but the 

 contracting parties at June 

 weddings are usually com- 

 mitting their "first of- 

 fense." So the June bride 

 is in need of a coach, and 

 though it would seem that 

 the groom, particularly as 

 a member of a bridal 

 party, should have more to 

 do with such a vehicle than 

 a florist, the latter is it. 



Dismounting. 



If the reader is not now 

 hors de combat, from the 

 equine allusions just above, 

 he will come down to earth 

 gently. For, when the 

 bridegroom is romantically 

 reviewing the benedictine 

 — put down your glass! — 

 bliss that he fancies awaits 

 him, the florist's practical 

 head is much needed to en- 

 sure the success of the 

 ceremony. 



One of the problems that 

 are most often carried to 

 the florist for solution is 

 that of the manner of car- 

 rying the flowers by the 

 various members of the 

 bridal party. The bride's 



bouquet, as the adornment of the most 

 important person in the parade, comes 

 first. Most of the difficulty arises from 

 the fact that this feature is purchased 

 by the bridegroom. He is just learn- 

 ing, by premonitory perplexities, the 

 truth of the old song that "when a 

 man's married, his trouble begins." 



He goes to the florist with a heroic 

 heart and a plump pocketbook, to make 

 this feature of his day of days some- 

 thing that will do full justice to the 

 occasion. Wise is the florist who points 

 out to him the superiority of quality 

 to size, of merit to show. For he shall 

 win the esteem of the bride. 



It is the sad fact that too few flo- 



How the Bride Should Bear Her Bouquet. 



lists take this wiser course. Many pre- 

 fer the easier way, to try to satisfy 

 the bridegroom that he got his money's 

 worth by means of large size and big 

 show. Naturally the heavy bouquet is 

 a burden to the delicate girl who nerv- 

 ously paces the path to the altar. Con- 

 sequently, one bride holds it bravely in 

 her two hands as if she were a stand- 

 ard-bearer; another slings it over her 

 arm upside down, and still another 

 packs it up under her armpit as if it 

 were a pound of steak from market. 

 Then some younger sister or girl friend, 

 seeing the ludicrous effect, decides to 

 carry only a prayerbook at her wed- 

 ding, and the florist is the loser. 



It is easy to see the cor- 

 rect way from the illustra- 

 tion on this page. The 

 bride, if she has the 

 strength, or the groom has 

 bought the bouquet of a 

 wise florist, carries it 

 gracefully over her left 

 arm. The ribbons are at 

 the front — but, let us hope, 

 not of the fighting variety 

 — and the flowers droop 

 forward. In this position, 

 the bouquet shows to its 

 best advantage, and yet 

 does not hide the beauty of 

 the bride or that of her 

 gown, on which — the latter, 

 that is — she has lavished 

 many hours of preparation. 



The Part of Art. 



The florist should remem- 

 ber that, while his part of 

 the arrangements may be 

 the most important con- 

 tribution to the beauty of 

 the wedding scene, the 

 flowers, neither those 

 borne by the bride and 

 maids nor those in the 

 decorations, should be so 

 prominent as to spoil the 

 effect of the whole. The 

 retailer who caters to the 

 best class of trade will tell 

 you, if he has studied the 

 matter, that the high 

 prices he receives are not 

 for his flowers so much as 

 for his art. 



The bridesmaids, if they 

 carry bouquets, hold them 

 loosely over the arm in the 

 same fashion as the bride, 

 bearing them on the left 

 and right side alternately. 

 Should they have baskets 



