Add sunshine to your summer wedding with beautiful bright yellow sunflower bouquets. If you’re considering having this gorgeous yellow bloom for your wedding flowers here’s our inspiration on shapes, styles, complementary colours, and how to incorporate sunflowers into the rest of your wedding decor.
Whether you’re planning a summery yellow wedding theme or sunflowers are simply your favourite bloom, walking down the aisle clutching these large, vibrantly coloured, distinctive flowers will certainly make a style statement.
Sunflowers are in season in the UK throughout the summer months and at the start of autumn, and can grow to between one and a half and three and a half metres tall, with some giant variants growing as high as eight metres tall!
Sunflowers: Symbolism and Meaning
The Latin name for sunflower is Helianthus Annuus, which comes from a combination of the Greek words helios, meaning sun, and anthos which means flower. Representing joy and radiance, the sunflower is said to symbolise optimism, steadfast loyalty, everlasting faith and adoration. In China, the sunflower is also a symbol of longevity, making it the perfect choice for your bridal bouquet.
Sunflower Bouquet Styles
You may think a sunflower wedding bouquet is the simplest of floral arrangements, and it can be, if that’s what you want, but there are several ways of incorporating sunflowers into your wedding flowers. When it comes to choosing this flower for your bouquet, as with all styles of bridal bouquets, it’s worth considering the following:
- the shape of bouquet you would like to hold
- what style of bouquet will suit your dress
- which other flowers you would like to go with the sunflowers
- what other colours you may want to have alongside the bright yellow of the sunflowers
- whether you want to incorporate trailing foliage or some other design shape into your bouquet
- how you would you like your bridal bouquet to look compared to your bridesmaid’s bouquets
- what kind of wedding buttonhole your groom, the best man and ushers will wear
Colour Mixing Sunflower Bouquets
Sunflowers look perhaps most stunning against blues and purples, as these are complementary colours to yellow. For a warm look, mix with orange gerberas or pretty two-tone peach and orange tea roses, and for a fiery, brighter style add red. Mix with bright pink for an unusual and eye-catching bouquet, or to tone down the yellow, mix with classic bridal white and ivory florals.
Bold Sunflowers and Classic White Roses
If you want to be daring and different with your big, bold, bright sunflowers but still want to be classic, mix white roses in with your sunflowers, for a wonderful winning combination. It’s actually a very simple style that gives a very beautiful result. Tying the stems with ribbon to match either the white or the yellow into a rounded bouquet will finish off the look perfectly.
Trailing Sunflower Bouquets
A trailing bouquet in a loose, organic teardrop shape has an old fashioned, romantic look that will go especially beautifully against a long, A-line or full-skirted wedding dress. Add falling astilbe and trailing ivy to complement the roundness of the sunflowers and natural greenery for a bright and beautiful look.
Hand-tied Posy Sunflower Bouquets
A simpler, smaller look that is ideal for bridesmaids is the hand-tied posy bouquet. These can be made smaller than the bride’s bouquet, with just three or five sunflowers (odd numbers tend to look better), and a small addition of foliage for added interest. Little bridesmaids and flowergirls could have one small sunflower tied with ribbon to their wrists or on a headband or as part of a small or half flower-crown, which could even be homemade.
Jayne and Keith’s Sunflower-Themed Wedding
At Jayne and Keith’s Scottish handfasting wedding they had a silver and sunflower theme running throughout the day, from the bride’s bouquet to the reception table decor. Sunflowers were placed along the top table with lush green leaves for a colourful and eye-catching display.
Jayne and Keith’s sunflower-themed wedding
Co-ordinating Sunflowers into Your Wedding
Sunflower bouquets look wonderful with a rustic wedding theme, alongside wild flowers and other natural elements like birds and butterflies. The Flower Ceremony is a visually beautiful and symbolic way to include your favourite flower in the taking of your vows and just one alternative unity ceremony idea you might want to consider. It does look particularly stunning with sunflowers.
Adding large, bright sunflowers to your table centrepieces makes an ideal focal point for your wedding breakfast. For your table decor, smaller sunflowers can be added to each place setting and you could even give each guest their own flower seed favours.
Find more inspiration on wedding flowers in DIY sparkling bouquets and discuss your own ideas for unique sunflower bouquets with your local wedding florist.