Wedding Flowers

African Wedding Flowers

African weddings were known to carry a lot of rituals that were performed way before a wedding took place and during a wedding celebration as well. These rituals may still be displayed in the regions that few modern living means have penetrated, but in a modern African society the old rituals have lost their power to influence people’s life, nowadays even the rituals have undertaken modern ways to be used in the developing of a wedding process.

In regard to the preparation of an African wedding there are the specific elements that confer a wedding the color of the tradition and rituals inherited in the patrimony of local culture. Africans are still divided in tribes of which each carries its own ritual more or less modernized, but yet present to give the note of distinction when compared to other African tribe’s wedding.

One ritual that is present in African weddings is broom jumping, a ritual that is connected to the ancient rituals of marriage among slaves. In the earlier times of slavery African American couples weren’t allowed to get legally married. In order to make a wedding somehow ‘official’ a ceremony was organized having the beating of the drums in the background and the couple jumping over a broom “into matrimony”. In the present times this ritual is still preserved and normally takes place after the minister pronounces the couple husband and wife.

For the atmosphere of the weddings, couples use flowers in a celebration of this old rite to add a new meaning to the ceremony and defining a style that can change an ordinary concept of flower into an African wedding flower concept. Using flowers in their broom jumping ritual confers a new dimension to the meaning of the flower itself.

In this regard we meet different styles in decorating the broom, such as: “creative Fuchsia” – a broom decorated with Fuchsia flowers accented with ribbons that can be pink, mint green, white or ivory. “Champagne and ivory” style using ivory lily and roses, and accented with Champagne ribbon and cowrie shells (shells are used to symbolize beauty and power). “Lilly Broom” having white lily, which is known to represent the symbol of purity, and roses next to it. Ribbons are also present in a variety of color choices: silver, white, gold or ivory satin.

“Lillies – Choose Your Color” another style that has brooms available in orange, white, yellow or Fuchsia Lilly and decorated with Lilies and Roses. “Broom of Wealth” is presented with a cluster of ivory white hydrean flower with silver accents and cowrie shells captured in Turquoise ribbon. “Ivory Romance” that has a cluster of ivory roses with silver babies breath and silver sheer ribbon with cowrie shells.

“Roses are Red” style captures the red roses to symbolize energy, vitality, and life “Broom of Paradise”, a decoration that presents orange and yellow roses next to orange/gold lily and accented with sheer ribbon and shells. “Purple Passion” has lilac roses, purple ribbon, purple tulle and gold shells. Burgundy orchid with cowrie shells is the decoration for “Bliss”, whereas a “Romance Broom” is expressed by a decoration with burgundy red lily accented with shells.

The African wedding flowers are the ones that every wedding displays, the difference consists in the way they are presented with regard to the tradition and the beliefs, features that add the note of originality to every wedding celebration.