Choosing Flowers for Your Wedding

Contemporary

What it is: A tightly packed, stylized bouquet of flowers, such as cherry brandy roses and isle spray roses, with fun, informal accents, like peach hypericum berries (shown). When it comes to the extras, brides get inventive, adding everything from holly to fruit to cotton plumes.
 
What to know: Ask your florist whether your dream accent is durable enough to withstand being wrapped in a bouquet. Tie the stems with chiffon ribbon, which, unlike other fabrics, won't stain when submerged in water.

Money-saving tip: These blooms (all less than $2 a stem) are available year-round.

• Alstroemeria: red, pink, peach, orange, yellow, purple, white
• Carnation: wide variety of colors
• Chrysanthemum: red, yellow, purple, white
• Freesia: pink, orange, yellow, purple, white
• Snapdragon: red, pink, yellow, bronze, lavender, white
• Stock: red, pink, burgundy, purple, cream, white
• Sweet William: red, pink, purple