Fresh Flowers for Your Hair

A single bold flower or a cluster of delicate blooms adds a romantic flourish to your wedding-day hairstyle. In general, use larger blossoms with simple styles, smaller ones for more intricate looks. Opt for flowers that are in season and are resilient. Some flowers shouldn't be used near your skin, for safety reasons; your florist will be able to guide you to sensible choices. And your hairstylist can pinpoint which blooms will work best to create the look you want to achieve.

Trade Secret: How to Keep Blooms Looking Fresh

Store the flowers for your hair in a refrigerator or cooler until you are ready to use them. Mist your hairstyle with hair spray for the final time before attaching the flowers, as the alcohol and polymers in hair sprays can damage delicate blossoms. To wear a large bloom, like the cymbidium orchid above, cut stem to one inch; pierce it with a U-shape hairpin, and insert the pin into the thickest part of the hairstyle. For small flowers that grow in clusters along a single stem, like the asters above, wrap the main stem around a chignon, and secure with hairpins at one-inch intervals. Small individual blossoms, such as stephanotis, can be attached with a small beaded hairpin, pierced through the flower's center and stuck into the hair.

8 Great Flowers to Wear

Below, from left: spray rose, freesia, daisy

Cymbidium orchid, Asiatic lily, baby's breath

Stephanotis, wax flower