Guest Post by Kayla Aspen Photography for Shop Aurora's Aromas
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Most couples spend months choosing a venue, finalizing a guest list and scrolling pinterest and Tiktok for the perfect color scheme and detail ideas. Then somewhere in the middle of wedding planning, they sit down with their florist and start talking about flowers. Which is seriously so fun! It was one of my favorite parts of my own wedding planning experience.
As a wedding photographer serving Philadelphia and South Jersey, I've spent years documenting wedding days from beginning to end. During that time, I've watched couples carefully weigh decisions about venues, guest counts, timelines, first looks, family photos and everything in between.
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Yet one of the most consistently overlooked decisions is often the bouquet.
Most people think it's a floral decision, but after almost a decade of photographing weddings, I've noticed your wedding bouquet is actually something much bigger!
Most wedding details live in one part of the day. Your ceremony chairs matter during the ceremony, your reception tables matter during dinner. Your getting ready space matters for a few hours in the morning.
But your bouquet is different.
It's one of the only pieces of your wedding day that follows you through almost every moment of it.
It's sitting beside your invitation suite while you're getting ready, it's in your hands when you're reading a letter from your fiancé, it's there during portraits.
It's there while you're waiting to walk down the aisle, it's even incorporated into almost all of your portraits.
And years later, it's often one of the only details that instantly brings couples back to how the day felt.
That's why I believe your bouquet deserves more thought than most wedding planning advice gives it. IE: colors, size, what’s trending, etc.
At Kayla Aspen Photography, we spend a lot of time helping couples think beyond the social media trap of how your wedding day will look and focus on how it will feel, and how it will carry into your marriage. Interestingly, your bouquet ends up influencing both.
Your Bouquet Is One of the First Things Photographed
One thing that surprises many couples is how early their bouquet enters the story.
Long before you're dressed and long before guests begin arriving, your photographer is documenting the pieces that helped bring your story together. Invitations, rings, heirloom pieces, vow books, jewelry and personal details all help tell the story before people ever appear in front of the camera.
The details portion of the day often sets the visual tone for the entire gallery. In fact, many of the same principles we use when styling bouquets show up in our approach to wedding details, engagement sessions and even family portraits.
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The bouquet often becomes the thread that visually connects everything else.
When I'm styling wedding details, I look for the same things I look for when photographing people: depth, movement and intention.
The bouquets that tell a story are usually the ones that felt connected to the couple carrying them.
Here are some ideas to think about when designing the florals that live inside of your bouquet:
A flower your grandmother grew in her garden
A bloom that reminds you of summers at the shore
Maybe it's choosing locally grown flowers because supporting local businesses matters to you.
Selecting colors that remind you of the home you're building together rather than whatever happens to be popular this year.
That's what I mean by intention.
Take it from me. The details you’ll stay connected to long after the wedding day are almost always the ones that carried personal significance before the wedding ever happened.
Your bouquet has a unique opportunity to do that because it isn't simply sitting on a reception table for a few hours. You're carrying it through some of the most important parts of your day.
And if you decide to preserve it afterward, it continues telling that story long after the wedding day is over.
That's one of the reasons I love what Aurora's Aromas does. Your wedding photographs preserve how your bouquet looked on the day itself, but floral preservation allows you to keep a physical piece of something that traveled through those memories with you.
Years from now, when that preserved bouquet is hanging in your home, it won't represent flowers, it will represent where you were in life when you carried them.
Why Bouquets Make Portraits Stronger
One thing I hear all the time before engagement sessions and wedding days is, "We're awkward in front of the camera."
After years of photographing weddings, I've noticed that most people aren't actually uncomfortable because of the camera. They're uncomfortable because they're focused on themselves. They're wondering what they're supposed to be doing, whether they look natural and if they're getting it right.
That's why I believe the more comfortable you feel inside of your wedding day, the more comfortable you'll feel in front of the camera.
Your bouquet plays a small but surprisingly important role in that.
Not because it's a prop or it makes photos prettier. But because it gives you something familiar to carry through the experience.
When you're holding your bouquet, you're usually not thinking about posing. You're adjusting a ribbon your florist tied, admiring flowers you spent months choosing or sharing a smile with the people around you. Your attention shifts away from the fact that you're being photographed and back toward the day itself.
As photographers, that's what we're always looking for.
The strongest portraits rarely happen when someone is trying to look perfect. They happen when someone becomes fully engaged in what's happening around them. When you're focused on the experience instead of the camera, your body naturally relaxes, your expressions become more genuine and the photographs start reflecting what the day actually felt like.
That's one of the reasons I encourage couples to choose a bouquet that feels personal to them instead of choosing something because it's popular or trending.
The decisions that carry the most significance throughout a wedding day are usually the ones rooted in intention. When you're carrying something that genuinely feels connected to you, it becomes part of the comfort, confidence and familiarity that allows you to settle into the day.
And ultimately, that's what we're photographing.
How Different Bouquet Shapes Tell Your Story
One thing I find fascinating about wedding photography is how quickly our brains form impressions. As photographers, we're always paying attention to how shapes guide the eye through an image. Bouquet shape influences composition in the same way a venue, staircase or architectural feature does.
Long before someone notices the specific flowers in your bouquet, they notice the overall shape, movement and feeling it creates within a photograph.
That's why I encourage couples to think about bouquet shape the same way they think about choosing a venue or selecting a dress. You're choosing what feels most aligned with the experience you're creating.
Different vibes
A structured round bouquet tends to feel composed and classic. It creates a sense of balance in photographs and often works beautifully in formal venues, churches and traditional ballrooms because it mirrors the intentional architecture surrounding it.
Garden-style bouquets tell a different story. They're often fuller, a little more organic and feel less structured. I see these work beautifully in estate gardens, outdoor ceremonies and venues where the surrounding landscape becomes part of the experience. They tend to feel relaxed and connected to the environment around them.
Cascading bouquets create movement. Your eye naturally follows them through the frame, which is why they often pair beautifully with dramatic staircases, cathedral ceremonies and venues with larger architectural features. They don't just complement the space. They help guide attention through the photograph.
Wildflower-inspired bouquets often feel personal in a different way. They tend to attract couples who care less about perfect symmetry and more about creating a wedding day that feels connected to their personalities. I see these often at garden parties, coastal weddings and Cape May celebrations where the environment itself already feels relaxed and inviting.
What's important to understand is that none of these bouquet shapes are better than the others! The strongest choice is usually the one that feels most connected to the overall experience you're creating.
The goal isn't choosing the "best" option, the goal is choosing options that work together. When your venue, your attire, your flowers and your overall vision feel aligned, the photographs naturally feel more intentional because they're all supporting the same story.
That's one of the reasons intentional decisions photograph so well. You're not asking individual details to do all the work because every piece is contributing to a bigger picture.
Choosing Bouquet Colors That Work in Real Life
One thing I think people underestimate when choosing wedding flowers is how often they're going to see those colors after the wedding day is over.
During planning, it's easy to think about your bouquet as a decision that only matters for a few hours. You carry it down the aisle, hold it during portraits and then move on with the rest of the day.
But years later, those same colors are still showing up.They're in your wedding gallery, your album and if you decide to preserve your bouquet with Aurora’s Aromas, they may even be hanging on the wall of your home!
Color influences far more than flowers. It affects how a gallery feels as a whole. When we design albums for couples years later, we're often looking at those same bouquet colors woven throughout portraits, details and candid moments from the day.
That's why I encourage couples to think about bouquet colors a little differently.
Instead of asking, "What's trending right now?" or even "What photographs well?" I think a better question is, "What colors feel connected to us?"
Some couples are naturally drawn toward soft neutrals because they create a sense of calm and simplicity. Others are drawn toward deeper colors because they reflect the season, the location or their personalities.
When your flowers feel connected to the experience you're creating, they don't just photograph beautifully. They become part of a gallery, a home and a season of life that still feels like you years later.
The Emotional Side of a Wedding Bouquet
As photographers, we're constantly watching what couples (and guests even!) hold onto after a wedding day.
Here is what I’ve learned: years later, people rarely talk about whether chargers matched linens or if they chose the perfect centerpieces. The things they remember are usually tied to people, experiences and decisions that felt personal to them.
When couples receive their gallery, they rarely comment on bouquet photos themselves. Instead, they'll point to a photo with a parent, grandparent or spouse and suddenly notice the bouquet sitting quietly in the frame. It becomes attached to the memory because it was present for the moment.
That's why I think bouquets become so significant.
When we look through wedding galleries with our couples, it's interesting how often the bouquet appears without anyone intentionally focusing on it. It's sitting beside a letter from a parent, it's tucked into a hug with a grandparent, it's resting on a chair while you're talking with your bridesmaids. It becomes woven into photographs because it was naturally woven into the day itself.
I think that's why intentional decisions matter so much when it comes to wedding planning.
Not because every decision needs a deeper meaning attached to it, but sometimes you really just love a flower and that's reason enough!
When you have an opportunity to choose something you'll carry throughout one of the biggest days of your life, it's worth slowing down and thinking about what feels most like you.
The wedding industry spends a lot of time talking about details, but we're much more interested in helping couples make decisions they'll still feel connected to years from now.
Your bouquet just happens to be one of the few details that has the opportunity to become both.
A beautiful part of the wedding day and a lasting reminder of it.
Why Preserving Your Bouquet Is Worth It
Why Preserving Your Bouquet Is Worth It
If you've made it this far, you've probably noticed that I don't think bouquets matter because they're flowers.
I think they matter because of where they were present. That's what makes preservation so special!
Photography and floral preservation solve two different problems. Photography preserves moments. Preservation preserves a physical piece of the day itself.
Your wedding gallery preserves how your bouquet looked and floral preservation allows you to preserve the bouquet itself.
Together, they tell a much fuller story. One allows you to remember the moment, the other allows you to keep a piece of it.
That's one of the reasons I love what Aurora's Aromas does. Instead of placing your bouquet in a closet after the wedding or watching it slowly fade away, you can intentionally turn it into something that becomes part of your home.
Every time you walk past it, you're reminded of a season of life that changed everything!
What Happens to Wedding Bouquets After the Wedding?
One of the most common questions couples ask after the wedding is what to do with their bouquet once the day is over.
The right choice really depends on how you'd like to enjoy your bouquet in the future.
Personally, I love seeing bouquets preserved in a way that allows them to become part of a couple's everyday life. Whether that's a framed piece hanging in a hallway, artwork displayed in a bedroom or a keepsake incorporated into a new home together, it creates another opportunity to keep an intentional part of the wedding day present long after the day ends.
If preserving your bouquet is important to you, I always recommend making a plan before the wedding day arrives. The sooner flowers are properly cared for after the wedding, the better the preservation process tends to be.
South Jersey, Philadelphia & Chester County Florists We Love
One of the greatest parts of photographing weddings throughout Pennsylvania and South Jersey is working alongside incredibly talented floral designers.
Every florist brings a different perspective, style and creative approach to their work, which is why finding the right fit matters just as much as finding the right photographer or venue.
Some of the florists we've loved working with include:
Blue Moon Florist (Downingtown, PA) — https://www.bluemoonflorist.com/
The Stem's End (Coatesville, PA) — https://www.thestemsend.com/
A Garden Party Florist (South Jersey) — https://www.agardenpartyflorist.com/
Savannah's Garden Florist (South Jersey) — https://savannahsgardenflorist.com/
No matter who you choose, I encourage you to look for a florist who takes the time to understand your story, your priorities and the experience you're trying to create.
Frequently Asked Questions About Wedding Bouquets
Why do photographers care so much about bouquets?
Because your bouquet ends up appearing in far more photographs than most couples realize. It's photographed during detail photos, getting ready moments, portraits, ceremony images, family photos and often throughout candid moments as well. Since it follows you through so much of the day, it becomes one of the most visible details in your entire gallery.
How many wedding photos will include my bouquet?
More than almost any other detail you invest in. While every wedding is different, your bouquet will likely appear in hundreds of images throughout your gallery. That's one of the reasons I encourage couples to think about their bouquet as more than a floral decision. It becomes part of the visual story of the entire day.
Does bouquet size affect wedding portraits?
To a degree, yes. A bouquet should feel proportional to you and the overall look you're creating. Extremely small bouquets can sometimes get lost in photographs, while very large bouquets can occasionally overwhelm a frame. The best bouquet size is usually one that feels comfortable to carry and naturally complements your dress, venue and overall vision.
What bouquet colors photograph best?
There isn't one perfect color palette. The bouquets that photograph best are usually the ones that feel connected to the rest of the wedding day. Soft neutrals can create a calm, refined look while richer colors can add depth and visual interest. The most important thing is choosing colors you'll still feel connected to years from now when you're looking through your wedding gallery and seeing those colors displayed throughout your home.
Should I bring my bouquet to my engagement session?
Most couples don't, but if your engagement session incorporates flowers that have personal significance, it can be a beautiful way to tell more of your story. In general, I encourage couples to focus less on bringing props and more on choosing an intentional location that reflects who they are together. Learn more about how we plan our sessions here.
What should I tell my photographer about my bouquet?
If your bouquet includes flowers that hold special meaning, absolutely tell your photographer. Maybe it's a flower that reminds you of a grandparent, blooms grown by a family member or something chosen to honor a loved one. Those details help us understand what matters most to you and allow us to photograph those pieces more intentionally throughout the day.
How can I preserve both my bouquet and the memories attached to it?
The best approach is combining photography and floral preservation. Your wedding gallery preserves the moments your bouquet was part of. Floral preservation allows you to keep the actual flowers themselves. Together, they tell a much fuller story. Years from now, you'll be able to look at a photograph and see the bouquet as it existed on your wedding day while also seeing those same flowers displayed in your home through preservation.
Your Bouquet Through A Photographer's Eyes
Years from now, your wedding gallery will help you revisit the moments. A preserved bouquet gives you something real from this season of life to see every day in the home you're building together.
And honestly, that's why I was so excited when Aurora invited me to contribute to this post! Our goals are actually very similar.
At Kayla Aspen Photography, we help couples preserve this season through photographs. Aurora helps couples preserve a physical piece of it through floral preservation.
Together, those things tell a much fuller story.
Continue Planning With Clarity
If you're currently planning your wedding, I hope this article helped you see your bouquet a little differently!.
At Kayla Aspen Photography, we spend a lot of time helping couples make intentional decisions that support both their wedding day and their marriage. From timelines and guest experience to first looks and family photos, our goal is always to help couples create a day that feels aligned with who they are.
And if you're still searching for a wedding photographer in Philadelphia, Chester
County or South Jersey, I'd love to connect and hear more about what you're planning.
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