THE BROOCH ISSUE: OLIVIER DOLZ GIVES HIS OPINION
The bridal bouquet, always a key ingredient on the wedding day, has a long and meaningful history. It’s a predominant accessory that beautifies and complements your wedding dress, adding a dash of colour to your walk down the aisle. This carefully chosen bouquet of flowers is not only pretty; it carries a long tradition of sentiment dating back to the days when garlands and herbs spelled ever-lasting love and happiness. Whimsical, fashionable, fun, and traditional—every flower, like every bride is different. As the ever-growing desire to personalize the wedding day continues to evolve, each element is more and more creative. The bridal bouquet has taken an exciting direction lately with the formation of the brooch bouquet. What renders this type of bouquet not only fun to make but also awe-inspiring? Their extraordinary appeal is rooted in the fact that each flower or pin is hand-picked. This type of bouquet is made entirely from accent pins, brooches, earrings, pendants, and other interesting accessories that you have either collected through the years.

CARRYING A BROOCH BOUQUET ON YOUR WEDDING DAY?
I love this idea since you can incorporate family brooches into your bouquet. Maybe your grandmother has some she would be willing to lend/give you. This is a meaningful & beautiful way of using vintage pieces that you get as a heritage. It goes with the old Victorian saying that I quite like : “Something old, Something new, Something borrowed, Something blue and a silver sixpence in her shoe”.
Another idea is for the Bride to ask her friends & family to each send her a brooch of their choice, liking. She can then take all the brooches they sent and create her own bouquet from them. The day of her wedding everyone can see their piece in her bouquet – a family and friend statement, a proper proof of love if any!
Another reason to carry a brooch bouquet to walk down the aisle? They are sparkly, they make meaningful keepsakes after the wedding, especially when you are ready to walk down the aisle carrying a beautiful brooch bouquet of your own making. You can always have you fresh flowers bouquet get dry and keep it for a life time, but in all honesty…is it going to be the same afterwards? No a risk you will face with a brooch bouquet.

HOW TO SELECT YOUR BROOCHES TO GET THE FINAL IDEAL BOUQUET OF YOUR DREAMS?
1. COLORS- Choose at least three but not more than five color families and stick to them. E.g. use shades of green, purple, turquoise and gold pieces with antique gold for the metal accent.
2. FINISH- Choose one metal type. I prefer to use either all shades of gold metals or all shades of silver. I think it gives your finished brooch bouquet a more polished look.
3. SIZE- Pick jewelry pieces in a variety of sizes. It will give your bouquet depth and dimension.
4. SENTIMENTALITY- You may want to include a few pieces of jewelry that have special meaning to you. A brooch your grandma always wore, you and your fiancée’s initials or the earrings your mother wore on her wedding day would all be sweet additions.
5. VALUE- I would not use any jewelry pieces that are worth too much money. The bouquet will be tossed around and set down all day long. It would be terrible to lose a particularly valuable piece of jewelry.
6. INSPIRATION- If you have a brooch that you love, use it to inspire to colors of the entire bouquet.
7. FRESH FLOWERS- It is another possibility; integrate a few fresh flowers in between the brooches or all around to match with the rest of floral deco of the day.