"All Green from the Forest"- Centerpieces

Forest scene
1230 AD - The Carmina Burana manuscript

Summer has come to little Denmark and I have been enjoying the sunny weather by riding my bike now and then.
I decided that I wanted to make a couple of easy examples of flower arrengements, that I would make from simply going through the forest and fields on the outskirts of the city. This means that it's something you can do yourself they day before the wedding (or enslave some family member to do it). It's a cheap and beautiful solution and probably more authentic than going to the florist.
At this time of the year the fields are sprinkled with small flowers in lavish colors and wild grass or grain can also be used. I was lucky to find this little piece of heaven - a field wrapped in flowers. It might be a good idea to check out the area you want to go plucking from a week or so before the wedding, so you know what you have to work with.
The first boquet I made I used the wild flowers from the field. There were poppys and chamomile and some yellow and purple ones I don't know the name of. I put them in a green glass vase. In medieval time glass was valuable, but if there ever was a time to impress your family and friends with how wealthy you were, a wedding is definatly it. So glass vases are alright to use, if you care about getting it historically accurate.

It took me 5-6 minuts to put together using wild grasses, the cornflowers, rushes and grain. It's colorful, natural and really brightens up a room.
The next arrangement was more forest inspired, using ferns, oak leaves, a few of the purple cornflowers and a pinecone. Finally I had gathered thisles last year and dried them and they look great - like litte brown spiky maces.

A lot of the plant that grow in the woods and are considered to be weeds, can actually be rather beautiful when put into a bouquet. This one I saw on a danish blog - www.heltsimpelt.blogspot.com - and she called it a tribute to her garden weed. I think it look great with grass, goutweed, buttercups and what I pressume are chive flowers.

 What I am saying with this post is, that it doesn't have to be overly complicated or expensive to make a sweet flower or leave arrangement and that is how we are doing it at our wedding. The forest is filled with beautiful greenery that will fit a medieval wedding just perfect.