Which flowers?

For me it's the real calla lilies but the artificial ones are so well done they're beautiful :-)

I can't see the second two, but the first ones are beautiful, I love lilies!

What I will say is that the calla lillies can be a bit long and clumbersome and can limit how you hold them for the photos, and with the long "tails" of leaf even more so.

This is what is worrying me - the holding of the bouquet.

We have not got a big budget for flowers (Around £250 for bride, 4 bridesmaids and 6 button holes) so I can't really get a full Calla bouquet

I prefer the 2nd, and think they fit your theme better than the 1st.

My sister had similar to the first ones - we laid them along our arms (so the base is in your hand and the top goes past your elbow)

I like both designs but would probably go with the artificial flowers becuase I'd be able to keep them afterwards

I think the style of the artificial ones will go with your vintage theme very nicely.

I also prefer the calla lilies. If you are worried about holding them over your arm, why not ask your florist to design you a shower bouquet using the same amount of callas? This way, you can hold it naturally in front of you at just below waist level. You could add lace into the bouquet too so it links in with your theme. I've picked out a few of my designs which are all artificial by the way but can easily be done in fresh (but unfortunately will cost more as fresh callas are more expensive than artificial) and can be held front facing. If you want a few more ideas, there are lots on my website together with matching bridesmaids flowers:-

Bridesmaids ideas:-

Hope that helps.

Here are some shots from a real wedding showing some holds, somtimes the problem is that the long whispy leafs always seem to get in the face of the person standing next - so you have to keep it down.

If your photographer has no experiance with these flowers it can end up a bit of a farce

See the bottom photo - Bride has hers up but no one is there to get it in the face, the bride would have it in her face so the bridesmaid has hers down and across the body so that they stand out against the dress and are not lost in the green background

Note the 2nd photo, the two inner bridesmaids are holding at a lower angle as compared to the bride, also see the gap between the Bride and the maid on the right as apposed to how close the others are (avoiding the leaf in face) normaly I would position them all closer

Wow, those stems are way too long! They should really have been cut to just below where the ribbon finishes and had less ribbon on which would have made it much easier to carry and kept the bear grass under control.

Ah bear grass- thats what its called - (thank you) it always seems too long to me.

As for the stems, it is a big un, I have seen Brides get the kitchen knife out before ?

I like the lillies but as Bill says it looks like it'd need special attention in terms of holding and arranging. I like the artificial ones for their vintage colours but my personal feeling is without the pearl overlay, on the bride's one as well, I don't like the wire net sorry! :s

I cant see the 2nd bunch of pics. My cousin had callas for her wedding there were nice ( please ignore my little girls face lol )

These where her bridesmaids flowers( my girly wasn't a bridesmaid but the older ones gave her their flowers )

100% the 2nd option, much nicer and they go better with your theme x