{Royal Bouquets}

Dear Bride-to-Be:
There is always a bit of mystery surrounding a wedding, yes? What's her dress going to look like? What are the bridesmaids wearing? What flowers did the bride select for her bouquet? All these choices are part of the magic of the ritual of "ceremony." Maybe you're at a stage in your wedding planning that all these decisions are still a mystery!

I've been amazed that as much media attention on the upcoming royal wedding as there is, that Kate has been able to keep as many things secret as she has! Although we don't know (unless you're reading this "after" the wedding) the flowers she's selected for her bouquet (the experts say they'll be white & creamy), but there's one thing that's not a mystery about her bridal bouquet.

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All royal British brides (or brides who have married British royalty) since Queen Victoria's wedding have included a sprig of the folkloric shrub myrtle. And not just a sprig from any ole myrtle bush, but from the "royal myrtles" at Fulham Palace gardens. There are four famous bushes at the east end of the palace, facing the gardens, that grew from cuttings, as the story goes, from Victoria's own bouquet! And all royal bouquets of British brides since -- including the lovely Kate's -- have included a sprig or two of the royal myrtles.

The fragrant Myrtus communis  -- with its petite waxy green leaves and delicate creamy white "eye lash" blossoms -- has a mythological history. The tender perennial is associated with both the Greek goddess Aphrodite and the Roman goddess Venus -- the goddesses of love, beauty and laughter. Through the ages, this legendary botanical has symbolized love and desire, marriage and fidelity, good luck and abundance.

Although you may not be able to have a sprig of myrtle from royal bushes growing in a palace garden, but your bouquet deserves a bit of mythological magic! So include a sprig of myrtle in your bouquet and become a legendary bride!

Love. Listen. Let go.
....with love from Cornelia

ps: You can read more about the "royal myrtles" in a reprint of an article I wrote, "The Legend of the Royal Myrtles." I posted it on a blog page at my new upcoming books' companion blog, The End of the Fairy-Tale Bride. Enjoy!

[Bridal Photograph: David Willems]