"Split" Bouquet

Looking to honor a few extra friends at your wedding but don't want a dozen bridesmaids or to put them on guest-book duty? Try a "split" bouquet. Ask your florist to create your bouquet, then split it into equal parts to match the number of "flower" girls you have. You can also do this with the women in your house party. I have seen this done with four people and it worked beautifully. Have each one of your friends stand at the beginning of the aisle with one part of your bouquet. As you begin to walk down the aisle, collect each part of your bouquet as you walk past each honoree. Once you have them all in your hand, they will look like one bouquet again. Have your maid/matron of honor holding an extra length of ribbon so that when you hand your flowers off to her she can wrap them together and tie off with a sweet bow. You may want to give her a chance to practice this at the rehearsal so it goes smoothly during the ceremony.

What I love about this idea is you could easily incorporate your male friends! I saw a bride do this using four of her cousins to honor her late grandmother and she included a note of remembrance in her program. So it could also be a touching tribute.