Indian weddings are known for their vivacity and exuberance, with vibrant flowers for adding grace and charm to the auspicious event. Hindu marriages starts with various rituals like -Tilak Ceremony, Engagement Ceremony, Sangeet Ceremony, Mandap Ceremony, Mehndi Ceremony, Var Mala Ceremony, Reception Ceremony. History has been witness to customs in many ethnical and religious marriages which make use of different kinds of flowers in the most diverse yet adorable ways possible. Flowers are always used in abundance in all weddings and remain an integral part of the all ceremonies and functions. The exotic flowers for decorations and fragrant flowers for wedding garlands and personalized wedding bouquets are the in thing in any such weddings. Here, flowers signify happiness, beauty and excitement, the important ingredients for a much-blessed marriage, all tied in one – Flowers.
The popular flowers, roses, are known for love and enjoy undisputed position in Indian weddings. Red, pink or white, each colour has a significant meaning attached to it. While pink roses denote happiness, white signifies charm and grace. But it is the red rose that symbolizes passionate love. Marigolds is the most commonly used flower in Hindu weddings, and this is kept at bay at Christian weddings. Wedding flowers becomes an important accessory to make the wedding dress more unique. These make a big eye catch and create unique match to the most classic and traditional costumes and at times simple colour blends are chosen to elaborate the wedding dress.
The Varmala (wedding garlands) itself is made up of different flowers such as roses, marigolds, carnations and orchids and many customized wedding floral designs of Varmala cost anywhere from Rs.12000/- to 60000/- for set of two. The Varmala or Jaimala ritual is romantic, special and captured extensively in photo and video memories. These seems to more important in any case, hence carefully chosen and treated with respect.
But as the wedding planning comes to an end, many brides realize that they invest lots of time and money into the event and finding the perfect flowers. The often realize that the beauty of this memorable fresh flowers die within days of the wedding. We spoke to many different brides about what they did with their wedding flowers. A young friend of mine, Vijaya said, that she never really cared much about flowers till the day of her wedding. She said, “I just fell in love with them as they looked gorgeous on me! I wouldn’t have thrown them away, if I know the possibility of preserving the memories” Vijaya’s feelings are not uncommon. Shweta Murali also said that she had no idea where her flowers are and regretted not even keeping them. For many women, it is impractical to hold on to wedding bouquets, yet many regret tossing them out. My friend Lalitha Sree, a Bonsai specialist in Hyderabad said. “I felt very miserable to see the withered flowers a day after my wedding, though I keep aside my thilakam, sacred yellow thread, bangles, anklets, musugu (veil), thera. But I really wish I had kept my wedding garlands intact, as I adored it”. She was excited to interact with me as an expert in preserving sentimental flowers that remain as Forever Memories. In contrast, my niece Sujata, who got married in USA in 2013 and lives in Cleveland, could preserve her wedding flowers with a flower preservationist and adores those memories. Many brides are sentimental about their garlands and bouquets, irrespective of social and economic status.
The concept of preserving the memories of wedding, valentine’s, anniversaries, baby shower arose from West. The world of billionaires with exotic tastes where preserving the memories of that million-dollar wedding forever is not restricted to customized photo shoots, social media viral posts, personnel designer dresses, celebrity twitted wishes etc., It is felt that the bouquet that accompany you throughout the whole wedding day and is therefore one of the most precious accessories. It’s a proud feeling that after many years of marriage, I have wedding flowers of mine still at home… dried and stored lovingly in a frame.
Many are unaware of the source of preserving the wedding bouguets and Varmala (Wedding garland) worn by the couple. LYO FLORALS the premier company for flower preservation in India, preserves these with the innovative patented process for creating forever memories. Dr.Mahalakshmi V Reddy – Founder & Managing Partner – Lyo Florals LLP she says that typically there are many methods to preserve flowers but there life of flowers in all methods are upto 6 months or one year, except for Freeze Drying. Freeze Drying (Lyophilisation) is rated as the best preservation method available today by Good Housekeeping Magazine and NBC Dateline in USA.
The customer service starts with prior booking for flower collection, preservation, design and customized framing and everything within and beyond. This process generally takes 6- 10 weeks depending on the intricacy in custom design.