Whether your vision is to incorporate a bit of Colorado into your bouquet or you’re looking to reduce the environmental impact of your wedding, the key is to use locally-sourced flowers from local florists.
Why use native flowers?
Since many wedding flowers are imported, the flower industry uses an enormous amount of energy and resources producing, transporting and preserving flowers. The less distance your flowers have to travel, the better it is for the environment. Fortunately, Breckenridge brides have a huge selection of native flowers to choose from. The high altitude and semi-arid climate is host to gorgeous flowers, perfect for any bouquet. Here are a few options:
Delphinium (common name: Larkspur)
Thanks to their long stems, they often add verticality to bouquets. Allow them to tower above the rest of your florals to create a pretty focal point. Delphinium are a popular wedding flower due to their ability to preserve well.
Meaning: Swiftness, Lightness
Scent: Lightly fragrant
Colors: The flower comes in several different colorways, ranging from cream to inky indigo, but you’ll find that most florists gravitate towards the classic white and baby blue iterations.
Aquilegia (common name: Columbine)
Columbines (the Colorado State Flower) are often not the best cut flowers, but there are some being grown in order to enhance that quality in them. There are some cultivars of the Rocky Mountain Columbine or Aquilegia caerulea (Colorado blue columbine) being grown which are called the Song Bird Series, and the blue one of these is called Aquilegia ‘Blue Jay’ or the Blue Jay Columbine. These look much like the original native Colorado Blue Columbine, are meant to keep their color longer, and have slightly more erect stems.
Meaning: Strength, wisdom and peace. Often linked to Christianity due to the flowers resembling doves nestling together.
Scent: Most varieties have little to no scent, but Rocky Mountain Columbine (Aquilegia caerulea) has a distinctive sweet smell.
Colors: Blue, purple, red, orange, white, pink, yellow
Tetraneuris Grandiflora (common name: Alpine Sunflower, Old-Man-of-the-Mountain)
Some species in the sunflower family have flowers that face toward the sun, slowly following as it traces an arc across the sky. But the old-man-of-the-mountain always faces east (except for the occasional odd man out), which makes this plant a potentially useful guide to a lost hiker on a heavily overcast or foggy day.
Meaning: Symbolizes adoration, loyalty and longevity
Scent: none
Colors: Yellow
Penstemon Strictus (common name: Rocky Mountain Penstemon, Rocky Mountain Beardtongue)
With its spikes of bright blue flowers and evergreen foliage, this flower is unique in that its blooms only grow on one side of the stem.
Meaning: Represents courage and spiritual knowledge
Scent: none
Colors: Blue, purple
Iris Missouriensis (common name: Rocky Mountain Iris)
These showy light blue to lilac colored flowers have petals streaked with dark purple veins and with yellowish white bases. The Iris is another event favorite as it preserves well.
Meaning: A message of faith, wisdom
Scent: none
Color: light blue, lilac, purple