In Ukraine, there is a tradition of young unmarried women wearing wreaths during the spring, summer, and fall times. The latter practice of wearing the wreath is meant to signal the purity of a young woman before marriage.
In Ukraine, both spouses-to-be would wear myrtle crowns during the wedding ceremony, apparently continuing till now an ancient tradition from Byzantium.
The bride’s wreath was usually decorated with plenty of blue ribbons. The guests would give the bride money, and wish happiness and prosperity; in gratitude, she would give them a ribbon from her wreath.
There was a custom to throw to the bridesmaids not a bouquet, but a wreath, passing the luck for a marriage to one of the girlfriends.
Ukraine as a state exists since the nine century and the tradition of weaving wreaths goes back to ancient times.
The Ukrainian wreath is a symbol of a peaceful, clear sky above the head of the one who wears it, a talisman against evil forces and misfortunes.
Decorating herself with a wreath, the young woman in the language of flowers expressed her feelings.
Besides flowers, a wreath is decorated with ribbons of different colors. Every color of flowers as well as ribbons has special meaning.
- Yellow – a symbol of the Sun;
- green – beauty and youth;
- blue – are the sky and water that give strength and health.
- Orange – the symbol of bread;
- purple – wisdom;
- pink – wealth.
Viburnum is a symbol of peace, life, and love. In Ukrainiаn, the common name for viburnum is kalyna. There is a legend about the young woman Kalyna, as on her risk she led enemies to the swamp, and, unfortunately, perished but saved the lives of her people.
Originally, wreaths were created by weaving every next stem of flower to the previous ones.
CREATING WEDDING HEAD WREATH
(Report from the class at the Fleurs de Villes Show at Bloomingdale’s, Chicago)
Below are step-by-step tutorials for creating a wreath using modern products.
To create a wedding head wreath we need:
- floral wire – 12-6″ depending on the size of a head
- 1/2″ green corsage tape
- 1/2″ ribbon – 2 of 18″ pieces
- hot glue gun
- 3-4 vines of ivy
- 5-7 stems of small daisy mums
- First of all, hydrate flowers and ivy for two hours.
- Cover the wire with corsage tape and make loops on each end of the wire.
- Attach ribbons to the loops.
- Twist one by one ivy around the wire creating a solid base for the flowers.
- Spread ivy leaves equally along the wire.
- Cut all mum blossoms of the stem.
- Glue flowers one by one to the ivy base, locating heads up around the base. Always start applying flowers in the middle of a wreath and then add flowers alternating on the left and right sides.
First, place several mums together creating a rosette. Then, going down the base, on each side gradually decrease the number of flowers, and finish with one row of flowers.
FLEURS DE VILLES SHOW AT BLOOMINGDALE’S CHICAGO, 2022
(Watch video report from the Fleurs de Villes show)
Classes in floral design at Bloomingdale’s during the Fleurs de VIlles Show.
The classes introduced Ukrainian bouquets and a head wreath (vinok) as a part of the Ukrainian culture.
Ukrainian-born, a talented floral designer Natalia Poncko, decorated the workshop room with a floral arch and large floral arrangements.
The blue and yellow colors of flowers in those large floral installations symbolized the Ukrainian flag.
Participants of the workshop created traditional Ukrainian wedding vinok
Students modeling their own creations after the workshop.
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