‘Ugliest bouquet I’ve ever seen.’ Why the fuss over Taylor Swift’s bridal flowers?
Pathetic and ugly are not two words you’d expect to hear describing Taylor Swift’s bridal bouquet. But both have popped up since Ashley Smith posted a picture of the bouquet she caught at the wedding Friday.
Somehow, “I ended up catching Tay Tay’s bouquet,” Smith, an NFL manager of player engagement, wrote on Instagram.
The clutch of posies looked like this.
Smith attended the event at Madison Square Garden with her brother, Trey Smith, an offensive guard for the Kansas City Chiefs and one of groom Travis Kelce’s teammates.
Her Instagram followers congratulated her on the memorable catch.
“’Tell us one interesting fact about yourself’ will never stress you out again because GIRL!! This is beyond cool!!“ wrote one.
But when Smith’s photos began making the rounds on social media, the flowers themselves became the story.
A lot of what was written before the wedding had to do with how Swift would decorate the massive arena. The presumption was the decor would involve tons of flowers, given the elaborate floral arrangements surrounding Swift when Kelce proposed to her in his Leawood backyard last summer.
Maybe some kind of a secret garden inside the Garden?
One florist saw the bouquet as a clue to the overall feel of the wedding itself. She told The Knot wedding website the use of “fleeting” Queen Anne’s lace and pale pink sweet pea flowers suggests “the floral direction for this wedding is likely leaning garden grown and wildflower forward rather than overly structured.”
When fans saw the bouquet, which appeared to be tied with a ribbon, some were less than impressed. Here are just a few comments on social media, including The Knot on Instagram.
“Girl. That looks like a bunch of dead flowers a child picked for their mom. Be so for real.”
“I love Taylor but what the helly is this?! Looks like she went out back behind the venue and picked the weeds.”
“There’s enough comments about the sad, weeping flowers…. But the bow is also shabby & almost…. Dare I say…. Amateurish??”
“This is like a bundle I’d feed my pet bunny. How interesting.”
“Lookin’ like cilantro.”
“Whether a bouquet or throw bouquet that is the ugliest bouquet that I have ever seen. It looks like a 5-year-old picked some dying wild flowers in the bush and put that bouquet together.”
The flowers were likely not the bouquet Swift carried. It was likely what is known as a toss bouquet made specifically for the tossing of the bouquet tradition, said Sarah Burch, founder and owner of EverWild Florals in Kansas City.
“Many brides today want to remember their wedding bouquet forever by using a preservation artist who uses resin or pressed floral and turning the bouquet into keepsake items,” Burch told The Star.
“Using a ‘toss bouquet’ is a great way to preserve the integrity of the bride’s bouquet and still keep the playful tradition.”
As to why it looks a little worse for wear in Smith’s photos?
“The reason that bouquet is looking so sad is the photo was likely taken at the end of the night where the flowers were out of water for hours,” said Burch. (And after being fought over across a dance floor, she joked.)
“This bouquet appears to use airy varieties of lisianthus and Queen Anne’s Lace, which are particularly prone to wilt in heat and without water.”
Whatever people think about the flowers, Smith could have been holding something symbolic in her hands when she caught that bouquet.
Lace, floral expert Kelsea Olivia told The Knot, “is actually the traditional theme for a 13th wedding anniversary, and Queen Anne’s Lace has become associated with that anniversary because of the name.
“For all the reasons we already know, Taylor loves the number 13. Given how much thirteen means to her, it’s hard not to wonder if that was intentional or just a happy coincidence.”
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