Vintage Style Updated With Modern Options

In the last decade or so, our love of all things vintage has impacted home decor, fashion, and celebrations, especially weddings. While we were embracing shabby chic, Boho chic, country/barn chic, and probably a few other types of vintage styles—all of which included time-worn or weathered elements and mix-and-match pieces—there were just a few fresh flowers that conveyed that same sense of nostalgia.

London florist and author Vic Brotherson noted in her book, Vintage Flowers, that a few “leading ladies,” such as cherry blossoms, Hellebores, Magnolias, sweet peas, peonies, Hydrangeas, and Ranunculuses, can accomplish a vintage feel when placed in the right containers. (She suggests enamel jugs, marmalade pots, canning jars, and other humble vessels.) She also recommends selecting these “leading ladies” in the “faded but beautifully reminiscent colours … such as dusty pinks, blush nudes, and grey lilacs.”

Today, however, the hybridizers who breed blossoms to achieve new looks and forms have come through with modern fresh flowers and blooming and green plants that naturally exhibit the pale hues, subtle fading, and other characteristics that we expect of aged items. These new options are perfect for pairing with Brotherson’s “leading ladies” along with sentimental jewels and nostalgic handkerchiefs and scarves to achieve the desired vintage aesthetic.