A corsage; yay or nay? Wearing a corsage is a common view on many weddings. The bride carries a beautiful bouquet and (close) family and friends a corsage. Which of the guests gets to wear a corsage? And how do you wear it exactly?
Tradition of the corsage
Traditionally the corsage comes from the idea that the man would give the woman a corsage whenever he would take her out. The corsage would have to match the clothing the woman would wear. So it required quite the thought process. Today corsages are derived from the bridal wedding bouquet, using the same flowers and colors.
Who picks the corsages?
According to the aforementioned tradition the man man chooses the corsages as well as the bridal bouquet. The groom does not know what the dress will look like, so often the bride will help selecting the flowers for the wedding.
Etiquette
First of all, it's not required to wear a corsage on a wedding. Only when you both like it, you can decide to have corsages made. A small added benefit of having people wearing corsages, is that it's easy for the nearest and dearest to recognize each other on the wedding. So besides a decorative function and the symbolic tradition the corsage may have a practical purpose.
Who gets to wear a corsage?
According to etiquette the wedding couple, their parents, bridesmaids, groomsmen and witnesses all wear corsages. Besides them you can opt to have all day-guests wear a corsage.
How to wear a corsage?
According to etiquette the men wear the corsage on the left revers of their jacket, with the stem of the flower(s) pointing down. The women also wear the corsage on the left side, but they wear the flower stem(s) pointing up.
WonderWeddings Tip: when you as the bride rather not pin a corsage on your beautiful wedding dress, you can also decide to wear an arm corsage, like a bracelet, see some examples and buy your arm corsages here.
A corsage in general is made of a single flower with some green leaves or other decorations such as ribbons. You can also decide to bind various flowers together. The florist can attach a safety pin so the corsage can be pinned more easily. More suitable for delicate cothing are tiny magnets.
Will you have corsages? And what kind of flowers will you use? Let us know in the comments.