Jennifer Jackson

Orange Blossoms...Continuing the Legend

The association of women and flowers has long been the inspiration for poetry and paintings and dreams of fantasy. Legends have been created out of something as simple as a woman’s face or the color of her hair or the flowers she wore.

In bridal folklore, the fragrant orange blossom became legendary. One story goes that using orange blossoms for the bride’s regalia originated in ancient China, where the blossoms were associated with chastity and innocence. There are few trees so prolific as the orange—it is one of the rare plants that blooms and bears fruit at the same time, thus becoming symbolic of fruitfulness and fertility. The plants were brought west to Europe during the time of the Crusades, first to Spain, then to France in the 16th century and soon after a shipment reached England in the early 1800's, the organerie—a special greenhouse—became the

custom for fashionable homes. Enchanting legends followed the orange trees throughout the continent, including stories of maidens entwining the creamy white blossoms into a bridal wreath for their hair. The influence became so indoctrinated into the European culture that the phrase "to gather orange blossoms" took the meaning "to seek a wife."

Circa 1920s bride with an armful of fragrant lilies and wearing a wax orange blossom wreath.

When real orange blossoms were in short supply or in northern climates where citrus fruits did not flourish, wax replicas were used instead for brides, continuing the legend. It is said that Queen Victoria created the fashion for the translucent flowers when she wore wax orange blossoms in a grand wreath for her 1840 wedding, in lieu of her crown jewels. For over a hundred years afterwards, wax orange blossoms were a must for brides and a continuing favorite of the wedding story.

Weddings are full of legends and folklore. Perhaps that’s part of the mystery that draws us to them—as well as the elusive, yet innately appealing promise of love forever.

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Legendary Musings:

~ What is the story you want remembered about your wedding, about your life?

~ The orange tree creates a legend by leaving nothing to chance. To ensure its contribution, it gives fruit and flowers and fragrance and beauty all in one fell swoop, over and over! What if we lived and gave so prolifically and with such abundance in every expression of us?