In Defence of the Floral Crown

(Courtesy magnoliarouge.com)

Meagan Dill

If there is one thing in the world that we can universally agree upon, it’s this: flower crowns are ridiculously hip at the moment. Is there anyone alive who does not want to look like Lana Del Rey, queen of the flower crown? The girl is gorgeous, and her vintage style is emblematic of just about everything many brides-to-be are ooh-ing and ahh-ing over lately.

But as all-consuming as our love may feel for a trend during its peak, the reality of trends is that they eventually disappear – while any resulting wedding photos will be around, well, for the rest of forever. Going the classic route may seem like the ideal solution, but in the midst of wedding planning madness, it’s not always easy to determine the difference between something truly classic and, say, a trend that is a revival of something classic. Heck, maybe there’s no difference at all. My head is spinning.

The trouble with pondering these kinds of sticky questions is that it only seems to lead to yet stickier questions. Before you know it you’re falling down the rabbit-hole and deconstructing the meaning of everything in sight… or maybe that’s just my arts degree talking. Still, when it comes down to it, trendy and classic are merely labels – ones that will be applied differently depending on who is doing the labelling. Which means that no matter what, at some point your wedding photos are going to look dated to somebody out there.

But maybe that’s not such a bad thing. After all, as a once-in-a-lifetime special event, why should reminders of it not be visibly rooted within that time? For that reason, I say if you’re into it, go all out with the mason jars and the bunting and the chalkboards (and the floral crowns).

Here’s a concrete example. Dig out some pictures of your high school formal and try to imagine the exact same picture being taken today. Don’t cringe. (I failed dismally on this step). On my pictures, you can definitely tell that this event could not have taken place yesterday – and not just because back then I had not yet acquired the world-weary look in my eyes which I sport these days thanks to real life problems like paying bills and posting things and running out of red wine during a Girls marathon. Yep, the metaphorical timestamp on that picture is clear despite the fact that I chose a “classic” dress in the style of Marilyn Monroe.

But I don’t regret that choice for a second. Personally, my own philosophy goes something like this: “Is it pretty? Like, really pretty? Okay, let’s do it!”. Trendy or not, if I really love it now, I probably always will. Why overthink something that makes you happy? Speaking of happy-making things, I think it’s time I caught up on some episodes of Girls. And some wine.