10 daring alternative bouquets for the non-traditional wedding – lanterns, swords, and Pikachu?!

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bouquet alternatives
This couple carried Pikachus down the aisle! Photography by Rebecca Rizzo Photographics

Mushrooms, metal flowers, and viking horns?! Just when we've thought we've seen all the alternative bouquets out there, our Offbeat soonlyweds surprise us! We've seen y'all rock cannabis bouquets, lanterns, swords, fruit bouquets, axes, dried flower bouquets, Sola wood flower bouquets, paper flower bouquets, and even no bouquet! And that's just the tip of the iceberg, folks.

We've been obsessing over alternative bouquets since 2006, but it never gets old! Nontraditional bouquets used to be a hallmark of what used to be called alternative weddings… AKA what we USED to call weddings that deviated from mainstream wedding traditions. But now unique wedding bouquet alternatives are showing up in all sorts of weddings, from the wonderfully weird to the effortlessly classic themes.

There are all sorts of reasons marriers choose to use an alternative bouquet, whether they're seeking a sustainable alternative or their budget/priorities don't include fresh flowers. Some soonlyweds prefer to have a bouquet that can be preserved long after the celebrations, and some just want to switch things up and surprise their guests by holding a nontraditional bouquet.

Let's take a look at our recent faves in alternative bouquets!

We asked the members of our Offbeat Wed vendor community to share the most amazing unique bouquet alternatives they'd seen… and the results astounded us…

1) I choose you! How's Pikachu for a nontraditional bouquet?!

2) This alternative wedding had a metal bouquet

alternative wedding bouquets
Photography by Joy Story

I had a bride in 2019 that had a cool metal bouquet (and the guys had metal buttonholes). It even had its own cool granite rock stand during the ceremony as it was so heavy!

Sarah Craig, Joy Story
unique wedding bouquets
Photography by Joy Story

Now let's see those metal boutonnieres aka BUTTONHOLES!

Alternative Bouquet Jodie David 53 Joy Story alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)
Photography by Joy Story
Alternative Bouquet Jodie David 71 Joy Story alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)
Photography by Joy Story

3) When the couple carries a sword and spear as their alternative bouquets!

swords as wedding bouquet
Photography by Photomuse

4) Add a teeeeny bit of weed in your nontraditional bouquet!

Alternative Bouquet sophieelliot 68 Twisted Bramble alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)
Photography by Breanna + Kevin, Florals by Twisted Bramble

Now that cannabis is legal in many states, this idea is less scandalous that it used to be, but some folks might still want to be a little sneaky about it…

Sophie's bouquet included a few stems of cannabis, enough to get the bridal party excited, but not enough to make gran gasp. 

Meghan, Twisted Bramble

5) Viking horns have been a bad-ass addition to the alternative bouquets movement!

Alternative Bouquet WeirdoWeddings GiantHornBouquet LizzyGator alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)
Photography by Weirdo Weddings

This whole photo is making us feel things — even the wobbly little house in the background!

6) Lanterns are also a classic for alternative bouquets.

Alternative Bouquet Lantern Lily Guillen Photo alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)
Photography by Lily Guillen Photo

7) Category is… Sola wood flower bouquets, but make them SPOOKY!

Alternative Bouquet heart and sola creations til death bouquet alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)
Photography by Liz Sologub Photography & Jessica Plasha Photography, Handpainted Sola wood flowers by Heart & Sola Creations

Yes, those are handpainted Sola wood flowers!

Alternative Bouquet heart and sola creations hallowedding bouquet alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)
Photography by Sam Vaughn Photography, Handpainted Sola wood flowers by Heart & Sola Creations

cascading bouquet sola wood flowers alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)
For another twist on wood flowers, we love how some folks use fake flowers to DIY a
cascading bouquet!

8) Adding mushrooms to nontraditional bouquets is our new favorite trend!

Alternative Bouquet Mushroom Twisted Bramble alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)
Photography by Into Dust Photography , Florals by Twisted Bramble

Don't forget mushrooms look great as boutonnieres too!

Alternative Bouquet Mushrooms Meghan Campbell Twisted Bramble 1 alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)
Photography by Into Dust Photography , Florals by Twisted Bramble

9) You can't go wrong with balls of fairy lights as an alternative bouquet!

Alternative Bouquet WeirdoWeddings FairyBallBouquet RenFaireWeddings alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)
Photography by Weirdo Weddings

10) Nontraditional bouquets can be sentimental, like this fabric bouquet!

Alternative Bouquet Fabric Lily Guillen Photo alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)
Alix Eddy (bride) walked down with a handmade fabric bouquet made by her family member, Norma Sams. Photography by Lily Guillen Photo

Need more ideas for alternative bouquets? Welcome to the goldmine.

Meet our fave wedding vendors