Hardy, cloud-like hydrangeas are among the most enduring and versatile flowers for a wedding.
 
Their fluffy heads, so dramatic from afar, turn into small, perfect flowers up close. Today, hydrangeas can be found in a rainbow of watercolor shades, often mingled on the same bloom: Violet-blues might have pink edges, or gold-greens a rosy flush. A single flower can inspire the entire color palette for a wedding -- from the hue of the invitations to the tint of the buttercream on the wedding cake.

They are primarily known as a summer flower but are also widely available in fall. If you've attended many weddings, you'll probably recognize the puffy mopheads and the lacecaps (which look as if they are studded with tiny pearls). Recently, though, hundreds of new hybrids have expanded the flower's range to include larger, longer-lasting blooms in mottled greens, creamy browns, and coppery pinks.

Among the choices are 'Antique' hydrangeas -- rich, mature flowers picked just as their colors darken and their petals begin to dry. Striking stars of any bouquet, these big flowers can also be divided into dainty florets for boutonnieres or be reproduced as sugar petals on a cake. And perhaps best of all: Within a few days, the blooms that transform your wedding day will dry into lovely keepsakes.