How to Make Your Own Wedding Bouquet

bridal bouquet A bride's bouquet is a focal point which compliments not only the wedding dress but the whole colour scheme of the wedding. It could be an exciting and gratifying experience for a bride to make her own bouquet.

For any bride, her bouquet is an essential part of her wedding outfit, she will be carrying it with her down the aisle and throwing it, or a smaller version of it, over her shoulder for the single guests at the wedding to try and catch. It could be that you want to try and save some money as you are on a tight budget or you may just wish to bring that individuality into your special day.

This step by step guide can be used to make your own individual wedding bouquet but you can also incorporate the tips given if you plan to create your own table top decorations or even the bouquets for your bridesmaids.

Required Items for DIY Wedding Bouquet

In order to create your masterpiece, you will need to ensure you have the following:

Accessories such as glitter or beads.
Containers and foam for table decorations.
Florist wire.
Flowers.
Glue gun and glue (optional).
Greenery (such as babies' breath, ivy, leaves and foliage).
Knife.
Plastic covers for your work area.
Ribbon.
Rubbish bags.
Scissors.
Tape and pins.
Feathers.
Crystals.

Ask your florist about a solution that can preserve your flowers. It might be useful to put your flowers in this solution before you begin making your bouquet in order to get the best from them and remember, some will need preserving more than others and you will need to take this into account.

In addition to the above, if you do not want to use your kitchen sink to store your bouquet you will need a good sturdy and tall bucket.

Step by Step Guide To Making Your Bouquet

Choose your flowers carefully. Make sure the flowers you want will be available when you want them. Also look into how much they will cost to buy, not just at your florist but at the local wholesalers, garden centre or even the market. Buy plenty of them, it is better to have too many than to run out.
After buying all the items you will need, create some space where you can lay everything out and begin your preparation.
You should start by stripping the flower and leaf stems of leaves and any thorns in order to ensure that your bouquet has a good shape. Ensure you also remove any older heads or petals from the flowers.
Reinforce some of the flowers that you know could wilt using the florist wire.
Begin by holding the leaves in your hand and start to introduce the flowers into them one at a time until you get the shape and size that you are happy with. Try to create an even height and distribute them as evenly as you can. Start with the larger flowers and incorporate the smaller ones as you go.
Decide what you want around the edge of your bouquet, whether it is the flowers or the leaves and add these at the end.
Keeping a good grip on your arrangement, check you are happy with its format and using the tape, wrap it around the stems three times just above where your hand is keeping it together.
Once taped down, you can pin the edge of the tape into place just under the head of the bouquet.
Hide the tape with the ribbon which can be wrapped or glued as far down as you wish or even left to dangle down.
Trim down the stems of the bouquet leaving approximately six inches in length below the ribbon and keep the finished product in water.

The instructions above can be used to create a traditional posy type bouquet but if you are feeling a little creative and wish to make more of a 'spray' design, use the same technique and allow the flowers to hang over your hand. When taping up the stems. You could even continue to wrap the tape or ribbon around them to create a type of handle for you to hold onto.

Duration

It will of course take some time to create your bouquet, depending on the size and style that you have chosen. It might be an idea to try to practice making smaller bouquets during the lead up to your big day. You could even make up a similar bouquet and note how long it stays fresh for, when the flowers begin to wilt; this will give you a good idea of a timescale for when to begin making your actual bouquet.

Make a list of things to do on what day before hand such as buying the flowers and the accessories or making room in the fridge or storage area etc and give yourself plenty of time.

Things to Think About With Your Wedding Bouquet

By making your own bouquet you could save a lot of money which could be used towards another part of your wedding day.
Check out different florists to see what they have on offer. You should opt for fresh and simple flowers.
Decide on the colours you will use, preferably those that relate to your wedding theme and see if you can find the right shade of flower that will match what you have decided on. They don't have to match if you prefer them to be different but try not to let them clash.
Do your research; look in magazines and online to get designs and advice.
Don't be afraid to ask for help, perhaps you could make it a joint effort with your maid of honour and make them together.
Keep a scrap book with your ideas in it, pictures and notes and even sample flowers and colours.
No one else will have a bouquet like yours; it will be an exclusive creation.
Take along one of your practice bouquets to your dress fitting so you can see what they look like together. You may feel it is too big or too small and will therefore be able to modify the final version so it will be just right.
Take into account your own size, you don't want to carry a bouquet that is too overbearing or heavy and if you are on the large size, you don't want to carry a bouquet that is tiny and looks out of place.
The flowers you choose should be very long stemmed so that once your bouquet has been put together and sealed you can cut it down without having to replace any flowers because you cut them too short to begin with.
Try to stick to your budget.
You could enjoy making the bouquet so much that you decide to do this as a hobby and earn yourself some money or even begin your own business.
You should try to decide what you want before you start putting your arrangement together. Thinking about the colours and the shape will really help you and if you can draw a picture of what is in your head that will really make your bouquet come alive.
You will be able to ensure that all your floral arrangements will not only be the same but even have the exact shade of colour throughout.

Other Floral Arrangements

You may wish of course to show off your new found skill and create the table centrepieces or even the corsages for some of your wedding guests. These can be made in a similar way to your bouquet but obviously on a much smaller scale and kept flat at the back of the arrangement. You will need to purchase some pins in order to secure the corsages. Imagine how special your mother and/or mother-in-law will feel wearing a corsage that matches the whole theme of the wedding.

This is a wonderful idea from which you could obtain a great feeling of achievement, particularly when looking over your photographs in years to come!