Brides today want the elegance and romance of an expensive wedding without the outrageous price tag. They’re making their own dresses, having weddings in parks, and trimming the guest list in order to save money on the big day. Flowers are a vital component and a place where it may appear difficult to cut costs. However, a little creativity and ingenuity can have you walking down the aisle with a beautiful bouquet at a fraction of the price. Make your own wedding bouquet for a romantic touch that won’t have you stressing over your budget.
Getting Flowers for the Bouquet
The first step to making your own wedding bouquet is to gather flowers. See your local florist to get the flowers in bunches. If you’re looking to save money on flowers, search on Yelp.com for florists in your area. Better yet, look for wholesale flowers sellers so you can get the flowers directly from distributors and cut out the middle man. Look for flowers that are in-season or full-bodied flowers that fill a bouquet easily such as carnations or hydrangeas.
Another great way to gather flowers for your bouquet is to pick wildflowers. By finding flowers in a local park or field, your flowers are free and you’ll usually find a beautiful variety. If you don’t need a lot of flowers, look in your own backyard or ask friends, neighbors and family if they have any flower bushes or any garden flowers that would work well for a bouquet.
Be sure to gather filler flowers such as babies breath or any ferns or leaves that you want in your bouquet. Some brides want only one type of flower, whereas some prefer a variety. Once you’ve gathered your flowers, be sure the keep their stems in water until you are ready to make the bouquet. This will keep them fresh longer.
Putting the Bouquet Together
When assembling your bouquet, always start with the biggest flowers in the center moving to the smallest flowers on the outside. Intersperse smaller accent flowers among the large flowers if you desire. If you are only using one type of flowers, you should use at least ten flowers for a full-bodied bouquet. If you’re feeling creative, loop strings of beads of ribbon among the tops of your flowers for an interesting accent.
The easiest and often favorite bouquet is a hand-tied bouquet. The morning of your wedding, take your flowers out of the water vase and dry the stems with a paper towel. Construct your bouquet by arranging the bouquet and tying the stems securely with a rubber band or floral tape.
Trim all the stems to an equal length once you get the bouquet how you want it – be sure to use sharp scissors for this so you don’t damage the stems. Tie a ribbon around by wrapping it around the bunched flower stems several times and tying a simple bow or knot.
If you don’t want loose ribbon ends hanging from your bouquet, forego the ribbon or knot and wrap the ribbon around the stems until there are no ends hanging off. Tuck the ribbon ends underneath some of the wrapped ribbon and secure it with bouquet pins, which are essentially the same as corsage or boutonniere pins. Bouquet pins can be found at most craft stores.
For a slightly more complicated but professional-looking bouquet, buy a bouquet holder. Also available at craft stores, these are foam flower bases attached to plastic handles. Soak the foam piece in water and then stick flowers into the foam piece. To do this, you’ll need to trim the stems relatively short. Start from the center with the largest flowers, pushing the stem all the way into the foam by squeezing it at the top of the stem and pulling it into the foam. Work your way outwards with progressively smaller flowers, and carefully fill any empty spaces with accent flowers.
Once your bouquet is finished, store it in your refrigerator until it is time to go to your ceremony. If any bare stems are sticking out, keep them immersed in water as long as you can and mist the heads with water to keep them fresh.
If you want, try a practice run with some flowers for a holiday. You’ll see that it’s easy to make your own wedding bouquet.
