Can you imagine spending $1000 on flowers? If you are planning a wedding that is what you could be looking to spend. According wedding planning resources the average wedding costs $10,000 with 8-10% going toward your flowers. That is $800 to $1000 which is a lot of money just for one little part of your wedding.
Several years ago I took classes and became a certified floral designer. The first wedding I did flowers for was my mother’s. When it came time for my own wedding I was glad I had the knowledge because by making my own wedding bouquets and arrangements I spent less than $200 instead of $1000.
I want to tell you how to make one version of a wedding bouquet, a simple round bouquet that can be used for a bridal bouquet or a bridesmaid bouquet. It can be customized to fit pretty much any flowers choice and color scheme. I will explain how to choose your flowers, list the materials and supplies you will need, and tell you step by step how to arrange the flowers. The best part is this bouquet can be made with inexpensive silk flowers that can be purchased at many dollar stores.
By the time you are ready to choose your flowers your wedding attire should have already been chosen. If you can, take fabric samples shopping with you. This will help you find flowers that coordinate with and complement the colors of your wedding dress and attendants clothing. When selecting your flowers you will want an assortment of flower sizes and shapes. You don’t want just one type of flower. For example a bouquet full of just roses may appear too blah. You want shapes that are different yet still complement each other. The same goes for color. If your attendants are wearing pink dresses, choose several shades of pink flowers that complement each other and the dress. They don’t have to be exactly the same shade, because then they would all blend together and blend with the dress and you would just see one blob of flowers. At the same time you don’t want them to be too different or clash. If you have light pastel pink dresses, you don’t want hot pink or fuchsia flowers. You will want soft shades of pink. The same goes for the bride’s dress. If the bride is wearing white, you do not want ivory or cream flowers. You will want white flowers in the bridal bouquet and in the attendant bouquets.
For your main flowers you will want larger flowers like roses, rosebuds, carnations, and lilies, whatever you choose. You should make sure to purchase plenty. At least eight of each main flower per bouquet you are making. You don’t want to run out. It’s better to have too many. Extra flowers can be used for corsages, boutonnieres, and the throw bouquet. Make sure to purchase greenery, like ivy, and filler flowers like baby’s breath, lily of the valley, or other small flowers like miniature rose buds. These are both very important, the greenery and filler flowers are used to add background and fill in gaps and empty spaces between your main flowers so your bouquet will appear full.
The supplies you will need: bouquet holder for each bouquet you will make, a bouquet stand or something to put the bouquet in to hold it while you arrange the flowers, flowers and greens, wire cutters, scissors, floral tape and floral wire, accessories to add to your bouquet like ribbon, lace, tulle or beads, and a hot glue gun and glue sticks to attach ribbons and beads or to fix any flowers that may fall apart.
To arrange the bouquet, first place your bouquet holder in the stand. Make sure it is on a level surface and the holder is straight. Envision what you want your bouquet to look like. Start by placing flowers against the holder and getting an idea of how you want to place them. Put different flowers next to each other and see how they look together. Determine how large you want the bouquet. For a good size round bouquet the stems should be cut to around six inches or less. Start cutting your flower stems off the bushes. Start at six inches, if they need to be shorter that can be adjusted. It is better to cut them too long than too short.
The first flowers you want to put in the arrangement are four of one of your main flowers. Like a large rosebud. Put them along the outer edges of your holder where they end up looking like an evenly spaced cross. You can also place greenery behind each of these first four flowers. Then you take one large focal flower and place it dead center in the middle of your holder. It should be right in the center of the cross. Now you can decide which flowers to use next. I usually work out from the center. Take four more main flowers and shape them around the center flower into a square. They should be angled out toward the four cross flowers and just below the center flower. When you look at your arrangement from the side it will look like you have three layers of flowers. Now you fill in around those four flowers with four other flowers on the same layer. They will be placed on top of the first four flowers that made the cross. They will be cut a little shorter and should not cover the first layer to where you can not see them. Now you go back to the first layer, the outer layer where you started with the cross of flowers. Fill in around the edge. Depending on how much space you have between flowers and the size of flowers you are going to use, you can either put one or two flowers between each of the first four. Now you have all of your main flowers in your bouquet. Tweak them to your liking. From the front and side your bouquet should appear to be round. If not adjust the length of the flowers, push them in the holder farther or pull them out as needed to get the round appearance. Once that is done you can fill in any gaps and empty spaces with your greens and filler flowers until you have your desired appearance and fullness.
Don’t get frustrated if the first time it doesn’t come out right or you don’t like how the flowers look together. Experiment with different flowers, keep trying and you’ll get the hang of it.
Once you are done with your bouquet you can add any accessories you want to it. You could have some ribbon or beads around the holder, hanging down. You could also place ribbon, beads, tulle or lace into the bouquet around the flowers for extra fullness. It’s all up to you, your preference and your creativity. When you are done you should have a beautiful wedding bouquet.
Learning how to make your own bouquets and floral arrangements can save you a lot of money on your wedding. All it takes is the right supplies, flowers, and some creativity. This style of bouquet can be customized to fit your needs. After you master this basic design you can move on to other designs and styles of bouquets.
