oasis foam flower holders

demi1

I am going to do my own bouquet as well as my BM bouquets... The BM will carry gerbera daisies and I will have roses...
 
If anyone has DIY gerbera bouquets, did you wire your gerbs?  Was it difficult?

I was also wondering if anyone has experience w/the oasis foam flower holders... Should I buy them and if so does anyone have any suggestions as to where I should get them?

Any help would be great! 

Catwoman708

I do a lot of flower arrangements for our church, and I did some wedding flowers recently for a friend, who also used mostly gerbers.

You can buy Oasis wet foam at most craft stores, like Hobby Lobby, Michael's, JoAnns, and I've even found it at Wal-mart.  You can sometimes find various floral supplies and foam holders at the same places, can order them on line, or ask a local florist to order them for you, or to tell you where to find them.

I'm not sure what kind of "foam holders" you are talking about, there are many different kinds.  There are various round and rectangle shaped green plastic contatiners called "floral trays". 

There are special foam bouquet holders with a handle, and have round "collars" that snap around the bouquet handle.  Usually the collars are covered with a sort of lace or gathered satin or sheer material. 

Or there are plastic pew clips (sort of like a little wreath hanger), and you can get little plastic baskets that hold a small amount of foam for floral decorations to hang on pews.  They even make these donut shaped trays to hold foam for candle rings. 

Catwoman708

Gerbers need a lot of water, and their stems tend to be very droopy, and have a little weak spot just under the bloom.  Some of them may need to be wired, some may not.  They will do ok in foam if it's kept wet, but will probably last better in water.

You can buy various types of floral wire where ever you buy your floral supplies.  The thinnest kind, on a spool type thing is probably enough.  Just try to stick the end up into the head of the flower, then spiral the wire down the stem about 6 inches (for hand tied bouquets).  Or you can take a slightly stiffer piece of wire (that comes in sticks), and go up through the stem.  I don't usually have very good luck with that, and have better luck cutting about a 5-6 inch piece of wire, and sticking it down through the head of the flower into the stem, then guide it down through the stem, and poke the remaining bit if wire on top down where it doesn't show with a pair of pliers.  Not "hard" but a little tricky and frustrating at first.

Once wired, then you can kind of control the position of the stems/flowers a little better.  If the wire shows on the stems, put those flowers in the center of the bouquet, and leave the ouside ones looking more natural.  Once you have the bouquet stems gathered, and all the flower heads where you want them, tape the stems together to hold them in place, where the tape won't show.  Then partially wrap the stems in ribbon, and tie it off.  Then cut the stems off even and straight.

Leave the ends of the stems in about an inch or two of water, and keep them cool and out of sun or drafts until ready to use.  Trim them again, and dry the ends off just before using, or it can get your dress wet.

DIY flowers aren't hard to do, but it does take a little practice.  It's not something you should wait to learn until the day before your wedding.  If you know someone crafty or that has a little floral experience, get them to show you how, and practice a few times before your wedding.  Or check around at local craft stores or if there is a floral market, and see if they have classes.

I find the best price on flowers at Sam's Club (I hear Costco is a good place too), either special ordered in bulk or by the package.  I sometimes see flowers that are about to wilt marked down at Wal-mart or the local grocery store for about $5.