DIY bouquets?

KatieinBkln · March 2015

Hey DIYers! I'm looking for advice about making my own bouquets. It's just me and my sister (MOH), and I have been envisioning a wildflower bouquet. I just got a quote from a florist, and while the bouquet photos she showed me are all perfectly lovely, I'm having a hard time reconciling the price when what I really want are the kinds of flowers that grow in my mother's garden.

Mom has all the flowers I like, they're all perennials, and they all bloom at the right time. So, that being said:

1. Are there things I should know about making a nice bouquet that might dissuade me from trying to do it on my own? (I am not crafty, but sister-MOH is, and while I will not voluntell her, I imagine she'll be into it).

2. If you all think it's doable, what are your tips?

Thanks, everyone. I so rarely feel the itch to do anything artistic that I am at a bit of a loss about the logistics here, so I appreciate any advice you have!

theartistformerlyknownas · March 2015

Do any of the flowers have thorns or lots of leaves you'd need to trim?

Do they have weak you'd need to reinforce?

Do they have short stems you'd need to lengthen with wire?

Are they flowers that wilt quickly, or would they last a day or two after being assembled so you don't need to spend time doing it at the last minute?

Do you have enough greenery/filler if the flowers alone aren't as full as you'd like?

Do you have the wires/tapes/ribbons/pins necessary to DIY?

KatieinBkln · March 2015

lolo883 said:
Do any of the flowers have thorns or lots of leaves you'd need to trim? They're all fairly tall, so trimming would be involved. Black-eyed Susans, purple coneflowers, tiger lilies, queen anne's lace. No thorns, though.
Do they have weak you'd need to reinforce? I don't think so--they're tall and stand up pretty straight on their own.
Do they have short stems you'd need to lengthen with wire? If I do a gerbera daisy or two, possibly.
Are they flowers that wilt quickly, or would they last a day or two after being assembled so you don't need to spend time doing it at the last minute? I believe these are all pretty hardy
Do you have enough greenery/filler if the flowers alone aren't as full as you'd like? Yep. My mom has a bitchin' perennial garden with gorgeous greens and ferns and such.
Do you have the wires/tapes/ribbons/pins necessary to DIY? I don't personally, but I have a feeling my mom and sister have a lot of that stuff between them, and I don't mind buying it, of course!

madamerwin · March 2015

I made the bouquets for my sister's wedding, and it was a surprisingly easy process! (I had never arranged flowers before, but I am a generally crafty person.)

Here are the supplies we needed:

- Floral wire and floral tape - available at crafts stores and some dollar stores. You'll need this to bind the stems together.

- Ribbon - to wrap around the base and cover the wire/stems. A wide satin ribbon works well.

- Straight pins - to secure the ribbon

- Flower shears

- Flowers (duh)

I would also recommend making a practice bouquet a few weeks before your wedding, so you know exactly what's involved.

Also, if you make them the day before, you should store them in a cool, dry place until the wedding (refrigerator works well, or a basement if you're in a cool area).

lolo883 's points, those are good things to keep in mind.

theartistformerlyknownas · March 2015

Sounds like you should be good to go! I'd just get some grocery store flowers for a trial run or two so you get the hang of it before her flowers come into season.

KatieinBkln · March 2015

lolo883 said:
Sounds like you should be good to go! I'd just get some grocery store flowers for a trial run or two so you get the hang of it before her flowers come into season.

Yay! Mom and sister are already into the idea. I'm so glad it seems like a reasonable thing to do. I was stressing over describing what I wanted to a florist when I realized I know exactly what I want, and that is my mommy's garden, in my hand.

Worst case scenario and no flowers bloom in the garden? I hit up the farmer's market and make do.

Crusher14 · March 2015

I got a price quote from a folorist and looked into a making my own bouquet as well.

After doing some google searching, I found a webiste called http://www.bloomsbythebox.com/

They have a DIY guide in there that you can read and have videos you can watch if you need guidance. If you choose you can also order flowers from them as well.

After researching all this information I went to my local grocery store and bought some flowers simliar to what I am wanting for my bouquet and tired to make one myself. It only took me 25 mintuest to do mine, which that includes taking the leaves off the flowers and cutting them down. I also just used regular scissors and bought a deal of floral type from Hobby Lobby for aorund 2 bucks!

It's great to see another bride feels the same way about flowers I do! I hope you enjoy making your own bouquet!

lovemesomemonster · March 2015

We actually did this for the last wedding I was in.. the girls went to the bridal suite while the guys went out and we had a blast! None of us are super crafty but they turned out great, just make sure you have all of the wire, flower tape before you start and then just go to town! Below is the pic of the final product, it turned out awesome! Just go with your gut, get some greenery too for filling and have fun with it.

KatieinBkln · March 2015

Crusher14 said:
I got a price quote from a folorist and looked into a making my own bouquet as well.
After doing some google searching, I found a webiste called http://www.bloomsbythebox.com/
They have a DIY guide in there that you can read and have videos you can watch if you need guidance. If you choose you can also order flowers from them as well.
After researching all this information I went to my local grocery store and bought some flowers simliar to what I am wanting for my bouquet and tired to make one myself. It only took me 25 mintuest to do mine, which that includes taking the leaves off the flowers and cutting them down. I also just used regular scissors and bought a deal of floral type from Hobby Lobby for aorund 2 bucks!
It's great to see another bride feels the same way about flowers I do! I hope you enjoy making your own bouquet!

Thanks for this site!

KatieinBkln · March 2015

lovemesomemonster said:
We actually did this for the last wedding I was in.. the girls went to the bridal suite while the guys went out and we had a blast! None of us are super crafty but they turned out great, just make sure you have all of the wire, flower tape before you start and then just go to town! Below is the pic of the final product, it turned out awesome! Just go with your gut, get some greenery too for filling and have fun with it.

I would not have been able to tell you that this wasn't professionally done. How beautiful!

cgss11 · March 2015

I think it's totally doable. I was a bridesmaid in a wedding where we made bouquets the night before, and it was fun..I genuinely didn't mind helping. Hers were more difficult (roses with thorns), but we just gathered bunches, and wrapped with floral tape. In hindsight, we should have used wire first. The tape didn't hold, so we ended up literally using duct tape. We then put ribbon over so you couldn't tell, and we got a funny story out of it!

moorewedding530 · March 2015

What I learned from watching 19 Kids and Counting:

Start with a base flower and then place other flowers around them. I'm making my own bouquet with fake flowers, and honestly, this is the best advice I've gotten about making my own arrangement!

KatieinBkln · March 2015

moorewedding530 said:
What I learned from watching 19 Kids and Counting:
Start with a base flower and then place other flowers around them. I'm making my own bouquet with fake flowers, and honestly, this is the best advice I've gotten about making my own arrangement!

Wait, wut?

I never would have guessed that show would be a font of information on flower arranging.

lovesclimbing · March 2015

We did this at my sister's wedding. They bought the flowers and her grandmother in law and a bunch of aunts and cousins helped out. Her grandmother used to do it for a living. It was fun and didn't take too long with a bunch of people helping.

Yea, you'll need wire and tape to wrap the stems and somewhere to keep them for the day or two before the wedding.

[Deleted User] · March 2015

I know you are asking about real flowers, but when I couldn't fathom the price, I turned to paper flowers. I have an Etsy shop making all my table flowers, bouquets, etc. for around $500. I can send you her shop if you'd like?

KatieinBkln · March 2015

Knottie5663182 said:
I know you are asking about real flowers, but when I couldn't fathom the price, I turned to paper flowers. I have an Etsy shop making all my table flowers, bouquets, etc. for around $500. I can send you her shop if you'd like?

Thanks, but I'm going to get my flowers free from my mom's garden (hooray for moms!).

InspiredDIYBride · March 2015

First: I think its wonderful you are being resourceful and crafty, good for you! This may be lengthy, but I want to offer a few tips from my experience that hopefully will help a new DIY-er! Before I dive in, let me give a lil background: I used to be a florist and therefore usually volunteer or get volunteered to do all sorts of floral arrangements for weddings/proms and goodness knows what else. Because of this I have seen and experienced many a issue, but don't let me scare you! I hope the few tips below help you either to be prepared or perhaps even help solve a potential problem if it arises. (I will keep my fingers crossed that you will not have any of the issues I have had!)

1. Its great to have small cocktail straws or clear straws on hand. These can be used to help "perk" up stems that tend to tilt or that are weak on their own. While some people swear by floral wire through the bottom of the flower and floral tape around the wire/stem. I find that if the stem is small enough, or you know will be concealed, that a straw actually works better and then can also be wrapped in tape. This prevents any flowers that have a weak head or that may have been stabbed with the wire improperly from falling out of the bouquets.

2. Filler like greenery or babies breath is a fantastic thing to have. My best friend got married last year and the florist COMPLETELY BOTCHED the flower order the day before the wedding. Less than half of the flowers needed for the whole wedding were actually ordered by the florist and because they were a special order, other locations did not have them. Luckily her colors were green and white and I could use things like greenery and babies breath to really make large bouquets and centerpieces with a space amount of flowers. As a note: we actually got many wildflowers from the side of the road and plenty of Queen Anne's lace. I would recommend scoping out roadsides a few days or weeks before the wedding to see where you can get filler from if you need it. Just make sure your not grabbing from any place that can get you in trouble!

3. Practice! I would grab some cheap-o flowers from a local dollar store (which also sells floral wire and floral tape BTW) and practice putting together bouquets before using the real flowers. As a bonus, you could use this as your tossing bouquet if you wish

4. If your nails have been done, wear latex gloves! Getting dirt or smashed green plant goo out fo beautifully done nails can be a nightmare and have the potential for ruining your manicure.

5. Keep calm. Mistakes happen. So what if the bouquet or centerpiece doesn't look like tutorials show you. What matters is that you did it yourself and tried to do something new. Do your best and don't stress over it. Everyone will be looking at your face as you walk down the aisle, not at what you are holding.

Apologies for the length of this post, but I hope this will help you out. Congrats on your big day and I hope everything goes smoothly

KatieinBkln · March 2015

Knottie33078481 said:
First: I think its wonderful you are being resourceful and crafty, good for you! This may be lengthy, but I want to offer a few tips from my experience that hopefully will help a new DIY-er! Before I dive in, let me give a lil background: I used to be a florist and therefore usually volunteer or get volunteered to do all sorts of floral arrangements for weddings/proms and goodness knows what else. Because of this I have seen and experienced many a issue, but don't let me scare you! I hope the few tips below help you either to be prepared or perhaps even help solve a potential problem if it arises. (I will keep my fingers crossed that you will not have any of the issues I have had!)
1. Its great to have small cocktail straws or clear straws on hand. These can be used to help "perk" up stems that tend to tilt or that are weak on their own. While some people swear by floral wire through the bottom of the flower and floral tape around the wire/stem. I find that if the stem is small enough, or you know will be concealed, that a straw actually works better and then can also be wrapped in tape. This prevents any flowers that have a weak head or that may have been stabbed with the wire improperly from falling out of the bouquets.
2. Filler like greenery or babies breath is a fantastic thing to have. My best friend got married last year and the florist COMPLETELY BOTCHED the flower order the day before the wedding. Less than half of the flowers needed for the whole wedding were actually ordered by the florist and because they were a special order, other locations did not have them. Luckily her colors were green and white and I could use things like greenery and babies breath to really make large bouquets and centerpieces with a space amount of flowers. As a note: we actually got many wildflowers from the side of the road and plenty of Queen Anne's lace. I would recommend scoping out roadsides a few days or weeks before the wedding to see where you can get filler from if you need it. Just make sure your not grabbing from any place that can get you in trouble!
3. Practice! I would grab some cheap-o flowers from a local dollar store (which also sells floral wire and floral tape BTW) and practice putting together bouquets before using the real flowers. As a bonus, you could use this as your tossing bouquet if you wish
4. If your nails have been done, wear latex gloves! Getting dirt or smashed green plant goo out fo beautifully done nails can be a nightmare and have the potential for ruining your manicure.
5. Keep calm. Mistakes happen. So what if the bouquet or centerpiece doesn't look like tutorials show you. What matters is that you did it yourself and tried to do something new. Do your best and don't stress over it. Everyone will be looking at your face as you walk down the aisle, not at what you are holding.
Apologies for the length of this post, but I hope this will help you out. Congrats on your big day and I hope everything goes smoothly

Knottie33078481 Thank you! This is all such great information to have. I never would have thought of clear straws but obviously it is genius. I so appreciate you taking the time to give a clueless DIYer some tips.

Now, go get yourself a non-generic username so we can get to know you! You're most welcome to the boards.

InspiredDIYBride · March 2015

KatieinBkln said:

Knottie33078481 said:
Knottie33078481 Thank you! This is all such great information to have. I never would have thought of clear straws but obviously it is genius. I so appreciate you taking the time to give a clueless DIYer some tips.

Now, go get yourself a non-generic username so we can get to know you! You're most welcome to the boards.

You're welcome! And thank you for the welcome! I got myself a user name after I posted this so I can enjoy the community. I would love your advice on my very first posting if you have any insight you can give me. Its under the Moms and Maids sections titled Organizational Folders. TIA!

cjpr615 · March 2015

Your advice was so helpful! I lost my Mom a few months ago. She was a florist at one time and my go-to person for advice on so many things. I've decided to make my own bouquet as well, so your tips are really appreciated. Thanks!

DIY bouquets?

Re: DIY bouquets?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards