How to Make a Cascading Brides Bouquet

A cascade wedding bouquet complements a formal dress.

Handheld bouquets wrapped in ribbons are pretty but don't come close to the formal breathtaking impact of a cascading bridal bouquet. A formal wedding held in the evening demands a formal flower arrangement. Keep the bouquet traditional with all white flowers or sophisticated with a bold color scheme. Use the freshest flowers possible and assemble the bouquet no more than a day ahead. These bouquets take some talent and time to create but are well worth the effort.

Things You'll Need

• Floral foam
• Cascade bouquet holder
• Knife
• Floral shears
• 12 roses
• 3 Casablanca lilies
• 5 orchid sprays such as dendroblum
• Assorted snapdragons, larkspur and delphinium
• Assorted carnations, waxflower and annual statice
• Greenery

Instructions

1. Soak the floral foam in water until fully saturated, about 30 minutes. Place inside the cascade bouquet holder. Firmly push the foam inside the holder. Attach the top of the holder on top of the foam and snap it into place. The top looks like one of the plastic weave baskets that hold strawberries. The plastic weave helps the foam hold the flowers in place.

2. Cut the stems of three roses to 4 inches and push them into the top of the foam at an equal distant apart. Angle the roses slightly outward rather than straight up and down. Cut the stems of the three Casablanca lilies to 4 inches and push them into the foam between the roses. Angle them as well.

3. Cut the stems of five roses to 8 inches. Push them into the foam on the sides angling downward. The center rose will be the longest. Push two roses further into the foam on either side of the center rose. Cut the stems of the remaining two roses from 8 inches to 6 inches. Push these into the sides of the form so they're at a 90-degree angle from the longest center rose. Angle them out slightly.

4. Cut the stems of the orchid sprays to 3 inches. Insert them into the foam between the roses. The longest spray will be beneath the longest rose. The other sprays are slightly shorter and go between the roses on the sides of the bouquet.

5. Fill in any gaps in the downward spray using flowers that have a natural spray form such as snapdragons, delphinium or larkspur.

6. Fill in any gaps in the top of the arrangement where you placed the first roses and lilies with compact small flowers such as carnations, waxflower or annual statice. Add a few of these flower to the sprays for a more uniform look.

7. Add leaves as a ruffle around the top of the bouquet and the sides. Tuck a few leaves here and there in the bouquet to finish the look.

Tips & Warnings

• Practice with silk flowers using dry floral foam to get comfortable with the techniques, angling the flowers and filling in the gaps. Use this bouquet as the bouquet for the bride to throw.

• Keep the flowers fresh by misting them with water and keeping the bouquet in a cold but not freezing place.

• Reinsert stems as little as possible into the foam. There isn't much to begin with. Every time you poke a hole in the foam it breaks down and won't hold the stems as firmly.

References

• "Wedding Flowers"; Better Homes & Gardens Creative Collection; 2009
• "Wedding Flowers"; Enhance the Romance; June 2009