How to Create a Wedding Bouquet
Most weddings, whether traditional or contemporary, feature a wedding bouquet. A symbol of beauty, new beginnings and the transient nature of life, bouquets come in all shapes, sizes and colors. DIY brides or their helpers can cut expenses from the wedding budget by creating a bouquet at home with minimal tools and supplies. Construct your bouquet on the day of the wedding or the night before for maximum impact and longevity.
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Instructions
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Buy or gather flowers for your bouquet. Choose flowers based on their appearance or meaning. You might choose flowers that match your wedding colors or flowers with historical symbolism of love, affection and loyalty. White roses, for example, signify innocence, love and beauty, according to the University of Vermont Cooperative Extension.
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You will need between 30 and 40 flowers for your bouquet. Select blooms of a similar size for a solid bouquet, or an even number of larger and smaller blooms. Keep about 10 extra blooms on hand in case of accidents or broken blossoms.
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Remove the leaves and any thorns from the flower stems.
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Hold your flowers under cool running water. Use a knife to cut the stems at an angle, approximately two inches from the bottom. This allows the flowers to absorb water easily.
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Keep the cut stems under water for about a minute, allowing the flowers to soak up the moisture. This also flushes out air bubbles, which are detrimental to cut flowers.
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Fill a bucket with cool water. Place the stems in the bucket.
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Place four flowers of like appearance in a square arrangement. This will form the center of the bouquet.
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Choose one bloom at a time, arranging flowers in a concentric circle around the central flowers. Arrange the blossoms in a spiral pattern around the core blooms. If you're using flowers of dissimilar sizes, stagger smaller blooms among larger ones.
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Add herbs -- dried or fresh -- to the bouquet for added symbolism or scent. Ideas for herbs include rosemary, lavender and thyme. Place them randomly or at even intervals, interspersed among the flowers.
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Blot the stems dry with paper towels. Wrap the stems tightly with floral tape to secure the bouquet.
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Wrap the stems with enough floral tape that you can grasp the bottom, creating a handle. Leave an extra two to three inches at the bottom of the handle to cut the stems to a uniform length.
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Cut the stems under running water to a uniform length. Make angle cuts.
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Measure the width of the stem handle. Cut a piece of ribbon three to four times this measurement.
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Tape down the ends of the ribbon with small pieces of floral tape. Tape the ribbon to the floral tape that binds the stems so that you can begin wrapping the ribbon to create a decorative cover for the tape. Attach the ribbon a the bottom of the handle.
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Wrap the ribbon around the floral tape to conceal the floral tape and bound stems.
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Pin the end of the ribbon to the floral tape when you have finished wrapping. Push the pin into the handle of stems, just below the blooms.
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Cut a length of ribbon in a contrasting or complementary color. Tie a bow beneath the blooms. Secure with a decorative pin through the center of the bow.
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References
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