How to Make a Homemade Bridal Bouquet

Create a bouquet that reflects your personality perfectly.

Flowers are an integral part of most weddings. They represent beauty and romance and offer the bride a way to customize the decor of the event to her own tastes and favorite colors. A bridal bouquet is usually part of even the simplest weddings. As many brides-to-be discover, flowers can be expensive, but one way to cut costs is to make your own bouquet.

Things You'll Need

• 40 to 65 hardy flowers
• Two buckets
• Scissors
• Rubber bands
• Floral tape
• Satin ribbon
• Stick pins

Instructions

1. Choose hardy flowers for your bridal bouquet to ensure they can handle and stand up to constant movement while you carry them throughout the ceremony. Select flowers that will compliment you, your dress and your wedding theme. To make a bouquet that is 9 inches in diameter, you will need 40 to 65 stems of flowers.

2. Remove any thorns and excess foliage from each individual flower stem.

3. Fill two buckets with cool water. Holding the stem of each flower underwater in the first bucket, cut off about 2 inches at an angle. Place the stem immediately in the second bucket of water.

4. Assemble four or five flowers at even height in a square shape, creating the center of your bouquet. Place a rubber band around the stems. Arrange all the other flowers one by one around the center flowers, keeping one hand firmly around the bouquet stems just below the flower heads.

5. When you have arranged all the flowers, secure the bouquet with a rubber band just under the flower heads. Move your hand down, and put another rubber band around the end of the stems, leaving about 2 inches of the stem. Trim stems to the same length.

6. Wrap floral tape in a spiral down the flower stems. Repeat with satin ribbon over the floral tape. When you reach the bottom of the stems, continue wrapping in a spiral back up the stems. At the top, cut the ribbon, tucking it into the flower stems, and secure with pearl or diamond stick pins.

References

• The Knot: Homemade Wedding Bouquets: The Basics