How to Finish Shaping a Cascade Bridal Bouquet

"Hi! I’m Amelia Tallman and I’m talking about how to build bridal bouquets. Right now, we’re going to make a bow to put on this cascading bouquet. So we’re actually going to tie a bow in this case. It kind of takes some detailed work. This is actually much easier with wired ribbon to make a bow. But what you want to start out with is making a loop around your thumb, turning it over to the backside and making a tight twist. We’re just going to go back and forth making loops, twisting where your thumb and forefinger pinch and back. You probably only need to do about 3 loops like this in this bouquet and once you’ve got your third loop, you want to switch hands. I’ve already got a piece cut out here that’s going to be my tails, and it’s got little V-cuts at the bottom. I’m setting that on the back and then I’m going to take a piece of floral wire, lace it through where my thumb is, switch hands and pinch tight and wrap it back around behind the bow. You have to switch hands back and forth a couple of times and give it a good twist. Then I always like to take my pliers, grab a hold of the wire, pull really tight on the bow and twist it a few more times. Pliers give you a little bit more leverage and can get them a little bit tighter. So now using other scissors, I cut the third piece of ribbon about the same length. Also the V-cuts pretty nice where you just fold it in half and cut at an angle. Now you’ve got a ribbon and it’s great for floral foam because it’s wired. You just want to cut those wires so there a little bit blunt and stab those right into your bouquet. You can really place these anywhere. I like to place them at the back but you can place out in the front or just anywhere. It just adds a little bit more of a touch and it gives you a nice cascade to the bouquet and it’s not overpowering; it doesn’t cover up the flowers when it’s on the back. It’s just a nice little addition."