Hey hey! With wedding planning coming along, one thing Martin and I are taking time with are flowers. We have an idea of what we want our venue to look like and florist options, it's just the bouquets that are up in the air right now. From the get-go, I knew I would be the, "I can do that, why do I have to pay someone to do this for me?" kind of bride. I am a creator and crafter, so naturally, I need/want to be creatively in charge of everything lol. I know, get over it, Melissa! But do I have to? Since day one, I've been so against paying someone to put bridal bouquets together for my party. Why? Because I can make them myself. The most common feedback has been, "You won't have time before your wedding." and although that may be true, I just simply feel like I can make time to make six bouquets. This idea was only fueled even more when I actually tried to make a bouquet and once I completed it in 15 minutes, it was game over. I just knew I HAD to make my own.
Let's get real for a second. Weddings are expensive and if there are ways to save money, I'm right there standing tall with Martin next to me! With this in mind, I gave myself another chance to put a bouquet together and decided to document it just in case there are more brides out there looking to DIY some part of their wedding, save money on bouquets or just want to add a personal touch to their day. I went down to my local Trader Joe's and picked up a dozen white roses for $6.99 and a small bunch of eucalyptus leaves for $2.99. At the time, I felt like that was more than enough for a bridesmaid or toss bouquet and it sure ended up being more than enough haha. Anyway, let's go over what you need and how to make a simple bouquet!
You'll Need
Roses - I used six for this bouquet
Eucalyptus Leaves - I used a few stems for decoration.
Ribbon - Any size is okay, totally up to you!
Floral Tape - Bought this roll at the Dollar Tree.
Pins - You can purchase these at any craft store.
Optional - Twine. You can use this to wrap your bouquet for a more rustic look.
How To
Step 1: You can begin by taking a few roses to see how many you actually want in your bouquet. Initially, I started with seven out of the dozen, but dropped down to six to allow room for the leaves.
Step 2: Play around with your roses and adjust them to see which rose fits where within the bouquet. You should also take this time to clean up the stems of your roses, i.e. cut off any leaves.
Step 3: Once you've formed a bouquet shape you love, start decorating around with eucalyptus leaves. Unless you're a professional florist, this will take a few tries. I basically took one leaf stem and inserted one in the middle of the bouquet and four more around the bouquet. Think about this step as if you're covering four corners of your bouquet with leaves for an even finish.
Step 5: Once you're happy with the placement of your leaves, pinch the neck of your bouquet tightly and add floral tape around the neck. You'll discover that this tape is sticky and will stick onto itself once you're done applying it around your bouquet.
Step 6: Now, take your ribbon and like the tape, wrap it around the bouquet covering the tape. I only used maybe about a quarter yard of ribbon for this process. When you get to the end of your ribbon, simply fold the raw edge in.
Step 7: Next, take your pins and pin down the end of the ribbon. To do this, you'll simply insert all pins down where you made your fold. You don't insert in (straight) because the pointy part of the pin will go through to the other side and we don't want your bridesmaids to cut themselves haha. By inserting down, the pin will either hide between stems or insert themselves into a stem. If you'd rather not play with pins, you can literally just skip step number 6 and simply tie a pretty bow with your ribbon.
Step 8: Finish off your bouquet by cutting down the stems and cleaning them up as well. You might have extra leaves popping out under the ribbon, so simply cut them off. From there, just put them in a vase with water and you're done!
Well, that's all it takes! In the end, each bouquet cost under $10 and I had enough leaves and flowers to make two. One thing I would highly recommend before just jumping the gun on making your own bouquets is to practice. You don't want to show up on your big day with dry flowers, you know? Practice the types of flowers you're thinking of using, test their freshness and even perfect your craft! To me, this is a fun way to have extra time with your bridesmaids and get a line together the night before to make bouquets. If you feel confident enough and your test trials have succeeded, save the money and make your own! It's seriously tons of fun and hey, you never know. What if you discover a talent you didn't know you had? Anyway, hope this helps anyone trying to find ways to save money throughout wedding planning! I'm there with you in spirit, ladies. Chat with you guys soon!
Xo,
Melissa Victoria
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