You can make your own bridal bouquet once you learn how to select the flowers and decide on the bouquet style. The key is to choose the type of flower(s), color(s) and bridal bouquet style you like best and you'll end up with a bouquet you love!
Making a Bridal Bouquet
At its simplest, creating a wedding bouquet is nothing more than gathering a bundle of flowers and greenery from your local flower market into an arrangement that pleases your eye. Once you've done that, all you have to do is secure the bundle with floral tape, cover that tape with some pretty ribbon, and you're ready to walk down the isle.
Tulip and Calla Lily Wedding Bouquet
This beautiful bouquet is very easy to make. The one pictured here is in tones of deep pink and purple, but you can easily follow the directions using the same flowers in colors that complement your wedding color scheme.
Supplies
- 1 dozen small calla lilies in deep plum
- 1 dozen unopened tulips in a deep rose
- 1 dozen unopened purple tulips
- Floral tape
- Decorative ribbon in a complementary color
Directions
- Begin by selecting one calla lily for the center of the bouquet.
- Surround the lily with three purple and two rose-colored tulips.
- Add three more calla lilies at equal points around the tulips.
- Continue working in more tulips and calla lilies until you've either used all your flowers or made your bouquet as big as you'd like it to be.
- Using floral tape, begin wrapping the bundle anywhere from 3 to 5 inches down the stems from the bottom of the blossoms. Wrapping at this point allows the flowers to spread out a bit, and you can adjust the amount of spread by wrapping the bundle slightly higher or lower.
- Trim the bottom of the stems so they are all the same length, and then tie the ribbon around the tape to cover it.
- Refrigerate your bouquet overnight until it's time for the ceremony.
Traditional Rose Bridal Bouquet
Roses bouquets are a long standing bridal tradition. Many brides select white roses, but feel free to use your favorite color or blend several colors together if they fit your wedding color scheme.
Supplies
- Approximately 15 roses; more if you want a larger bouquet
- Enough baby's breath to entirely surround the roses
- Floral tape
- Satin ribbon
- Floral pins
Directions
- Gather all the roses together in a pleasing bundle. Be careful of any thorns.
- Add sprigs of baby's breath all around the outside of the bouquet.
- Wind floral tape securely around the outside of the bundle starting about 3 inches below the baby's breath, and continuing down to just 2 inches below the shortest stem in the bunch. Don't be afraid to overlap, because this will provide more protection from any thorns.
- Trim the stems so the bouquet has a neat bottom.
- Secure one end of the ribbon at the top of the stems to cover the tape, and begin winding the ribbon tightly all the way down the stems, allowing the ribbon to overlap a bit and inserting a pin at intervals to secure the ribbon.
- Trim the ribbon when you reach the bottom of the stems where the tape ends, and secure it with the last pin.
- Keep the bouquet refrigerated overnight until just before the ceremony is supposed to begin.
The Silk Alternative
Using silk flowers instead of real flowers has some benefits. First, silks are often less expensive than real flowers. Second, you can construct your bouquet well in advance of the wedding. It's always nice to be able to check wedding tasks off your list as early as possible, especially when you already have a lot to take care of before the wedding. A completed bouquet can also serve as a visual reminder of the future excitement.
Working with silks is similar to working with real flowers in that you'll still need to use floral tape and ribbon to secure your bundle. However, you'll need a good pair of wire cutters to trim off excess stems.
Bring Your Own Vision to Life
If you are like some brides, the desire to make your own bridal bouquet has little to do with saving money and more to do with wanting to create the bouquet exactly as you want it. Instead of trying to get your vision across to a florist, you can actually bring it to life yourself. Just remember that sometimes simplicity is best. Don't be afraid to walk down the aisle holding a few of your favorite flowers elegantly secured with a ribbon.
