So, today we are going to show you (yes, you can do it!) how to make a beautiful spring wedding bouquet. If you are a DIY bride but intimidated by everything you see on Pinterest, or an eager bridesmaid ready to learn a trick of the trade and surprise your friend getting married, get ready because after this “how to” you’ll be making Soiree bouquets!
First steps are to gather your materials. All of these flowers were purchased at our local wholesale florist (you don’t have to have an account, you can buy walking in off of the street). Sometimes I just go in an see what they have available with no wish list. You will also need stem wrap- which is a stretchy tape like material to bind the stems together, and scissors. Tara’s Tip: Oasis brand makes yellow handled scissors that are the best for cutting through thick stems. Remember too, to always keep your flower cutting scissors separate from your ribbon cutting scissors.
Your first step is to “clean” your flowers. Remove all leaves, thorns, etc. I group all of the flowers I’m working with together so I can keep track of the distribution of them as I’m composing the bouquet. FYI, bouquets will take more flowers than you think! It’s always better to have more more more to allow for any breakage and you can use for boutonierres, flowers for the moms, or even flower girl petals and accessories.
Start with the prettiest flower in the center then use different flowers to add texture all around. Try not to get too matchy matchy, a fresh out of the garden look is the goal! If you have a smaller flower like tea roses or sweet peas, I do like to use a cluster of those together to give them a little bit of bulk.
Tara’s Tip: Do your bouquet in front of a mirror. You can see it from both sides and watch that the shape stays how you want it.
Make sure you hold the bouquet in your hand and that all stems as you add more remain facing the same direction, and be careful as it gets more full it can come undone easily. Start to wrap the stems at the hearty part of the stems right below they start to bend a bit by being grouped in the bouquet. You will need to hold the stem wrap in place as you first start to secure it. Stretch it a bit to activate it’s stickiness and wrap it ontop of the starting end (if you pull too tight it will tear). Then you can spin the bouquet to wrap it for a total of 2-3″ of tape to ensure it’s secure.
Use your good scissors to trim all of the stems to the same length.
I love ribbon, so I’m always on the hunt for different or special pieces. Wrap your ribbon starting a little above the top of the tape- make sure you leave about 5″ of a tail for you to come back and tie. Wrap around to the bottom of the tape and then back up the opposite side, meeting the first tail end. Tie together in a square knot. To give the ends a finished look, fold them in half- cut on an upwards angle to give the “innie” pointed look, and cut on a down angle to give the outie look.
Voila! Thank you for the lovely images, Lucy Cuneo.
