Where to begin. Silks or Fresh?
Well first thing you need to do is choose between fresh flowers and silk. A fresh flower bouquet should only be tackled by the bravest among you with at least some DIY fortitude. Fresh flowers are less forgiving and should only be done within a day of the wedding. Keep in mind that certain flower have a very short life span and need to be appropriately conditioned. But if you’re feeling bold and handle stress well then what the heck… go for it. No really, I’m not trying to scare anybody I just want you to be realistic and honest about your skill set.

Silks are a much easier way to go for the average DIY’er. I’ll reserve comment on the whole debate of fresh vs. silks for another article. The main advantage with silks other than having a keepsake after the wedding is that you can work on the project months in advance and work in a much more calm and relaxed manner. If you make a mistake – no worries – there’s plenty of time to correct it. This guide will focus on making a bouquet using silk flowers.

Things You’ll Need

• Wire cutters – You can pick one up at Home Depot for less than $10.
• Pipe Cleaner – Alternatively you can use a long twist tie.
• Floral tape – Available at most craft stores.
• Ribbon – Color of choice.
• Fabric Scissors
• Decorative Buckle or Broach – Optional.

Where to buy
Many Florists today will be more than happy to sell you loose stems for a DIY project. In most cases, since you’re supplying the labor, you can save about 40% off the cost of a bouquet by doing it yourself. Whether you choose fresh or silks, don’t wait till the last minute. Many of the high end silks are in high demand and get frequently back ordered. Ordering 6 months in advance in some cases is not too soon. When it comes to fresh you’ll want to make sure that the flower you’re interested is in season when you need it. If not, expect to pay a hefty premium for them. Give your fresh florist a heads up so that they can best help you in making sure that you get exactly what you want when you need it.

Design Style
I would highly recommend a hand tied bouquet for a first time DIY’er. A hand tied bouquet is simple, elegant and by far the easiest bouquet to design. I’d suggest you choose no more than 2 different flower species that compliment each other well. Your best bet is to pick one flower type that will act as the dominate flower and a secondary one to give a little texture and accent. Much more than that could end up being frustrating… and we don’t want that.

Let’s Get This Party Started
For this project I selected Calla Lilies. They work well for contemporary and traditional looks. They’re highly prized, available in a variety of colors, elegant and relatively easy to work with. You can never go wrong with Callas. If you’re having trouble selecting the perfect color than go with a primary like white, yellow or green. You can then use the ribbon for your contrasting accent color.

I used 24 Mini Calla stems for my bouquet. This produces a medium sized bouquet. You’ll have to adjust your count based on the size flower you use and the size of the bouquet you want.

Step 1
Place all the flowers loosely in the palm of your hand. Begin to arrange the flowers, starting with the center one and working your way towards the outside. The center flower should be the highest one with the outer ones becoming progressively lower. Be careful not to pull the flowers by their petals. Always adjust by grabbing the stem. If you’re working with silk flowers you can also bend the stems to help fan the flowers out a little.

When you’re done, you should have something that resembles the shape of a mushroom. Be patient with this step. It could take a little time to get the look you’re going for.

You can also change your hand position to change the look. The higher you grab the bouquet (closer to the flowers) the tighter the arrangement gets. The lower you grab it the more airy it gets. In general, you don’t want your bouquet too airy looking unless you plan on filling the spaces with something like baby’s breadth or other greenery. Too airy also has a tendency of making the bouquet look a little sloppy.

Here’s a helpful hint. Have a mirror in front of you so that you can hold the bouquet as if you were walking down the aisle. This will give you a better perspective and makes it a lot easier to evaluate composition and balance. Make sure the bouquet is tilted towards your guests and not towards the ceiling. I get a little crazy when I see wedding photographs with the Bride holding her bouquet pointing straight up. Who are they trying to impress? The birds? Sorry for the sarcasm, it’s just one of those pet peeves of mind.

Step 2
Once you get the look exactly as you want it, you’ll use the pipe cleaner to secure around the stems. Wrap the pipe cleaner directly above your hand. It might help to get a friend to assist you with this step. Once you twist the pipe cleaner, you should be able to let go of the arrangement and it will maintain its basic shape. You can make minor adjustments in the next step. Twist the pipe cleaner just enough to hold the shape but not too much that you damage the stems. Cut the excess pipe cleaner leaving about 3/4″. Fold what’s left around the stems as shown.

Step 3
Use the green floral tape to secure all the stems into a tight bundle. If you’ve never used floral tape before, it’s very simple to use. Cut a piece that’s easy to manage – say about 12 inches. Before you begin to wrap, you have to activate the stickyness of the tape. Do this by gently stretching a couple of inches of the tape. Begin to wrap at the top of the stems, a little above the pipe cleaner. Make sure you overlap the tape as you work the tape down. The tape sticks to itself, not the stems. Continue to stretch the tape as you carefully wrap at a downward angle. If the tape tears – don’t worry – take the torn piece and overlap an existing area of the wrap and continue on. Your total wrap shouldn’t be much more than 3 inches.

Step 4

Cut a piece of ribbon approximately 1 -1/2 yards long. Drape the ribbon slightly above the green tape. Leave 18″ of ribbon to the left – you’ll need this to tie a bow in the last step. Begin wrapping the stems towards the right in a downward spiral direction. Overlap each successive revolution by about a quarter of an inch. Make sure you pull the ribbon tightly for a clean and professional look.

Once you’ve wrapped the ribbon so that it covers the bottom of the green floral tape, reverse direction and wrap the ribbon in an upward spiral until you end up where you started.

Step 5 (Optional)

Add some embellishments to complete the look. A crystal buckle is available through most national craft stores. You can also give your bouquet an expressive touch by adding something intimate and personal to you. For example, a pendant with a photograph of someone dear to you.

Lace the ribbon through the buckle and slide the ribbon into position. Tie a basic knot to secure the ribbon and then tie a decorative bow for the final touch.

Final Thoughts
Take your time and exercise your creative side. If you get a little frustrated during the project then take a break and walk away from it for a couple of hours. Don’t worry, it’ll come together… I didn’t become a florist overnight. Best of all, you get to walk down the aisle with something you created yourself.

If your interested in your own Do-It-Yourself project then don’t hesitate to drop me a line. If you have any questions or comments, please post them on this blog. I’ll be sure to reply.

Good Luck! Mary.

Mary Baum is the owner, chief designer, bottle washer and broom sweeper at The Silk Canopy. She’s passionate about all things wedding. And when she’s not creating a new design or watching the Wedding channel she spends her time with her Husband, two daughters and her lunatic dog, Henry.

Well… I just received a shipment last week of all the flowers I ordered during the show. I was so excited that I rushed to my studio and started working on a  new bouquet & boutonniere. I didn’t even have a bride to create them for. I just did it for the sheer pleasure of creating something new with these amazing flowers. I did this one for me.

This bridal bouquet includes:

• snap dragons
• roses
• narcissus
• scabiosa
• bear grass
• … and a hand made weave… one of my signature elements.

Here’s the matching boutonniere and another view of the bouquet.

Let me know what you think.

Posted by: Mary Baum

Mary, owner of the The Silk Canopy specializes in creating spectacular arrangements using eternal botanicals. She always says that the 3 most important elements of a good arrangement are “Design, Balance and Color”.