Guest Post by Breanna Gunn
So you’re being frugal about your wedding. Good for you! I
had
less than $3000 available for my big day,
which meant that my entire day was DIY. And that was before DIY weddings were
cool. There are lots of wonderful tutorials out there for making all kinds of
things...but I have yet to find one for flowers that doesn’t terrify me.
So I’m here to help. Your wedding flowers make a huge
statement about who you are, and they only take about three hours. Of course,
if you choose to do this, those three hours are going to be spent working
really hard the day before your wedding.
Let’s start, shall we?
Buying Your Flowers
The first thing that you’re going to need are flowers. There
are a number of places you can acquire them, including big box stores,
florists, online, and your back yard. One thing that I learned was that you
cannot mention the words ‘wedding’ (or anything related) if you want to get a
good deal and not pick the flowers yourself.
Go and inquire about pricing for the quantity and types of
flowers (don’t forget filler!!) that you want, and then ask about discounts.
DIY is all about being frugal, remember.
Once you’ve secured your blooms, schedule their delivery
the day before your big day. Morning would be awesome.
Then you need to find:
1. Florist tape
2. Florist pins
3. SHARP scissors
4. Ribbon
5. Florist wire
6. Accents (stones, sparkles...you get the idea)
Prepare Your Blooms
First of all, get some help. This task is easiest with 2 to
3 people. Then...
Trim and feed your flowers. What this means is that you need
to take off any leaves, and trim the stems on a diagonal. This is easiest if
you set up an assembly line at your kitchen sink.
Once they’ve been trimmed, place the flowers into 5 gallon
buckets filled with room temperature water. This will ensure that they do not
wilt, and that they open just a little. If you have a few blooms that you do
not want to open further (think daisies), use ice water or stick the entire
bucket in the fridge.
Assemble Your Bouquet
Once you’re all trimmed and watered, get set up to assemble
your bouquet. Make sure you have more blooms than you think you’ll need...got
‘em? Then let’s get on with the fun stuff!
To assemble your bouquet:
1. Have your tape, scissors, and wire handy.
2. Carefully choose 5-10 blooms to start your bouquet.
3. Arrange them in a half-ball shape, and tape them
together. If you want them to really be secure, use a piece of florist wire,
and stick it through the stems.
4. Now for the fun...continue adding blooms until you
achieve the look you want, taping and wiring as you go.
5. Got saggy blooms? Use the florist wire to perk them up!
Stick the end of the wire just below the head of the flower, and wrap the
remainder of the wire around the stem, going down to help hold it upright. Then
add it to your bouquet!
6. Once you’ve finished adding flowers, tape the entire
bouquet between 2 and 4 inches.
7. Wrap a ribbon around the bouquet to hide the tape, and
embellish with florist pins or glue on rhinestones and the like.
Then, admire your handiwork!!
