DIY Bridal Bouquet!

When I got married, I drooled over the fabulous bouquets in magazines, but was horrified to learn of the high cost. We had our reception at a (much) later date so I definitely didn't want to spend hundreds of dollars on flowers that were only going to be used for an hour or so.

So I decided to DIY my wedding flowers!

Here is my DIY bridal bouquet! It's a mix of Cymbidium orchids, Carnations (!!!), and Hyacinths. I LOVE Peonys but they were out of season when I got married and we were on a strict budget. I was able to create a similar ruffly look using supermarket flowers! Total cost of the bouquet was under $25!

Bear in mind that I had NO experience with flower arranging whatsoever. This is a totally do-able DIY.




The hardest part of the project was wiring my orchids. I bought a stem of orchids (just one - $8) and separated each bloom by snipping it off where it met the stem. I then took some floral wire and stuck it through the stem at the base of the bloom, folded it over onto itself and gave it a little twist. I then took my trusty floral tape ($2 at Michael's) and wrapped it all neatly. Each one took a couple of minutes.

I don't have pics of the next part, but I stripped the greenery off the other flowers and then built the bouquet. I started at the centre of the bouquet with  3 stems - one of each and then added blooms in a spiral fashion. What I learned it the higher you hold the bunch, the smaller the finished bouquet will be. I redid it a couple of times until I was happy with it, secured it with rubber bands, trimmed the stems off neatly and put it in a glass of water in the fridge until our wedding the next day.

The next day (the big day), I took it out of the fridge and dried the stems off carefully using paper towels. I didn't want any water. I then took some wide ribbon and wrapped the stems, leaving a bit of exposed stem at the bottom. I secured it with pearl pins (just push them in!)

The groom had a single orchid as a boutonniere


It really was super easy! Plus I was able to create a high end looking bouquet for a pittance!