My Wedding Bouquet



© Distinct Photography

I have a crafty side. I used that talent to put together the decorations for my recent wedding. Generally, if I can see a craft I can figure out how to duplicate it or at least come close.

All of the pictures you see were taken by Distinct Photography in Norman, Ok. They are awesome photographers and I would recommend them to any bride to be. Check them out!

© Distinct Photography

In the above picture you can see me making my wedding bouquet and later I made 6 boutonnieres and floral arrangements with the remaining flowers, too.

But today is about the Bouquet.

We ordered the flowers in bulk from Sam’s Club. A big box arrived the Thursday before the wedding with 150 mini calla lily stems. Sam's will let you schedule the day your flowers are delivered. Then I set to work.

Thursday: I trimmed the stems, following the directions that came with the flowers, and put the flowers in water. They had to hydrate for 2 hours. Then I stuck them (still in a bucket of water) in my mother’s extra fridge in the garage.

Friday: I made the bouquet and the boutonnieres.

Supplies: Floral Tape, Floral wire, Vases and mason Jars. Oh, and a knife, wire clippers, scissors, and ribbon.

© Distinct Photography

It took about 45 stems to make the bouquet. I searched through the 150 stems to find the best looking ones. I wanted the stems to be a good length for me. I measured three hand widths down and then cut off the ends at an angle with a knife.  

As I went along, I would tie the floral wire around the bunch and see how it looked. Then I would add more stems until I was satisfied. I clipped off layers of wire as I went so that I only had one or 2 bands of wire at any given time.

© Distinct Photography

When I was satisfied with the look and size I wrapped the floral tape tightly around and around the stems. Don’t worry about how this looks because just before the wedding I covered it with wide white ribbon.

When the Floral tape was secure I clipped off the last of the floral wire. Then I stuck the bouquet in a mason jar with water and stuck it back in the fridge. Our wedding was on Saturday.

© Distinct Photography

Saturday: Before the ceremony I pulled the bouquet out of the water. I shook off the excess water and wrapped the middle of the stems with wide, white ribbon. I had misplaced my straight pins so I secured it at the bottom with a paperclip. No one could see it and it worked just fine. I’m just fine with improvising when I have to.

The whole thing sounds simple and it was, but it still took up a good amount of time. Friday was about 5 hours of work but that was mostly because I’d never done this before and I was mostly guessing or looking at pictures on the internet to see if what I was doing compared. I also made the boutonnieres and prepared the flowers for the floral arrangements at the same time.

In all, it turned out beautifully and I am very happy and proud of what I was able to do inexpensively for my own wedding.

Good luck to all of you DIY Brides out there!