DIY Wedding Bouquet

I've been researching so many DIY wedding sites during this whole wedding fiasco and have attempted at being a crafty lady. Paper pom poms, homemade jam favors, create-your-own guest book, bark and bird centerpieces, birdcage veils, and the list goes on. So many options and so little time. The DIY trend stems from brides-to-be needing to plan a wedding on a tight budget and that is exactly what I am trying to accomplish. Going to a florist for flowers is incredibly expensive. A bridal bouquet can range anywhere from $50 to $300 and when you multiply that by how many bridesmaids you have, it starts to get just plain stupid. After researching flower arrangements and bouquets, I discovered that I love dahlias. Canby, OR is home to one of the greatest dahlia vendors (dahlias.com) and their prices are very reasonable. For 10 stems, it's $7....
So then I googled "how to make your own bridal bouquet" and that appeared very easy so I decided to actually make my own bridal bouquet. I bought all my supplies at Michael's for under $10 and I bought a bunch of mums at Trader Joe's for $4.99 and they lasted for about two weeks. The only problem with mums is that there are multiple stems coming off from the main stem so it makes for a bunch of flower heads at different heights. When making the actual bouquet, it's better to use single stems. Here is the step-by-step:


*Before beginning, cut off about an inch of the stems and soak the flowers in a vase of water with a packet flower food. Let them sit for about an hour or so. 

Wide Satin Ribbon
Green Floral Tape
Pearl Tipped Corsage Pins
Scissors

Separate and lay out all the flowers. 

Remove the leaves and extra foliage.

Pick the largest flower, this will be the center. 

Take one stem in your hand and criss-cross it 

against the center stem. Take another stem, 

and criss-cross it the opposite way. This will 

start a spiral pattern for your bouquet. 

Take a piece of floral tape and wrap it around 

the three stems to create a base. 

Wrap it enough times to make it secure. 

Pick up the remaining stems, one by one, 

and add them to your bouquet in a spiral pattern

by twisting the stems clockwise in your hand

each time you add a new flower. If you look

closely at the photo, you can see that the 

stems cross over each other in a spiral. 

When adding your flowers, pay attention to

the height and roundness of your bouquet.

When you have added all your flowers, 

wrap the stems with floral tape for

the length of your bouquet handle.

It's safe to wrap from the top on down, 

then back up again.   

Once your bouquet is secured with 

floral tape, it's time to wrap it

with the satin ribbon. 

Begin at the top and wrap down toward 

the bottom, then back up for good coverage. 

If you want, you can wrap it ALL 

the way to the bottom, but I think

it looks better if the ribbon is just 

longer than what your hand will cover.

Once you have arrived back at the top,

cut the ribbon and fold it back to hide

the frayed edge.  

Take one of the corsage pins, and stick it 

through the ribbon at an upward angle to avoid 

it poking out the other side of the bouquet.

It's best if you can stick the pin upward through

a stem, but I found this somewhat difficult. 

Repeat with three more pins. 

You are almost done with your bouquet.

You will need to trim the bottom of the 

stems to about 1" below the ribbon, 

or whatever looks good to you. 

Once you trim the stems, VOILA! 

You have your bridal bouquet.

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