Creating A Rustic Wedding Bouquet: A Step-By-Step Guide

Creating a rustic wedding bouquet is a great way to incorporate the natural beauty of the outdoors into your wedding day. It embraces a charming, romantic, and slightly wild aesthetic. Making your own bouquet is a fantastic way to ensure it is exactly what you want and need not be a daunting task. The bouquet should look natural, organic, and loose, with an unstructured style. This can be achieved by choosing flowers with a natural, organic feel, such as wildflowers, and adding in natural elements like twigs, berries, or feathers. The bouquet is then typically tied with twine or burlap ribbon to finish off the rustic look and feel.

Choose flowers like blush hydrangeas, roses, eucalyptus, and baby's breath

To make a rustic wedding bouquet, you'll need flowers, foliage, scissors, clippers, and twine. You can also add lace or ribbon for a finishing touch.

When choosing flowers, it's best to opt for a variety of colours and textures to create interest and a whimsical, rustic look. A combination of blush hydrangeas, roses, eucalyptus, and baby's breath will make a beautiful bouquet. Hydrangeas are a popular choice for weddings, with their lush, round blooms that come in a variety of colours, including white, blue, green, pink, red, and purple. They pair well with roses, which add a romantic touch, and eucalyptus, which has a beautiful silvery green colour. Baby's breath, with its small, delicate blooms and sweet honey scent, will add a whimsical flourish to your bouquet.

To create your bouquet, start by cutting the hydrangea stems to the desired length. Cut the rose stems slightly longer than the hydrangeas, and bind the hydrangea stems loosely with twine. Slide the roses into the centre of the hydrangea bunch and trim the eucalyptus to about 6-8 inches. Bind the roses and hydrangeas together, sliding the eucalyptus under the twine around the outside of the bunch. You can add baby's breath for extra flourish and secure the bouquet with a rubber band. Finish by wrapping the stems with twine and trimming the ends.

Remember to remove any leaves or thorns from your flowers before arranging them and choose flowers that complement each other in a hand-tied bouquet. You can also add ribbons or lace for a rustic, chic look.

Cut and bind stems to the desired length with twine

Cutting and binding the stems of your bouquet to the desired length is a crucial step in creating a rustic wedding bouquet. Here's a detailed guide to help you achieve this:

Cut the Stems to the Desired Length:

Before you start, decide on the length you want your bouquet handle to be. This will depend on your preference and the style of your wedding. Once you've determined the desired length, use sharp scissors or clippers to cut the stems. For a cohesive look, ensure all the stems are cut to a similar length, allowing for slight variations to create a natural, organic feel.

Bind the Stems with Twine:

Gather your cut flowers and start binding them together with twine. Begin by placing your flowers side by side and wrapping the twine tightly around the stems, just below the flower heads. You can use a rubber band first to secure the stems before wrapping the twine for a firmer hold. Work your way down the stems, keeping the binding tight and secure. You can also add extra embellishments at this stage, such as small berries or delicate baby's breath sprigs, by sliding them under the twine.

Create a Handle:

Continue binding the stems with twine until you reach the desired length of the handle. At this point, you can finish off the handle by wrapping the twine securely and neatly. Leave a little extra twine at the end, then cut it and tuck the ends in, ensuring they are secure. You can also add a ribbon or lace over the twine for a decorative touch.

Finalize the Bouquet:

Once the stems are bound and the handle is created, carefully trim any excess leaves or thorns that may be visible. Check the bouquet from all angles to ensure it looks balanced and natural. If needed, adjust the placement of the flowers by gently teasing them up or down. Finally, set your bouquet aside in a vase of water until your wedding day.

Creating a rustic wedding bouquet is a fun and rewarding project. By carefully cutting and binding the stems, you'll achieve a beautiful and secure bouquet that complements your special day.

Add texture with greens and smaller blooms

To make a rustic wedding bouquet, you'll want to add texture with greens and smaller blooms. This is how you do it:

Firstly, choose your starting flower. This could be a feature flower such as a rose or hydrangea. You can even add two or three starting flowers if they're not too big – you can work around them from each side. Now, make a 'bunch' by adding your greens and smaller, delicate blooms such as stocks and freesia around the main flower to give texture. Break up the colour of these smaller flowers with your foliage to achieve some interest and texture. You could use something like Parvi, which will add a rustic feel to your bouquet, and a small amount of eucalyptus for its beautiful silvery-green colour.

Keep twisting and turning your bouquet in the same direction as you add your plants, and ensure that your stems are lying nicely together as you go. Hold your flowers away from you and check that they're looking as you'd like them to from all angles. If you want a natural and wild look, don't worry too much about how neat they're forming, and at this point, don't worry about the different lengths of your stems. But do pull away any bits of flower or leaves that won't be seen.

Once you have a nice layer around the centre, you can start to introduce some more feature flowers along with your delicate types and foliage, remembering to use a good mix of colour and textures as you go. At this point, the head of your bouquet should be forming a soft round shape. You might want to emphasise some pieces by teasing your plants up or down, which will add to a rustic look.

Once you have your bouquet to the desired size, add a small ring of greenery around the outside, which will keep your arrangement looking relaxed.

Tie bouquet with twine or ribbon

Once you have your bouquet to the desired size, it's time to tie everything together. Check your flowers from all angles to make sure you're happy with the arrangement. It's also a good idea to stand in front of a mirror to check that the size is right.

Hold the stems just under the base of the flowers, leaving around two inches from the top. Take your twine and loop one end (5cm) around the little finger of the hand you're holding the bouquet with. Using your other hand, wrap the rest of the twine tightly around the stems, working upwards until you have 5-10cm left. Then, tie a double knot with the twine looped around your little finger.

Now, lay your bouquet in front of you and cut the stems. You may want to leave at least two hand widths of stem, but this is your choice. Take your shears and cut two or three stems at a time, keeping the shears vertically upright to ensure a clean cut.

For the finishing touches, take one end of your chosen ribbon or lace and cover the twine that is holding your bouquet together. Pull the fabric tight, take your pin, and push it up through the ribbon at a 20% angle into the stems. If you can't get the pin in, don't force it—simply change the angle slightly. Two or three pins should be enough, but you can add more if desired.

And there you have it! Your rustic wedding bouquet is now complete and ready for the big day.

Finish with pins and lace or other fabric

Now for the finishing touches! Take your chosen ribbon, lace, or other fabric and cover the twine that is holding your bouquet together. Pull the fabric tight, take your pin, and push it up through the ribbon at a 20% angle into the stems. If you can’t get the pin in, don’t force it, just change the angle slightly. Two or three pins should be enough, but you can add more if desired.

You can use twine, burlap, hessian, lace, or any old shabby chic material you can get your hands on to finish your bouquet. If you're going for a rustic look, you might want to try using a natural fabric like cotton or linen, or even a soft, fluffy fabric like tulle or organza. You could also add some extra decorations to your bouquet, such as small berries or twigs, to give it a more natural, rustic feel.

If you want to add a pop of colour, you could try using a bright ribbon or fabric to wrap your bouquet. Alternatively, you could use a more subtle colour that complements the flowers in your bouquet. For a truly rustic look, you could even use a piece of fabric with a pattern or design that you like.

Remember, the most important thing is to be creative and have fun! This is your chance to add your own personal touch to your wedding bouquet and make it truly unique.

Frequently asked questions