Creating A Stunning Sola Flower Wedding Bouquet

Making your own wedding bouquet using sola flowers is a great way to save money and create something beautiful and personalised for your big day. Sola flowers are made from the Shola plant and are a sustainable, affordable, and durable option for your wedding. You can choose from a wide variety of colours, styles, and types of sola flowers and fillers to create your dream bouquet. In this guide, we will cover everything from choosing the right flowers and fillers to dyeing, stemming, and arranging your bouquet. By following these simple steps, you can create a unique and lasting memento of your wedding day.

Choosing your flowers

There are a few things to consider when choosing your flowers:

Colour

First, decide on a colour scheme. This could be based on your wedding colours, the venue, or your favourite colours. You could choose a neutral colour palette, soft colours, a pop of colour, or a variety of colours. If you want one particular colour to stand out, you can use complementary colours. For a bold, high-contrast look, try using triadic colours, which are equally spaced apart on the colour wheel (e.g. violet, red, and orange).

Theme and Style

Next, pick a theme or style that reflects your personality and goes with the rest of your wedding. This could be traditional, boho, wild, or nosegay, to name a few. The style you choose will help guide the rest of your decisions.

Size

Before deciding on the types of flowers you want, think about the size of your bouquet. Do you want it to be small and simple, or big and bold? This will help you determine how many flowers you need. A small bridal bouquet typically uses 20 flowers, while an extra-large bouquet can use up to 40.

Type of Flowers

Now it's time to choose the specific types of flowers you want to use. Sola flowers come in a wide variety, including raw, skin, and premium sola flowers. Consider the texture, shape, and size of the flowers and how they will fit with your chosen theme or style. You might also choose flowers based on their symbolism. For example, magnolias symbolise a love of nature, while pink roses symbolise happiness.

Fillers

In addition to your main flowers, you'll need to choose some fillers to add volume and texture to your bouquet. Fillers can be anything from dried pampas grass to eucalyptus to wheatgrass to pixie cotton. When choosing fillers, consider the overall colour palette and style of your bouquet. For example, if you're going for a boho-inspired look, use thick, leafy greens and soft, wispy fillers.

With these considerations in mind, you can now select your flowers and create a beautiful, personalised wedding bouquet that will last a lifetime.

Selecting your fillers

Fillers typically make up a large part of your bouquet and are used to break up the flowers, adding different textures and shapes. The type of filler you choose will depend on the aesthetic style of your bouquet.

Boho-inspired look

If you're aiming for a boho-inspired look, you should use thick, leafy greens and soft, wispy fillers. This creates the lush, nature-inspired side that pairs so well with the softer side that boho emulates.

Traditional look

For a more traditional look, it's best to use softer, more muted greens, and pair them with a classic and delicate filler such as Baby’s Breath. This provides a well-rounded, natural look that doesn't overwhelm the eyes.

Wild look

Wild looks will be achieved best with the use of a variety of fillers that are thin, rather than bulky. This helps achieve that "fresh-picked" look and ensures that the different types of plants blend well together. If you pick fillers that are bulky for this style, the overall appearance can be too mismatched and the fillers might overwhelm the florals.

Other options

There are many different types of fillers and greenery to make use of. Remember that the filler is just as important to your bouquet as the flowers are, so take your time to choose the right kind.

Popular filler options include dried pampas grass, eucalyptus, wheatgrass, and pixie cotton.

Colour combinations

When selecting your fillers, it's important to consider the colour combinations that will work best. Dark green fillers should be paired with other greens and blues and should be avoided if you're using bright, yellow shades. Muted colours and textures will go great with flocked greens, like Dusty Miller.

Dying your flowers

Sola wood flowers come in neutral colours, but you can dye them to your liking. Dying the flowers yourself is a fun activity and adds a personal touch to your bouquet. You can choose to dye them to resemble their natural colour or experiment with different colours. Dying Sola wood flowers is easy and can be done in several ways. You can use latex paint made for indoor use, fabric dye mixed with water, or airbrush them. Each method will result in a slightly different look, so you can try out different techniques and see which one you like best.

To dye your flowers, start by preparing a dye bath. Pour water into a bowl, add sola softener and stir thoroughly. Then, add the sola dye and mix well. Dip-dye the flowers in the solution and let them dry for at least 24 hours.

If you prefer an all-white bouquet, you can skip the dyeing process as Sola wood flowers come in neutral colours.

Stemming your flowers

Now that your sola wood flowers are dyed, you can attach a stem to each flower to make it easier to arrange them into a bouquet. To do this, you will need a hot glue gun and either a wire stem or a bamboo stick.

• Prepare your materials: Ensure that your glue gun is plugged in and turned on. If you are using a glue pot, get the glue melting. Have your flowers, stems, and gluing tool ready in front of you, within easy reach.
• Apply glue to the flower base: Take one flower in your hand and place a small amount of glue (about the size of a pea) on the back of the flower. Be careful not to use too much glue as it can get quite hot and burn you.
• Attach the stem: Gently twist or push the stem into the base of the flower. It should go in easily and only about halfway through the flower (approximately the width of your pinky finger). Hold it in place for a few seconds until the glue sets.
• Repeat for all flowers: Continue this process for each flower you want to include in your bouquet. It is recommended to stem all the flowers before moving on to arranging the bouquet.

By stemming your flowers, you can choose the desired length for each flower, creating varying depths in your bouquet. You can decide to make all the stems the same length or mix it up to add more depth and dimension to your arrangement.

Arranging your bouquet

Now that you have your flowers, fillers, and greenery ready, it's time to assemble your bouquet. Here are some tips and steps to guide you through the process:

Tip 1: Choose your main flowers

Select three to four larger blooms in your chosen colour scheme to form the base of your bouquet. These will be the focal point, so ensure they stand out and complement each other.

Tip 2: Add accent flowers

Start building your bouquet by placing the main flowers in the centre and adding accent flowers around them. Accent flowers come in different shapes, sizes, and colours, so use them to enhance the main flowers and bring your bouquet to life.

Tip 3: Create layers

Arrange the flowers in a spiral pattern, with each row slightly lower than the previous one. This will give your bouquet a rounded shape. Turn the bouquet as you work, building it layer by layer from the centre outwards until you're happy with the size and appearance.

Tip 4: Include fillers

Fillers add volume and texture to your bouquet. Insert small bunches of greenery or other fillers into the gaps between the flowers. Play around with the placement until you're satisfied with the amount and distribution of fillers.

Tip 5: Secure the bouquet

Once your bouquet is arranged, secure it with floral tape. Wrap the stems several times with the tape to hold the bouquet together and provide stability.

Tip 6: Finish the handle

Surround the handle with bouquet grass or other natural-looking material for a seamless finish. You can also wrap the handle with burlap twine, lace, or any other material of your choice. Secure the wrapping with glue, and don't forget to cut any excess stems to ensure the handle is comfortable to hold.

Frequently asked questions