Creating Wedding Flower Bouquets With Fresh Blooms

Creating a DIY wedding bouquet is a fun way to add a unique touch to your special day. In this article, we will walk you through the steps of making a fresh flower bouquet for a wedding, from choosing your flowers to assembling and wrapping the bouquet. We will also offer tips on flower care and provide a timeline for creating your bouquet.

Choosing flowers and fillers

Colour Palette

The first step is to decide on a colour palette. Traditionally, wedding bouquets consist of white and cream flowers, but you can choose any colour you like. You can draw inspiration from the overall aesthetic of your wedding, the emotions you wish to convey, the time of day, the location, or even your wedding dress. You can choose sentimental colours, contrasting or matching shades, soft or vibrant tones, or light or dark hues. It is recommended to stick to shades of either a single colour or a small range of colours.

Types of Flowers

Once you've decided on your colour palette, it's time to choose your flowers. You'll need two types of flowers: primary flowers and secondary flowers. Primary flowers are the larger, more prominent blooms that will support the overall bouquet. Some options for primary flowers include roses, orchids, calla lilies, hydrangeas, peonies, dahlias, and magnolias. Choose 1-3 varieties, making sure they have strong and long enough stems, and keep seasonality in mind. Out-of-season flowers may be difficult to find and more expensive.

Secondary flowers are smaller blooms that fill in the gaps between the primary flowers. Some options for secondary flowers include spray roses, freesias, baby's breath, waxflowers, and greenery.

Focal Flower

After choosing your flowers, pick a focal flower—one that you want to be the centre of attention within your bouquet. This could be a light pink peony, for example. This flower will be the starting point for building your bouquet.

Greenery

Don't forget to incorporate greenery into your bouquet. It adds texture and fills any empty spaces. Some popular types of greenery include ruscus, eucalyptus, and leather leaf.

Filler Flowers

In addition to your primary and secondary flowers, you'll also need filler flowers. These are usually smaller blooms that add volume, height, and dimension to your bouquet. Examples of filler flowers include baby's breath, poms, spray roses, and mini carnations.

When choosing your flowers and fillers, it's important to consider the style of your wedding dress and the overall aesthetic you wish to achieve. If you're going for a modern and simple design, use fewer varieties of florals and very little to no greenery. For a more whimsical, garden-inspired look, use more varieties of florals and greenery, and choose flowers with different textures and gestures.

Gathering supplies

To make a fresh flower bouquet for a wedding, you will need a variety of tools and supplies.

Firstly, you will need to select your flowers. Choose 1-3 types of strong primary flowers with long, sturdy stems, such as roses, orchids, calla lilies, hydrangeas, peonies, dahlias, or magnolias. Then, select 1-3 types of secondary flowers, such as spray roses, freesias, baby's breath, or waxflowers. Greenery is also a nice addition to add texture and fill any empty spaces. Remember to keep your colour palette in mind when choosing your flowers.

Next, you will need some tools to prepare and assemble your bouquet. You will need flower shears or a stem stripper to remove foliage, thorns, and any damaged petals. A sharp pair of floral snips or a very sharp knife will also be needed for trimming stems. You will also need some ribbon or floral tape to wrap around the stems and secure the bouquet. The type and colour of the ribbon will depend on your floral design, but it should be long enough to wrap around the stems several times. You may also want to add some pins to secure the ribbon in place, such as straight pins or pearl-tipped corsage pins.

Before you begin constructing your bouquet, fill a sink or bucket with water. You will also need a vase or container of water to store your finished bouquet, and a cool place or refrigerator to keep it fresh.

Preparing flowers

Before you start constructing your bouquet, make sure the flower stems and greenery are prepped and ready. Using flower shears or a stem stripper, remove any foliage and thorns along the stems of the flowers and discard any damaged or discoloured outer petals. If you want to keep some of the top leaves of the flowers for a touch of green in your bouquet, only remove the leaves from the bottom halves of the stems.

Then, holding the stems underwater, cut the stems at an angle about 2 inches from the bottom. Allow the flowers to drink for a few seconds, then place the stems in a bucket filled halfway with cool water until you are ready to use them. If you are working with roses and want to force the blooms open, place the stems in a bucket of hot water, but only do this for a couple of minutes just before using the roses, or you might kill them.

If you are working with wholesale flowers, you will need to care for them to keep them fresh and hydrated before your event. Cut the stems at a diagonal angle and place them in a clean bucket with cool water and flower food. To avoid bacteria in the water, remove any foliage that falls below the waterline. As they hydrate, continue to recut their stems and refresh their water and flower food.

Timing

One source suggests that the best time to make your bouquet is the day before the wedding. This will ensure that your blooms are at their best on the day. If your wedding is on a Saturday, source your flowers on the Thursday, create the bouquet on the Friday, and add the ribbon on the day of the wedding.

However, another source suggests that for ultimate freshness, it is best to make the bouquet on the morning of the wedding.

Assembling flowers

Now that you've selected your flowers and have all the materials you need, it's time to start assembling your bouquet.

Start by building the shape and framework of your arrangement, thinking about dimension as you go. Stand in front of a mirror as you assemble the bouquet so you can see what it looks like and make adjustments as needed.

Take your filler flowers first and hold them in place with one hand. Then, arrange your flowers and greenery one by one. Rotate the bouquet as you do this so that you don't miss any areas. Incorporate greenery every so often and make sure to leave about 4 to 5 inches of exposed stems at the bottom.

For a classic dome-shaped bouquet, assemble four flowers at an even height in a square shape. These will be at the centre of the dome. Arrange the other flowers one by one around the centre flowers to create a dome shape.

For a bouquet with a spiral shape, take 3 or 4 of your primary flowers with the largest blossoms for the centre of the bouquet. Place them together, crossing the stems. Hold them right beneath the blossoms, just at the point where the stems cross with each other. Then start building the bouquet by adding more of your primary flowers, one at a time. To make sure all stems cross together, rotate your hand while you’re adding the flowers, to create a spiral shape.

Once you’re done with the primary flowers, keep doing the same process with your secondary flowers, placing 2-3 at a time. Use them to fill any gaps or empty spaces between your main flowers.

Make sure to adjust the flowers as you add more so that they seem to come out from the centre and none of them are extending too far or too near the others. You want your bouquet to be balanced and rounded, with an even volume and shape.

Once you've added all your flowers, greenery, and filler, it's time to secure your bouquet. Wrap your bouquet with floral tape or wire. Wrap the floral wire around several times to make sure your bouquet stays intact. Be sure to leave around 4 inches of stem exposed at the bottom—this will help keep all of the pieces in place.

Finally, decorate your bouquet with your ribbon or the decorative wrapping of your choice. Wrap the ribbon around the floral wire several times, making sure it is completely covered. You can also tie a bow with a separate length of ribbon just beneath the flower heads.

Securing the bouquet

Now that you've assembled your bouquet, it's time to secure it so it stays intact. Here are the steps to do this:

Use a rubber band, floral wire, or floral tape to bind the stems together at the spot where they naturally join, which is usually about 3 to 4 inches below the flower heads. Repeat the binding process towards the end of the stems, leaving about 2 inches of excess stem beneath the bind, which you can trim later.

If you're using floral wire, wrap it around the stems several times to ensure the bouquet stays intact. Then, cover the wire with floral tape, starting from a point below the blossoms and wrapping down the stems in a spiral shape. Use about 180 inches of ribbon and start from the same point below the stems, wrapping all the way down and then back up again to cover the floral tape. Secure the ribbon with a knot, a bow, or some pearl-headed pins for a glamorous touch.

Finally, trim the stems of your bouquet to your desired length. Leaving the stems long will make it easier to work with the bouquet as you continue to adjust and decorate it. The optimal length for a bouquet is typically considered to be around 6 to 8 inches, but you can cut them to your preference or that of the bride.

Frequently asked questions