Creating Wedding Bouquets And Corsages: A Step-By-Step Guide

Wedding flowers are a significant expense, so making your own bouquets and corsages can be a great way to save money. It can also be a fun activity to do with your bridesmaids and friends. To make your own wedding flowers, you'll need to source the flowers, gather the right tools, and set aside enough time. You'll also need to know how to arrange the flowers and attach them to a rope, ribbon, or bracelet.

Choosing flowers and colours

Picking the Right Flowers

Start by selecting 3-5 types of flowers that complement each other and your wedding colour scheme. Consider the size of the flowers, as you will need both larger blooms to act as focal points and smaller flowers to fill out the bouquet. Fluffy hydrangeas, for example, make for a great base. You can also add something fragrant like a sprig of rosemary. For corsages, you will need smaller flowers, such as spray roses, miniature carnations, and petite wildflowers.

Colour Coordination

When choosing colours, think about the season of your wedding and the overall aesthetic you are going for. For a spring wedding, peonies and hydrangeas are a lovely choice, while orchids or proteas are perfect for summer. If you are having an autumn wedding, consider sunflowers or dahlias with rich foliage. Winter weddings call for eye-catching combinations like paperwhites and poinsettias. You can also incorporate greenery like ivy and ruscus leaves.

Symbolism

Don't forget to consider the symbolism of the flowers you choose. Roses, for example, represent love, passion, and admiration, while wildflowers symbolise happiness, joy, and remembrance, perfect for a boho-chic outdoor wedding.

Quantity

Be sure to buy 20% more flowers than you expect to use, as you may need to make last-minute substitutions or additions. It's better to have a few extra blooms than to run out halfway through assembling your bouquets and corsages.

Freshness

When purchasing your flowers, pay attention to the freshness and quality. Roses, for instance, should have a firm feel to the head, while loose petals can be a sign of aging. Avoid flowers with damaged or discoloured petals, and always buy from a reputable floral supplier to ensure the best results.

Preparing flowers

Before you start making your wedding bouquet and corsages, it's important to prepare your flowers. You should do this the night before you plan to make the bouquets. Using your pruners and snips, cut an inch off the bottom of all the flowers and freshen the water in their buckets. It's important that the flowers are well-hydrated before you start arranging them.

When you are ready to make your arrangements, start by preparing the stems. Keep the leaves on hydrangea stems, but remove the foliage from all the other stems, and then cut them to 13 inches long. You can use PowerGear® pruners to make a sharp, clean cut on hydrangeas, long-stem roses, and other woody stems. For dianthus and more delicate flowers, use Micro-Tip Floral Snips to easily snip off leaves along the stems.

Line up all your stems on a table. If you're using hydrangeas, fill a fairly tall vase or mason jar with a few inches of water, and place three or four stems in it for the bride's bouquet.

For a pinned-on corsage, you'll need to wire each flower and leaf separately before assembling them into a pleasing pattern. Start by pushing a thin wire through the calyx (bulb) of the flower head and bending it down to form a new, more slender, and flexible stem. You can then use professional floral tape, winding it high under the flower head and pulling in a downward motion to stretch and activate the tacky bond.

For a wrist corsage, you'll need to create a mini bouquet. Take 1-2 medium-sized flowers, and add smaller flowers around them. The larger flowers should be the focal point, while the others act as fillers to accentuate the overall design. Try the bouquet on your wrist and rearrange, adding or removing flowers until you're happy with the design.

Creating a mini bouquet

To start, take 1-2 medium-sized flowers from your box set. These will be your focal point flowers. Then, add smaller flowers around them. You can use approximately three medium-sized flowers and a handful of petite wildflowers for the whole corsage, so bear this in mind when creating your mini bouquet. Try the bouquet on your wrist and see how it looks. You can always add or remove flowers until you are happy with the design.

Once you are satisfied, it's time to move on to the next step: securing the arrangement and trimming the stems.

Securing the arrangement

Once you are happy with the design of your bouquet or corsage, it is time to secure the arrangement. For a wrist corsage, you will need to tie the stems of the flowers together with wire. Cut off any excess wire with wire cutters, and trim the flower stems until they are short, sitting just below the base of the flower blossoms. You can always trim them down further, but it is better to start with them too long than too short.

Next, wrap the stems and wire with floral tape. This will hide the wire from view, protect the wearer's hands from any sharp edges, and give your design a professional finish. Stretch the tape as you wrap to help it adhere to itself.

If you are making a bouquet, hold the stems tightly together and wrap them with floral tape. Stretch the tape as you wrap to make it tight. You can then finish the bouquet by covering the stems with ribbon. Cut the ribbon at an angle, and fold the end under at the bottom to create a neat edge, securing it with corsage pins. Push the pins up among the stems, not through the bouquet, to avoid them coming out the other side.

For a pinned corsage, you will need to wire the individual flowers and decorative components such as ribbon, tulle, or greenery. Push a thin wire through the calyx (bulb) of the flower head and bend it down to form a new, more slender, and flexible stem. Tape the wired flowers together with professional floral tape, winding it high under the flower head and pulling in a downward motion. This will cause the tape to stretch and stick to itself.

Finally, attach your mini floral arrangement to a rope, ribbon, or bracelet for easy wearing. Use a hot glue gun to secure the arrangement to your wrist piece of choice. Hold the two together until the glue sets.

Adding finishing touches

Adding those all-important finishing touches to your wedding bouquets and corsages is a great way to elevate your floral arrangements and make them look professional. Here are some ideas to help you add those special final touches:

Bouquet Finishing Touches

• Add a flourish of ribbon—a luxurious bow made from ribbon, tulle or lace adds a special touch to the bride's bouquet.
• Incorporate "something old"—use a piece of antique ribbon or lace from an heirloom bridal veil for a traditional touch.
• Cover the stems—use ribbon to cover the stems of the bridesmaids' bouquets. Cut the ribbon at an angle and fold the end under to create a neat edge, securing it with corsage pins.
• Add a final flourish—add a bright bow of gingham ribbon to the bridesmaids' bouquets to complement the satin-wrapped stems.

Corsage Finishing Touches

• Add a bow—create a bow with wired ribbon and attach it to the corsage with floral wire.
• Modernise it—instead of a bow, wrap a bright ribbon around the floral arrangement for a more modern look.
• Add sparkle—use a spray glitter to add some extra sparkle to your corsage.
• Seal it—use a flower sealant to keep your flowers looking fresh.
• Add a pin—attach a corsage pin horizontally to keep the corsage in place without damaging delicate fabrics.

Frequently asked questions