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I have a crafty side. I used that talent to put together the decorations for my recent wedding. Generally, if I can see a craft I can figure out how to duplicate it or at least come close.
© Distinct Photography
In the above picture you can see me making my wedding bouquet and later I made 6 boutonnieres and floral arrangements with the remaining flowers, too.But today is about the Bouquet.
We ordered the flowers in bulk from Sam’s Club. A big box arrived the Thursday before the wedding with 150 mini calla lily stems. Then I set to work.Thursday: I trimmed the stems and put the flowers in water. They had to hydrate for 2 hours. Then I stuck them (still in a bucket of water) in my mother’s extra fridge in the garage.Friday: I made the bouquet and the boutonnieres.Supplies: Floral Tape, Floral wire, Vases and mason Jars. Oh, and a knife, wire clippers, scissors, and ribbon.
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It took about 45 stems to make the bouquet. I searched through the 150 stems to find the best looking ones. I wanted the stems to be a good length for me. I measured three hand widths down and then cut off the ends at an angle with a knife. As I went along, I would tie the floral wire around the bunch and see how it looked. Then I would add more stems until I was satisfied. I clipped off layers of wire as I went so that I only had one or 2 bands of wire at any given time.
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When I was satisfied with the look and size I wrapped the floral tape tightly around and around the stems. Don’t worry about how this looks because just before the wedding I covered it with wide white ribbon.When the Floral tape was secure I clipped off the last of the floral wire. Then I stuck the bouquet in a mason jar with water and stuck it back in the fridge. Our wedding was on Saturday.
© Distinct Photography
Saturday: Before the ceremony I pulled the bouquet out of the water. I shook off the excess water and wrapped the middle of the stems with wide, white ribbon. I had misplaced my straight pins so I secured it at the bottom with a paperclip. No one could see it and it worked just fine. I’m just fine with improvising when I have to.The whole thing sounds simple and it was, but it still took up a good amount of time. Friday was about 5 hours of work but that was mostly because I’d never done this before and I was mostly guessing or looking at pictures on the internet to see if what I was doing compared. I also made the boutonnieres and prepared the flowers for the floral arrangements at the same time.In all, it turned out beautifully and I am very happy and proud of what I was able to do inexpensively for my own wedding.Good luck to all of you DIY Brides out there!
