I'm so excited about today's guest blogger, flower expert Michele Tremblay! She put together a special DIY bouquet tutorial just for us. I saw her wonderful blog showcasing elegant flowers by Michele and knew she was just the right flower expert to explain to brides, grooms, and the DIY community how to create a stunning bridal bouquet for any occasion, especially weddings!
A Simple Flower Bouquet for a Bride...
"The Zoom Away Bride's Bouquet"
Dear
Modern Bride,
You have so many choices today when it comes to planning your wedding, as explored across our wedding inspiration guides. I thought I’d offer you my thoughts on a very special and important part of your wedding day: your bridal bouquet.
When I got married I was very lucky. I worked in the largest and very best flower shop in Philadelphia. I knew my flowers would be absolutely gorgeous, and they were. I carried Camellias… in January. Because the shop where I worked was so popular with everyone from local ladies who would stop in to buy bunches of flowers to the very wealthy patrons who planned and attended the many big charity events in the city, if a flower was available our shop had it or could get it. But I really think I was the exception, or should I say, the shop where I worked was. I am not so sure every other bride in the city was quite as lucky as me; I had the whole world of flowers to choose from./filters:quality(70)/content/wedding/2011/05/IMG_0227_588x441.jpg)
The great thing about today’s bride is that atmosphere no longer exists. I have
been to many different flower shops, farmers markets, and even grocery stores. Almost everyone gets very beautiful flowers to offer to their customers. Of course, having a professional florist do your flowers is easy and can be great. Some brides, however, for whatever reason, want to craft their own bouquets.
Continue reading for her step by step tips...
If you are that bride please read through the following steps...
- Go to the store and buy just one kind of flower. You can buy lots….25 roses (probably 24…2 dozen), twenty tulips or even 30 tulips, a bunch of beautiful alstroemeria. Alstroemeria is what is used to make the bouquet here; I used 15 stems.
- Take your flowers home and condition them overnight (trim stems and put in water).
- Before you start, gently clean off the greens, taking any leaves, stems, and thorns off if you are using roses.
- Once the flowers are cleaned, line them up on a flat surface.
- Pick up one flower and decide how long you want your stems. You will want them to be at least 3 hand widths long. Trim all the stems to the same length for ease.
- Start with one flower and add your stems one at a time till you have all of your flowers in your bouquet. Fuss with the flowers till you like the way the bouquet looks.
- Tie your bouquet off with floral tape (which you can get at any flower shop, craft store like Michaels, or even online), wire (not too tight…wire can cut through stems), or ribbons, leaving plenty of stem uncovered.
- Trim the stems across the bottom, leaving at least two hand widths so your bouquet can be placed in water. See step for conditioning your flowers overnight for best results.
- You can wrap the stems with your choice of ribbon, twine, or even fabric. Of course, you will want it to match your dress! Secure it with corsage pins pushing the stems up and into the flower stems. Again, make sure there is plenty of stem to go into water. (Be careful, you don’t want your trim on the handle of the bouquet to get wet.)
- Put your bouquet in water and refrigerate if need be (Just clear out a spot in your frig—move over milk).
- Take your bouquet out of the frig and water and keep a cloth around and dry the bottom of the stems till there is no more water coming off the stems.
- Repeat the above steps a number of times before your wedding so you get comfortable with handling the flowers.
- If you like, you can add a bow to your bouquet. Add the bow right before you take off for the wedding!
- Have fun!
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Best wishes to you on your Wedding Day!
Michele Tremblay
micheletremblay.com
p.s. The total cost for the flowers was $6.50 plus tax. I had the ribbon and other supplies, so you will need to factor those costs in. At this price, you should be able to do a number of “practice” bouquets till you feel comfortable handling the blooms on your big day.
Check out Michele's updated makeover of the bouquet... I love her added touches!