Photo Shoot: DIY Bouquet

On Friday, I had my wedding shoot, you know ... so that I can have nice pictures of Mr.Flamingo and I, because our wedding photographer didn't deliver. I went all out, I went to the hairdresser and I got my makeup done like I was getting married all over again. (I feel a preview pic coming up....now!)


I realized I needed a bouquet for the shoot, but didn't feel like spending an arm and a leg for a fake wedding bouquet. Since I wanted to DIY my flowers for my wedding but that didn't fall through, I decided to attempt my first DIY bouquet, and I was really happy with the results.

I had peonies for my wedding blooms but that was out of the question for this DIY bouquet (they are no longer in season in July) so I opted for inexpensive off white minature carnations. Since they are full bodied flowers, when putting them together look very similar to peonies.

Here are the steps to making your own bouquet:

Materials:
1 - Flowers of your choice (miniature carnations - 9.99$)
2 - Floral tape (1.00$)
3 - Corsage pins (1.00$)
4 - Wide satin ribbon (2.79$)
5 - Scissors or Cutters (0$)


If you buy your flowers several days in advance, I would suggest putting them in a cool place. Since Mr.Flamingo LOVES the AC, our apartment was as cold as a freezer which was perfect for the flowers. If your fiance isn't an AC fanatic, best put the blooms in a fridge (preferably food free, otherwise your flowers will grab the smell of yesterdays meal.) I prepared my flower the day before the shoot that way, it was less work the day of.

Step 1: Remove all thorns, leaves or bruised petals on each stem. If you have more than once bloom per stem, you can separate them (but make sure you have a long enough stem (minimum 5 inches)


Step 2: Make clusters of about 5 bloom and wrap the stems with the floral tape. Make sure you stretch the floral tape so that it sticks well. Leave a good 1.5 inches of stems floral tape free. That way you can put them back in water and your flowers will have all the water they need which result in less withering.

Step 3: Once you've completed all your clusters, start bunching them together to make one big cluster. Use your floral tape to secure the clusters into one big handle. Again, leave a 1.5"-2" free at the bottom.

Step 4: Cut all the stems to the same length. Making a clean cut handle.


Step 5: Starting at the top, wrap your handle with the satin ribbon overlapping each turn. Once you've covered all the floral tape, take yours corsage pins and pick them in a angle (towards the floor) You can do any pattern you like, I simply went all the way down.



Voila your bouquet is done. Place your bouquet in water until the very last moment (when your ready to take your bridal pics) A professional looking bouquet for the fraction of the costs. My bouquet cost me only 14.00$ to make. Beats the florists 100-125$ fee don't you think?

Flower bouquet decorations

I thank everyone for suggestions regarding my bridal bouquet, I will indeed remove the bear grass loops. I agree, it takes away from the beauty of the bouquet. Even though I agree that the greenery adds fullness to the bouquet, I rather not have any. Hopefully my flowers will be in full bloom and greenery won't be necessary to fill the bouquet.

To continue the my glam theme... I made bouquet jewels, which will be inserted in my bouquet. It was very easy to make and cost pennies compared to buying them already made. You can make endless amounts of shapes when it comes to making them yourself. I decided to make a teardrop kind of shape to recall the chandelier piece which will be wrapped around my bouquet. (see image below)

List of materials:
Jewelry cooper wire
6mm cubic clear Swarvoski crystals
5mm cubic satin silver crystals
miniature taupe multi-facetted fire polished beads

How to:
1- Cut your cooper wire about 12 inches.
2- Insert beads to desired look. Make sure to have a symmetrical design.
3- Fold the wire at the center.
4 - Hold the beads with one hand and with the other start turning the wire to twist it. Continue until you have reached the bottom. This will not only secure the beads but at stength to the stands.
5 - Place the beads and shape wire to desired look and Voila... you have your first bouquet jewel

I also made some bouquet jewels for my bridesmaid, but nothing as complex as mine. I just made them 1 single clear fire polished bead. Since their bouquets won't be very big, it will add just enough shine. Their flowers will be pale pink so the clear stones will pop out and shine in the sun.

For my flower girl, since she is not allowed to throw flower petals, I decided to make her a basket,, but instead she will have a full bodied ivory peony in the basket. I think it will look really cute. Here is my DIY basket.

Before


After

Cost breakdown:
Bridal bouquet jewels : 8 strands = 3.75$ each (5 swarvoski crystals)
Bridesmaids bouquet jewels: 38 strands = 0.33$ each
Chandelier piece for handle: 0.75$
Flower girl basket: 2.oo$ basket + 2.50 ribbon = 4.50 $

I think its pretty good for everything that I got. What do you think?
What flower related DIY projects have you made?

Tossing fortune

Even though the bouquet toss is a big wedding cliché, its a must for me and my wedding wouldn't be the same without it. I'm a fresh flower lover and my toss bouquet will get the same amount of attention as my own bridal bouquet.

(Via: Martha Stewart)

I find it sad that only one lucky lady gets to 'win' the bouquet. There are so many important ladies (family, siblings and friends) that I want to more than one bouquet. The wonderful Martha Stewart introduced the fortune bouquet. A cute and smart way to shower your single ladies with more love. This is the first thing I decided on when it was time to choose my flowers. Mini clusters of flowers in pink and ivory with a special message.

But now I need your help. I have no idea what fortunes I should write. Would you mind sharing one of your favorite fortunes?

Mock-up Bouquet

Even though I wish I could take the risk of making my own fresh flower bouquet for the wedding, I thought it would be best to hire a professional. That way I won't have that extra stress the day of and that's a good thing.

For my flowers I wanted something fluffly... basically that's the definition of peonies. They are my ultimate favorite bloom and I love big and full bodies flowers. This inspiration of bouquets is pretty much what I am going for.

Via : Faye and Greer Blog

The only issue is that in June peonies aren't in bloom, but luckily my florist did an awesome job and found a supplier. I also really like Ranunculus. Well makes sense since it looks like a mini version of a peony. I thought it would look nice to have the two in my bouquet all in ivory tones. So that's what I'll be doing. I'm not a fan of greenery so there will be very little or none in my bouquet.

My florist was kind enough to include a bouquet mock up at no extra charge. I got a call yesterday and the flowers came in... I was soooo excited. Here is the mock up:

The peonies were actually really small and closed, so I told my florist that I wanted them to be open and as big as possible. I didn't really like the leaves in the actual bouquet, but she explained that because the flowers were quite small she needed something to make it a little bigger.

Then I though, I could maybe make bouquet jewels as a filler and to add for the extra glam. I also would like to have a unique / stylish bouquet handle, but I still have to figure out what I would want.

Do you like it? On a side note, is anyone else out there not a greenery lover?

Handle with Care

I love flowers and one thing I am extremely excited about is my bouquet. I can't wait to actually hold it... its going to be stunning. Apart from the actual flower choice and color combination, another important element to any bouquet is the handle. I find it's as important as the bouquet itself, so I thought I could opt for a unique handle myself.

They are endless possibilities when it comes to dressing the bouquet here are just a few examples:

Elegant ribbon bouquet paired with unique looking buttons - source
Unique ribbon ruffle and bow - source


Vibrant two toned ribbon braided handle - source
Bold color, I love the contrasting colors - source



I love the use of ribbon to create a cuff for the bouquet - source
Also the beautiful work in the handle make the whole bouquet so glam - source


This look is absolutely stunning, various shades of
ribbon creating a waterfall of textures - source


Go all natural by using actual leaves to create the handle - source



Using fabric and ribbon - source
Wire wrapping used as a bouquet cuff - source

Different sizes of ribbon paired with beautiful embellishments- source

If you have some more images of unique bouquet handles, please share the love. We can never have enough pictures in our wedding image bank.

Will you be having a unique bouquet handle? Is the handle important to you?

Des Fleurs SVP...

I've always had a passion for flowers. I've never taken a course or anything but I love making flower arrangements (unfortunately for me, I haven't had the chance to practice with real blooms only the fake plastic-y ones) I wanted to make my own fresh flowers bouquets, corsages and boutonnieres for the wedding. I even purchased The Martha Stewart Wedding Collection - Martha's Complete Weddings to prepare myself. (Well it was just an excuse to buy it. I wanted it, wedding or no wedding. I'm a Martha freak and I'm not ashamed to say it. :)

When I announce to my family that I wanted to do my own flowers, they all looked at me as if I were nuts. They honestly thought I had fallen on my head or something. Why is that? A girl can't do DIYs ??? I'm sure I won't be as stressed as much as everyone else is saying I will be... then again, you never know.

My step mom sat down with me to have "the talk". Basically she does not want me to do my own flowers (not in a mean way- she is simply concerned) So being a good girl, I've been visiting florists left and right to compare prices and see if it really is worth it to make my own bouquets. Of course its worth it, I mean its 110% certain... there are so many factors to consider; flowers delivery, quality of the flowers, etc. This experience can be a beautful one but on the other side of the spectrum could result in a horror story. I don't want my wedding to be a horror story... so I'm going to hiring someone. Poor florist. They have no idea how I can be when it comes to wedding details

Will you be doing your own flowers? Like me, did you have someone talk you out of it? If so, was it a blessing in disguise?

(FYI - April is here and I haven't hired my florist yet. I'm getting married in June. I'm not stressed, not stressed at all, I'm only getting married in 85 days! Oh my)