How To Draw A Wedding Bouquet

There is a misconception that learning how to make a DIY wedding bouquet is an arduous feat, which it's absolutely not. But, hey, a foolproof step-by-step How-to never hurt anyone, right?

how to make a diy wedding bouquet

DIY doesn't save the world, and it isn't always cheaper. But when it comes to wedding flowers I personally feel that the latter of the two should be true. When you hire a florist you are not only price quoted for the flowers, but also the labor put into making your floral arrangements. So, if you can take the labor out of the cost by making your own bouquet, you'll be spending a lot less money.

tip 1: DON'T BE AFRAID TO MIX AND MATCH SUPPLIERS AND/OR VENDORS

We live in a world of many, many options; and no one said that you had to go one place and one place only to get your flowers. With other aspects of your wedding, yes, you may have to be loyal to one particular supplier or vendor. But with your flowers, do what works for you and your budget. If you want to get your roses from Costco, but your greenery from the flower market, then go for it! There is no flower-buying etiquette to be followed here. Trust me: the flowers will understand.

tip 2: KEEP SEASONALITY IN MIND

I'm sure lots of you didn't know that "seasonality" is a proper word, but it's a common phrase in the flower industry. We use it to describe flower varieties that have very seasonal growing patterns, which you definitely need to think about when choosing certain flowers. For instance, peonies have a very sporadic growing season, which is why they are insanely expensive at certain times of the year and not available in hot summer months. On the other hand, hydrangea are grown in green houses all year-round which makes them less costly because they are more readily available. Basically, when seasonal flowers are in season they are the best quality and most affordable!

making your diy wedding bouquet:

what you need:

Flower shears
Floral tape
Bouquet pins
Bouquet wrapping (We used white ribbon)
Flowers of your choice (We used pink lisianthus, white spray roses, green pompon button mums, painted lady wax flower, purple statice, and green hypericum)
A bucket
Water

Step 1: find the flowers

You can buy your flowers from:

A flower market
An online wholesaler (Like Blooms By The Box)
A grocery store,Trader Joe's, ,Costco, Sam's Club, wherever you can find the best quality flowers on the cheap

Figure out what your budget is, what kind of flowers you want, and how many flowers you'll need; then do some research. If your local grocery store is stocked with awesome quality blooms for a great price, then go that route. And if an online wholesaler is your best bet, click away! Just figure out what's best for you and what you feel most comfortable with.

step 2: set up your workspace

Kitchens are ideal for making a flower prep because clean up is easy, and if you have a lot of counter space, even better! An outdoor space would also work. Keep all flowers in big buckets too!

step one of making a diy wedding bouquet

step 3: prep your flowers

Use your hands or a stem stripper to make sure all foliage has been removed from the stems
De-thorn your roses
Make sure all stem lengths are approximately the same (you can also trim as you go)

flower prep for a diy wedding bouquet

step 4: start putting together your flowers

Choose 2-4 flowers to be the "base" of your bouquet
Bunch the stems together and wrap with floral tape
Make sure there is 1 to 1 1/2 inches of exposed stem visible where you wrap the stems
Leave 4-5 inches of exposed stem at the bottom

step 5: build up your diy wedding bouquet

Add flowers around your anchored flowers to create a bunch
Envision your bouquet and its focal point (hint: don't go too big!)
Mix textures and colors to create an interesting composition
Continuously wrap your bouquet with floral tape as you add flowers (TIP: This adds support and creates consistent, yet attractive, composition to your design)

diy wedding bouquet wrapping

step 6: wrap your bouquet with floral tape

Begin wrapping the stems 1 to 1 1/2 inches from the flower head
Leave between 0-4 inches of stem exposed (TIP: use your personal preference!)
Use floral tape as your guide and pin the ribbon horizontally (TIP: you want the ribbon to be parallel with the floral tape)
Wrap until the floral tape is covered and pin to secure the ribbon
Ta-da! You're finished!

Lastly, if you decide to go the DIY your wedding bouquet, we offer a fabulous resource (written by yours truly) available for free on our website called The Do-It-Yourself Guide to Wedding Flowers. In it you'll learn everything from flower prep basics to how to coordinate flower colors.

Did any of you have a DIY wedding bouquet? What did you learn? What would you have done differently?

Meg Keene

Founder & Editor-In-Chief

Meg is the Founder of APW, and has been the sites EIC for the past twelve years. She has written two best selling wedding books: A Practical WeddingandA Practical Wedding Planner.Meg's work has been referenced in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, Jezebel, and Refinery29. She's also written hugely viral wedding articles for Buzzfeed. She lives in Oakland, CA with her husband and two children. For more than you ever wanted to know about Meg, you can visit MegKeene.com.