Bridal Bouquet

How to Make a Bridal Bouquet

By Anna Lynn Sibal

The bridal bouquet is just one of the symbols of purity and fertility that a bride carries with her on her wedding day. Though the traditional meaning of the bridal bouquet has been lost or taken for granted, most brides still bring one to the altar nonetheless, if only for aesthetic purposes.

Bridal bouquets bought from a florist can be quite expensive. Florists typically make money out of creating bridal bouquets, from the fresh flowers they use and the kind of flower arrangement that they made. Not all brides can shell out money for a costly bunch of flowers that she will only lug around for a short while during the wedding ceremony.

There is a way of getting around the expense of buying bridal bouquets. If you are a bride on a shoestring budget but who is dead set on having fresh flowers in her arms as she marches down the aisle, your best option would be to create your own bouquet.

Before You Make Your Bridal Bouquet

As much as it is exciting and challenging to make your own bridal bouquet, there are a few things you ought to think about before you make one. So, instead of rushing to the flower shop to buy your flowers at once, you should do a little careful planning first to save you time and energy. Think of these things first.

• 1. The shape of the bouquet. What shape do you want your bouquet to have? There are three main types of bouquets – round, teardrop and irregular. A round bouquet has a main flower surrounded by accentuating flowers while a teardrop bouquet cascades down the arm. An irregular bouquet is something that can spring purely from your imagination. It is always advised for slender brides to have round bouquets while plus-sized ones should have cascading teardrop bouquets.

• 2. The size of the bouquet. Big is not always best. With bridal bouquets, you have to make its length and width proportional to your own body. Small bouquets go with small brides and big bouquets with big brides. Your bouquet should also follow your body's silhouette instead of going past it. Most of all, it should be easy to hold.

• 3. Choice of flowers and greens. The flowers that you choose for your bridal bouquet should match the colors of your gown and the other floral arrangements you have chosen for your wedding, such as the corsages for your mother and your future mother-in-law, the posies of your flower girls and bridesmaids, and the flowers to be fastened to the buttonholes of the males in your bridal party, including your groom. Also, choose flowers that will not stain your dress. Choose greens that are odorless as well.

• 4. Research and practice. To save time and money, you should choose the kind of flower arrangement that you want to have. You can search the Internet or look at bridal magazines for pictures. Also, to save on fresh flowers, you can practice making your bouquet with artificial ones.

Making Your Bridal Bouquet

Here is the fun part: how to make the bridal bouquet itself. You can spend an afternoon with your bridesmaids creating your own bouquets and posies a day or two before the wedding.

Before the day you have scheduled to make your bridal bouquet, make sure that you have the materials ready. You would need to place your order for your desired flowers with your florist well in advance. You should also have the required materials at hand - ribbons, bouquet holder, flower preservatives, scissors.

So, here are the steps to making a bridal bouquet.

• 1. Once your flowers arrive, put them into water to preserve the life of your flowers.

• 2. Get your bouquet holder and hold it upside-down in a large container of water so that the foam inside would be soaked. You would know that the foam is already soaked if the bouquet holder sinks into the water. Retrieve the bouquet holder and dry the external side.

• 3. Mix some flower preservatives into the water where you have put your flowers. Hold each flower against the bouquet holder so that you would have an idea of how long the stem should be. Put the flower into the water once more and cut the stem at a sharp angle while in the water. Then, stick the stem into the foam of the bouquet holder. Continue doing these with each stem until you form the basic shape of your bouquet.

• 4. Trim your bouquet to give it a symmetrical shape and then tie your decorative ribbons around the base of the bouquet holder. Finish off by spraying some more flower preservatives and pearl spray on your flowers.

Making your own bridal bouquets is a practical choice if you have budget constraints for your wedding. It is also a fun activity to do with your bridesmaids and friends on the day before the wedding itself.