How to Make Your Own Bridal Bouquet

Your big day is approaching and you want the most beautiful bridal bouquet possible. Unfortunately, a bridal bouquet can be quite expensive to purchase and there's no guarantee of getting exactly what you want. Why not make your own? You can design it to coordinate perfectly with the colors you've chosen as well as your budget. Plus, it's a lot easier than you think. Here's how to make your own bridal bouquet:

Get inspiration.

To make your bridal bouquet, you're going to need ideas. Spend some time looking through bridal and floral magazines to get inspiration. Tear out photos of bouquets that appeal to you. You may also get inspiration by visiting local floral stores to see what flowers are available to you. Place your photos and thoughts into a notebook you can refer back to.

Determine your budget.

Plan ahead on how much money you can spend on making a bridal bouquet so you'll know what you have to work with. Even though flowers can be expensive, you should be able to save significantly by making your own bridal bouquet.

Establish your color scheme.

Once you've chosen the overall colors for your wedding, you can choose complementary colors for your bridal bouquet. You'll want to incorporate several colors into your bouquet as a single flower or color would be too bland. Try different color combinations until you come up with one that plays up your dress and the general colors you've chosen for your wedding.

Choose your flowers.

Once you've chosen the colors you'll use to make your own bridal bouquet, visit a floral shop and select flowers in the color you've chosen. You'll also want to purchase some greenery to use as filler between your flowers to add some additional interest. Be sure to establish availability of the particular flowers you've chosen.

Make your bridal bouquet.

To make your bridal bouquet, purchase a bouquet holder which should be available at your local floral shop or craft store. Bouquet holders come with foam already attached for you to insert your chosen flowers. You'll need to saturate the foam of your bouquet holder with water. You can do this by placing the bouquet holder upside down on the surface of a bowl of water and allow it to sink to the bottom. Remove it from the water and it's ready to use.

To choose placement for your flowers and greenery, use some of the photos you collected in your notebook as a template for flower placement. Once you determine where each flower is to go, decide how much stem height you want above the foam and cut about an inch below that point. Place your flowers into the foam according to your pattern. If you're not satisfied, it's fine to remove a stem and rearrange it.

Add your accessories.

Once you've completed your bridal bouquet, you can add accessories such as a ribbon, fabric, beads, or lace to enhance your design. Experiment and come up with something new and creative to make your wedding day even more special.

Be sure to make your bridal bouquet as close to your wedding date as possible to keep it fresh. Be sure to store it in an area that's cool and damp to maintain its freshness for your big day.