I began my journey DIYing my wedding flowers with a cascading bridal bouquet. Next, I wanted to create my bridesmaid bouquets. These bouquets are large enough that they could definitely also be a bridal bouquet if you wanted a more traditional bouquet look. Below is my step-by-step process to create a beautiful bridal or bridesmaid bouquet that you can keep forever!
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Step 1 - Choose Flowers and Filler for Your Cascade Wedding Bouquet
I had previously done a bunch of research on what fake flowers are most realistic and chose sola wood flowers. Sola wood comes from the shola plant that grows quickly and abundantly in marshy areas. The plant can then be transformed into delicate flower shapes, either with the bark intact or bark removed. Once this occurs, sola wood flowers can be kept forever, making them an eco-friendly alternative to cut flowers. They look more realistic than silk flowers, and have a texture more similar to real flower petals. They are also less expensive than silk and real flowers, and you have the ability to make them any color you want.
I ordered my flowers and filler from Sola Wood Flowers. For this project, you will need about 25 flowers and about 4-5 types of filler. I had two larger (3.5 to 4 inch) focal flowers, and then an assortment of 1.5 to 3 inch for the remaining flowers. You can choose a couple flower styles or you can use multiple. For filler, I used mainly preserved eucalyptus greenery, but also some fake eucalyptus and baby's breath.
Once your flowers have arrived, you will want to open the packaging as soon as you can to help prevent moisture from accumulating. This will prevent any issues with molding.
Step 2 - Dye Your Flowers
Your next step once you receive your flowers is to dye them. One of the benefits of wood flowers is that you can really make them any color you want! You can use a flower dye or any acrylic paint to dye your flowers. I chose a few different shades of white to give some depth and make the flowers look even more realistic.
Additionally, during this step you will want to soften your flowers. Doing this will make the flowers more pliable, easier to work with, and less prone to cracking. Luckily, you can dye and soften your flowers all at once! You can use softener made for the wood flowers or you can use a vegetable glycerin. I got this jug on Amazon.
To make your dye/softener mixture, you will add an 8:1 mixture of water to softener/glycerin to a Tupperware container or bowl. I dyed my flowers in bulk and started with a 2 cup water:1/4 cup glycerin mixture, which I ended up refilling a few times. However, if you are only making your bouquet, you can probably do quite a bit less. Then, you can add your dye/paint. There is no set ratio for this, it will depend on what color you are trying to achieve. If you want a more muted color, you will use less. If you want a brighter color, use more. Once you add your paint, shake up your mixture and you are ready to dye!
The dyeing process is super easy (and a great place to get your soon-to-be spouse involved to make it go more quickly!). All you need to do is dunk your flower in the mixture to get it saturated, shake off the excess, and place it on parchment paper to dry. I found it helpful to place the flowers upside down so that any extra liquid wouldn't pool at the base of the flower.
Pro Tip: If you are dyeing any flowers that have rolled edges, they can be a bit more finnicky and like to unroll while drying. If you carefully tuck the rolled flower (right side up) into an egg carton, this can help the flower to retain its shape.
Your flowers will take about 24 hours or so to fully dry. Some flowers with many layers may take a bit longer. Wait for the flowers to completely dry before moving onto the next step or placing them into unsealed bags for storage. It can also be helpful to use the gel packets that came in the original packaging if you need to store the flowers for later, just in case! I'm not sure if this is necessary, but I figure better safe than sorry :)
Step 3 - Stem Your Flowers
Your next step in this project will be to add a stem to the flowers. You will need some floral stem wire, a hot glue gun (I have this one) with glue sticks, and a vase or container to store your flowers upright while the glue dries.
For this process, all you will have to do is add a small dab of hot glue onto the end of your floral wire and stick the floral wire into the base of your flower. Some flowers are super easy because they have a wide base, and others you have to be a bit more precise. Your goal is to stick the wire in far enough to create a secure connection, but not too far that you stick the wire through the front of the flower!
Step 4 - Prep Your Supplies
Once you have all of your flowers stemmed, you can get ready to create your bouquet. I would recommend prepping your filler before getting started, because it will make the bouquet creation process go much more efficiently. To do this, you will want to break apart your filler into smaller individual pieces. Some filler strands will have a strong enough stem to be added directly to your bouquet. Other pieces will be smaller and you may need to attach a smaller length of floral wire (see photo below). You can use leftover floral wire and use a wire cutters to cut it to the length you want. Then take a piece of floral tape to wrap around the wire and the filler stem.
Pro Tip: When using floral tape you need to pull the tape taut. Once there is a bit of tension on the tape it will become sticky! Otherwise, it will not stick to itself. It can be helpful to practice rolling the tape around a piece of floral wire before you get started to get the technique down.
Step 5 - Build Wedding Flowers Bridal Bouquet
Now for the fun part- putting together your bouquet! You can be as creative as you want during this process. I started with 3 medium sized flowers and arranged them in a triangle. It is helpful to hold the stems between your thumb and forefinger about 4-5 inches below the flower and just let the stems stay in a straight line. You can bend the stems to their final spot once you have put the bouquet together. Once you have your starting point, you can continue to add flowers as you rotate around your starting triangle. Triangles are visually appealing, so add similar flower types in a triangle around your bouquet. After you have added about a third of your flowers, use some floral tape to secure it. Don't worry too much about packing the flowers tightly, because you will add some greenery at the end to fill any gaps.
Once you have added enough flowers to get the size and shape you want, you can add in your filler. Continue to follow that triangle technique to space out the different types of greenery. You may have to bend your stems to fit the greenery in the middle of the bouquet, but you can easily reshape again at the end. Play around with how far you want different greenery sticking out, depending on how orderly or wild you want the bouquet to look. Don't forget to add a few fuller pieces of greenery around the outside of the bouquet to help hide the wire stems. After adding your greenery, secure with floral tape. You can then bend your stems to get more of an umbrella shape.
Step 6 - Add Your Ribbon
The last step for your bouquet is to add some ribbon or fabric around the stem to get a more finished look. There are many ways you can do this. The method I found most helpful was to create a loop in the ribbon with the tail hanging down as long as your stems. Hold the tail side against your stems with the 1 inch loop at the top of where you want to wrap (closest to the flowers). Fold over the working end at a 90 degree angle and begin wrapping around your stems. Wrap down the length of your flowers and work your way back up to the top. Cut the working end with an inch extra and stick it through your loop. Pull the tail down until your loop is hidden. This will secure your working end. You can then trim any extra fabric that is showing from your tail.
You did it!
Congrats, you have made a beautiful wedding flowers bridal bouquet! After taking some time to admire your work, you can cross this off the list and start your next DIY project :) I can't wait to see what you have created!
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