DIY Hand-Tied Bridal Bouquet

Are you getting married in Oxford and hoping to make your bouquet? Creating the flower arrangement of your dreams to carry down the aisle is a special event – but one that will take practise. Have fun and take inspiration from Kaci and Abbey, the design and photography experts behind the wedding bouquets displayed so wonderfully here.

We’ve included a few more DIY ideas for your wedding. Have fun!

DIY Your Wedding

Most weddings these days include a DIY aspect as a way to add a unique and personalised touch to the big day. Some do it to save a couple of bucks while for others, it's all about coming up with one-of-a-kind elements for their nuptials. For a majority, it gives them an opportunity to get hands-on and perhaps take fun classes to learn new skills alongside their partners.

The best approach is to focus on creating DIY wedding accents rather than trying to take a hands-on approach for the bigger planning elements. You also shouldn't bite off more than you can chew, and that essentially means sticking to executable DIY projects. With that in mind, it’s never a great idea to DIY wedding dresses or bridesmaids' gowns because you’ll most likely end up scrambling for last-minute alternatives.

DIY projects that are sentimental to you and your better half are the easiest to execute. For instance, if you are artsy folks, you’ll have an easy time creating hand-crafted paintings, pottery, or sculpted wedding favours. You can also explore creative ways to incorporate items like ticket stubs from your first date at the movies or trinkets from your travels together into the big day.

What Should You DIY For The Big Day?

As a rule of thumb, you don't want to DIY wedding planning aspects like the gown, wedding cake, and makeup. However, there are always exceptions to this rule and mostly it's acceptable if you or your spouse-to-be are professionals in those respective areas. Either way, you shouldn't stretch yourself too thin, and the wedding DIY tasks you choose to take on should be more of passion projects.

By all means, accept offers from family members and friends who want to work on some wedding DIYs. Some of the items that you can DIY for your wedding include:

Ring Pillow

It helps if you already have basic sewing skills, or it can also be fun to take embroidery classes with your better half for that specific reason. Give yourself ample time to complete the project, especially if you need to learn how to make a ring pillow.

Ceremony Decor

Paper decorations are in trend these days, and if you choose to create some for your wedding you'll need to start working on them early enough. Crepe paper flowers and streamers are some of the wedding decorations that you can DIY.

Wedding Signage and Escort Cards

A couple who love all things crafts will enjoy fashioning wedding signage out of recycled and repurposed items. Old planks of wood, chalkboards, and card stock are perfect canvases for such a project. It's yet another opportunity to customise your wedding by handwriting classic signs like "welcome" or "wedding this way."

Escort cards can also receive the same treatment, and it's even better if you've polished up on your calligraphy skills. There are plenty of tutorial videos that can also assist with this task.

Photo Displays

It's always a lovely touch to have a photo display at the wedding venue. This is yet another aspect that you can put together, particularly if you are borrowing photos from relatives to create the photo display.

The Wedding Favours and Welcome Bags

The art-inclined couple will equally love putting together wedding favours and welcome bags for their guests. Family, friends, and members of the bridal party can lend a hand with this task.

DIY Hand-Tied Bridal Bouquet

The image of a blushing bride walking down the aisle isn't complete without her holding a beautiful wedding bouquet. Wedding flowers are amongst the list of aspects that most brides love to personalise and truly make their own. Hence the rise of the DIY hand-tied bouquets trend. Floral crowns and boutonnieres are also excellent wedding DIY projects.

It's worth mentioning that wedding floral arrangements are often on the list of planning aspects left to the experts. Again, acceptable exceptions include if you are patient and artistic, are a florist, you've worked on DIY floral bouquets before, or you are having an elopement ceremony. Also, DIY wedding flowers are bound to be more affordable overall.

Dried blooms are having their moment in the spotlight, and they would be a wonderful option to work with for a DIY hand-tied bridal bouquet. While fresh flowers remain traditional favourites, they are challenging to work with especially if you want to create a bouquet ahead of time. Other alternatives include faux flowers and paper blooms.

Some of the things to have in mind when creating DIY wedding bouquets include:

Create voluminous faux flower/ paper bloom bouquets to make up for the lack of movement experienced with fresh flowers. Include some texture to the bouquets by adding some foraged greenery in the form of ferns, eucalyptus, and Ruscus. Use hard stem flowers like delphiniums, roses, and carnations for fresh flower bouquets. They generally hold up well, are easier to work with than other blooms, and generally, they last longer.

Wrap the stems with a silk ribbon, hessian, or any other material that aligns with your wedding theme. The final touch doesn't only give the posies an elegant appearance but it helps to maintain the shape of the bouquet. Hydrate your blooms for twenty-four hours and snip their stems afresh before placing them in water. That makes them easier to work with and hydrated flowers also last longer. Hydrating the flowers a few days before the wedding also gives the flowers to fully open and display their peak beauty.

Before taking the walk down the aisle, keep the bouquet in a vase with fresh water. Direct sunlight won't help its shelf life, and it's better to store the posies in a cool area. If you decide to refrigerate the bouquet, make sure there are no fruits near it because the ethylene they produce can wilt flowers. Remember that less is more when crafting your own wedding bouquet, and practise makes perfect!

DIY hand-tied Bouquet

Be still my beating heart! Today’s whimsical DIY hand-tied bouquet tutorial from Kaci at Just Delightful Events and Abbey of Abbey Moore Photography combines two great loves of mine: floral design in a couture bridal shop!

Set at Vue Design’s boutique and with a flower wall backdrop – Kaci are going to show you how to create your very own, very beautiful bridal bouquet.

SUPPLIES

Sharp scissors
Floral tape
Pins
Ribbon
Floral Wire
Clean buckets with fresh water

FLOWERS

Pink Peony
Pink & White Ranunculus
Pink & White Tulips
Pink & White Stock
White Roses
Anemone
Succulents
Various Grey-Green Foliages

STEPS

1. Once you’ve picked up your selected fresh flower bunches from your local market, be sure to remove the unwanted foliage and thorns. A good rule of thumb is to remove all foliage that would sit in the water once it’s placed in a vase.

2. Give the flowers a fresh cut an inch from the bottom of the stem at a diagonal and then place the stem in fresh water.

3. Prepare the succulents by wiring them. Poke wire through the top of the succulent – threading it in one way and out the other. Wrap the wire to a thicker wire or stick.

4. Store the prepped flowers in a cool place until you’re ready to begin arranging.

5. To begin the arrangement, choose three mediums stems and loosely hold them in one hand. Keep the other hand free for arranging.

6. Once you’ve started, be sure to crisscross the stems to achieve a more rounded aesthetic.

7. Continue layering the flowers and foliage around the centre until the bouquet reaches the desired size.

8. Secure stems by wrapping them with floral tape.

9. Cut the flower stems near the base of the floral tape.

10. Next, choose your ribbon and secure it to the bouquet with a pin.

11. Wrap the ribbon around to the base of the stem handle length and secure the opposite tip of the ribbon with another pin.

12. Adding multiple ribbons or charms adds interest to the arrangement’s handle. I chose black and gold glittery ribbon for added visual drama and a feather for a whimsical touch. I finished the bouquet with a white ribbon, tied with long tails for movement and romance.

From Kaci of Just Delightful Events – Fresh flowers set an event apart from a typical social gathering; they evoke a sense that makes the occasion extra special. This is part of what makes a bridal bouquet so significant. What other time in life is a girl encouraged to carry a bundle of her favourite flowers, specifically chosen to match her personality, gown, style, and tastes?!

This is what I adore about hand-tied bouquets – they are the epitome of fresh flowers on one of the most exceptional occasions of a person’s life.

Personally, I prefer bouquets with an ombre of colour. Typically I’ll choose a potpourri of a flowers representative of one or two various shades of colours, and a touch of contrast.

I also like to pair these flowers with complimentary foliages for added visual interest. For the bouquet here, I have chosen variations of whites, pinks, and grey-green foliages.

Hopefully your own hand-tied bouquet feels freshly picked, unique, and is a reflection of your personal style on your big day!

Credits: Photography: Abbey Moore Photography // Floral Design: Just Delightful Events & Florist // Venue: Vue Design in Grand Rapid, Michigan.