How To Create A DIY Wedding Bouquet

This year will go down as the year of the weddings for our family. We had two wedding receptions in our yard this summer. One of which was for my oldest son. I DIYed everything for the wedding, including the flowers. I do have a couple of years experience working in a floral shop, but I still consider myself a complete novice. But even if you have zero experience, with a few tips, you can create a DIY wedding bouquet!

This post is sponsored by Digz but all opinions and ideas are 100% my own.

Growing the flowers for both weddings and creating DIY wedding bouquets, centerpieces and arrangements, saved HUNDREDS if not thousands of dollars. Flowers are a huge part of the wedding budget. So if you have a wedding coming up and want to save money, learning to throw together some simple bouquets is a good place to start.

Elements Of A Bouquet

Before we start into the tutorial, you need a basic understanding of the different elements that go into a bouquet. You have you greenery, focal flowers, filler flowers, and line flowers. I have a post that goes into greater detail about these elements if you are interested.

Greenery are things like ferns, eucalyptus, or clipping from bushes. It's the base that you build off from. Focal flowers are the main flowers that steal the show like roses, peonies, or dahlias. Filler flowers are smaller and support the main flowers. Line flowers are tall skinny flowers that give the bouquet dimension. They are things like delphinium, veronica, or snapdragons.

Think about your color scheme and look up online different examples of flowers from each of these categories. This will give you an ideas of what to grow, or what to ask for when reaching out to local growers or even neighbors. If you find that you didn't grow enough of a certain flower, or need to supplement for another reason, going to places like Trader Joe's, other grocery stores, and markets are other great places to get flowers on a budget.

All that being said, you don't have to include all the elements into your bouquet. Some of the most beautiful bouquets I have seen have only had focal flowers. Or maybe focal flowers and some greenery. Play around with it and have fun!

How To Create A DIY Wedding Bouquet

I have grown cut flowers for 3 years and love how they brighten up my vegetable garden. You can read all about the benefits of growing cut flowers HERE. Since I knew my son was getting married well before it was time to plant seeds, I was able to choose what I was going to grow based on the color theme of the wedding. Once you have you flowers all growing happily, here's how to create a DIY wedding bouquet from flowers in your yard!

Cut & Collect The Flowers

The best time to cut and collect the flowers is in the morning. The moisture content in the plants will be the highest then and it will cause less stress on the flowers. Cut the stems long enough to create a bouquet. Skip the flowers with shorter stems. You can use those in centerpieces, but you will need long stems for bouquets.

Only use sharp tools to cut the flowers. Whether you use snips or scissors, ensure they are clean and sharpened.

Make sure to have a bucket, vase, or something else filled with water. As soon as you cut the stem, place it in the water. And when you have all your flowers cut, take them inside. Don't leave them in the sun for longer than necessary.

Clean The Flowers

Now it is time to prep the flowers by removing all or at least most of the leaves. If you leave the leaves on, the flowers will wilt faster since there is more per stem you are trying to keep hydrated.

Any time you pull a flower out of the water for any amount of time, you will need to create a fresh cut on the stem before placing it back in the water.

Making The Bouquet

Now it is time to create the bouquet! You can do this one of two ways. It will depend what you are comfortable with.

You can either create the bouquet in a vase like you would for any vase floral arrangement. This will free up both your hands and will keep the flowers hydrated while you work. Then when you are done, you can grab the stems and pull them out of the vase. You still may need to adjust a few things before securing them together.

Or you can create the bouquet while holding the stems in one hand. This is my preferred method. It can get hard towards the end when you have a huge handful of blooms, but for me this just feels easier to play around with the design for some reason.

Securing The Bouquet

Once you have the bouquet the way you want it, you will need to secure it. You have a few options. You can use a rubber band, a zip tie, or clear floral tape. I prefer to use a rubber band because it is easy to add and easy to hide when you add the ribbon. If you use a ziptie, make sure the nubbon is in the back of the bouquet and add enough ribbon to hide it well.

Keep it Hydrated & Cool

I make the bouquets the day before the wedding and then keep it in a vase of water in the fridge until it is needed. If you can, in between the ceremony and the reception, place it in water to keep it looking fresh all day.

There is also a floral spray called Crowning Glory that will help your blooms from losing moisture and prevents them from browning.

What are your favorite flowers to be used in a bouquet? I'd love to hear what your wedding flowers were like!

Happy Gardening :)

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