Floristry help!

My Mum and I were thinking about making mine and my bridesmaid's bouquets but then we found a florist that was really reasonable so we aren't now but I did do some research into it, although we were planning on using artifical flowers.

If you look on youtube, there are quite a few tutorial videos on how to make different types of bouquets: cascade, shower, handtied etc.

I'm not sure but I think you'd need a bouquet holder for that style, you can get them from ebay and hobbycraft and you'd need to soak the oasis in water to keep the flowers fresh (from what I understand anyway)

I don't know if I'd have had the nerve to do it with real flowers in case it didn't work out, at least with artificials you can make them a few weeks in advance and find a replacement if it doesn't go well. However, I guess you could do a trial run, get some flowers and give it a go and see what you think to the results.

Hope this is helpful in some way! Good Luck!

I think it's a lovely shaped bouquet!

x

Now I am an amateur too but really love the look of flowers you've picked out there. Having spoken with a few florists now, I think that drop shape is quite complicated and takes a reasonably long time. That is why they tend to be more expensive that the hand tied bouquets.

If you have time why not see if there is a class available or if there is local florist able to give a lesson or two so you can ensure your bouquet is strong and lasts all day.

Without any experience I would be wary of trying to do it on the day. The bouquet above will need to be wired as it is a shower bouquet and all the flowers are wired individually. Orchids are delicate flowers & the roses have to be conditioned properly.

Personally if you want this Bouquet I would leave your bouquet to the professionals & maybe just do buttonholes & Bridesnmaids.

It's quite a complicated design for a first timer and would need several practice goes. If I were making that style of bouquet, it would take me around 2 hours as the trail would need to be on extended wires so it doesn't come loose and the orchids also need wiring. You could also have the potential problem of there not being any roses at the supermarket on that day. So a lot depends on whether your Mum really wants to have the worry of this on the morning of the wedding and spoiling her hands too! If you do practice runs, by the time you've bought the practice flowers, foam, wires and tape, it would probably cost the same as a florist doing it. If you really want to try, my advice would be to buy some cheap silk ones to practice with and order your flowers from your local florist so you know that they are the best quality and grade (supermarket roses are not wedding grade roses) which will make the job easier for you.

Thanks all. I looked up a tutorial on youtube and it said we needed a lot of items we don't have, like a bouquet stand and so on. I just rang my mum and tried to tell her but she wasn't having any of it... I get my stubbornness from her! She said to go over next week and we would have a go with some roses and use some twigs rather than cut down an orchid. I guess if it works that's great and if not she will finally have to give in and let me buy an artificial bouquet to match the ones for the bridesmaids like I wanted!

My mum (also not a professional florist but very good with flowers all the same) offered to do our flowers, she did them for my brothers wedding and they looked great. We were going to have four bouquets for my adult bridesmaids, a ball for my little bridesmaid, a petal basket for my flower girl, my bouquet and fresh flowers to decorate the venue and table centre pieces/top table. We did a trial run of each with some silk flowers at the weekend and they have come out so lovely that we've decided to use these rather than real flowers. This means we can do them well in advance and seems, so far, to be a lot cheaper! What a clever mummy I have! x

I agree with Jules if she insists then go for a handtied design which is much more manageable.

Sorry but i have to agree with rainbow florist, that design would take a florist a good few hours to do. If she wants the orchids that she grows in the bouquet why dont you tell the florist and then let the florist have few stems of the orchid to incorporate in the bouquet, She would definately have terrible hands after making it plus having no nails either.