Cost and difficulty making a brooch bouquet?

Mine was made by *********************@*******.**.**, she is very reasonable and the workmanship is amazing. I collected some of the buttons and brooches that meant something to me/us and sent them to her. I think it's well worth having a look at her facebook page too, I hope you find something that you like and can afford.

Hi Kelly.

I never considered myself a crafty sort of person then I found a brooch bouquet I loved but it was more than I was willing to spend so I gave it a go myself

Here's what I have so far , it just needs a few tweaks and the ribbon added to the handle etc now.

I found tutorials on youtube for the ribbon roses and for wiring the brooches. Most of the brooches were bought from ebay over time and a few from family etc too.

Once I got the hang of it, it wasn't as difficult as I expected but my finger tips got very sore, also I don't have an exact figure but have probably spent around £80 - £90 in total putting it together.

Good Luck

L x

P.S. don't forget to flash if you do end up doing it yourself, A couple of HIB have given me a few tips so I'm sure they'll do the same for you if you need any advice along the way.

I have two tutorials her one for brooches and one for buttons. Buttons are easier to do than brooches especially if you use my method.

Where did you find someone to do for £80 Kelly? The one ive seen is about £200 which is way over my budget!

Aimee x

I'm making my own - it's fiddly but seeing it coming along makes me really happy!!

In my experience:

Cost: high, certainly higher than buying. Don't forget you will need metres of decent wire and jewellery-making tools. The brooches weren't too bad, but 40 of them at up to £5 a pop pushes the price up hugely!

Difficulty: easy-medium. The actually wiring etc is straightforward.

Wear and tear on fingers: ginormous. Prepare for blood.

Time: ginormous. The bouquets look better the more pieces you have. You not only need brooches but plenty of wired beads/crystals to fill spaces and provide support.

Just a tip I put an old sock over my hand when I am twisting the wire

Hi Kelly2015,

i put my brooch bouquet together on Friday and I was surprised how easy it was. I'm not particularly crafty but I loved the brooch bouquets but couldn't justify the £100-300 expense. I have used about 10 brooches (all from eBay with the exception of 1) and it's probably cost me £40-45 to make:

I love an excuse to flash mine. It cost about £40 and I followed youtube tutorials.

Thank you, they all look amazing! Loves kea how did you manage to do it for £40? Where did you buy the brooches and supplies from? X

I bought a couple of job lot brooches from ebay , eg, this type of thing. I also got a load of cheap jewellery from Primark, chunky earrings and bracelets etc and glued them on to brooch pins. The flowers that I built around where from wholesale florists but you can get flowers in The Pound shops.

I've been getting mine from markets and charity shops - I have about 60 and have paid about £40ish on them (friends have bought me some too)

You definitely don't need expensive wire and jewellery tools - I got my wire from hobbycraft, and also used garden wire from Wilkinsons. Total cost of wire has been about £5.

Yes it's time consuming and hurts your fingers sometimes but it's something to be proud of!

Hi,

You should be very proud having made this bouquet. It is lovelly. Well done

Lynne

Be careful with the wire I bought some florist wire which very quickly rusted. This is the best place I have found for wire https://www.wires.co.uk/acatalog/silver_plated_copper.html I use this one which to be honest seems to go on forever, so they do smaller amounts

sp0500s-001nt 1kg 0.5mm SOFT Silver Plated £19.00 Copper Wire

Thank you all for the help! I have decided to make my own after going to my Nans today and she has given me 5, one being over 100 years old...eeek! Going to ask all the family and hopefully make something very special! I have plenty of time so will hopefully be able to do it. What tutorials did everyone use? The other half has given me loads of wire which is easy to bend etc, but quite thick so should be ok? Xx

I bought some floristry tape to wrap around the wire.

This isn't the exact one that I watched but it is pretty much the same.

Hi I've made one, can't post any pictures yet as my wedding is in 2 weeks. It wasn't difficult to make, I am not crafty at all, but I am very pleased with it. My biggest bit of advice would be to find the right brooches, go for light not heavy brooches as the final bouquet needs to be light enough to carry.

I have collected my brooches over a 12 month period and have now discarded a few as not suitable, but have used approx, 25-30. Decide your colour theme carefully, although I had chosen a multicolour theme for my bouquet, I have ended up going with the colours in the ties, bridesmaids dresses etc.

£80 is a good price, but check how many brooches you get with that, as I have seen one that was mostly flowers and only 5 brooches.

There are lots of tutorials as others have said. Be careful not to start too early though as two and a half years may be ample time to make it but wedding fashion is moving faster now than in the last few years so unless you're 100% set on the idea and not interested in fashion trends, there is the risk that brooch bouquets could have slipped out of favour in that amount of time. Not only do wedding trends change but people's minds change too! There are so many new ideas coming out every season that there's always the chance you may see something you like more.

I feel in love with these. But I too, couldnt afford the price. BUT...I went to hobby craft and got some very cheap basic wire stems, tape, etc. I have gone to second hand shops, ebay(look for brooch job lots..what a savings) and collected some pretty ones BUT the center part is reserved for the brooches from my mother that she passed on, my partners grandmother and mother and brooches and pins etc my children have given me.

So far it looks wonderful. Interspersed with soft pale pink antigue style roses and pearls. It is a winter wedding and I have been able to include as well snowflakes.

It is far easier to do then I was expecting...it is a wonderful way to include things from family members that have past or cant attend...I say go for it.

You can get brooch job lots on ebay for around 15£s. It doesnt have to be expensive.

here is a few I was able to find pretty easily...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Brooches-Job-Lot-Wholesale-Jewellery-Lot-Of-8-Pcs-Very-High-Quality-Brooches-/281362627899?pt=UK_WSJL_Wholesale_GL&hash=item418284fd3b

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Brooches-Job-Lot-Gold-Colour-Lot-Of-6-Pcs-/271519976582?pt=UK_WSJL_Wholesale_GL&hash=item3f37da0c86

BUT You can also try second hand shops. I was able to find some very sparkly ones for a pound each