If flowers are your passion and you’ve dreamed about making your own bouquet for your wedding, you can absolutely do it yourself. You just have to do your research to make sure that you don’t overlook anything. Here are some tips to help you put together the perfect bridal bouquet for you.

First, it’s important to come to the table with a basic idea of what you want. If you start out with general preferences, whether for specific flowers or just colors, then you have a good starting point to be able to take on the project.

Flowers

When choosing the flowers, keep in mind that tradition suggests that the total of flowers comprising the bouquet equal an odd number, typically seven or more. There’s a reason, besides their beauty, that many bridal bouquets contain roses. The rose, with a stem about one foot long, works perfectly in a bouquet. Other flowers need more care to keep them from wilting or dropping before the ceremony.

Often, brides use the same kind of flowers to make up the bouquet that are used to decorate the wedding location. This isn’t a rule set in stone, but makes it easier. If you want to use a different flower than used in the wedding décor, take care to make sure the bouquet flowers and colors still blend in well with the overall look. This just takes some planning.

Colors

If you want your bridal bouquet colors to compliment colors worn by the bridal party, you need to have something to match flowers with. Bring a swatch, headband, or shoes with you when ordering the flowers to match the shade perfectly.

Leaves

Many brides overlook the importance of choosing the leaves to enhance the bridal bouquet. The foliage surrounding and separating the flowers can actually make or break the bouquet. Mixes of grasses and leaves that are carefully chosen can work well. Just like with flowers, you should research any foliage to find out what is hearty enough to keep from discoloring or drooping.

Method

You can make the bouquet as early as the night before the wedding and leave it in water, but make sure no ribbon is touching the water. If it’s very hot, keep it in the refrigerator.

First, set out your materials including a knife, scissors, color-matched ribbon, and floral tape. Floral tape is available in most flower or craft stores. Prepare your flowers by stripping or cutting leaves off the stem to shape the bouquet. Remove older flowers or petals. Then do the same to the leaf stems. Hold the flowers in one hand in a rounded bunch, then place them between leaves so the bouquet keeps the rounded shape and leaves and flowers are distributed evenly. Then you can add more flowers around the outside. Stems will fan out naturally.

When you have the shape that you want, wrap floral tape around the stems tightly just above the spot where you would hold the bouquet. Wrap the tape around three times, and then you can set it down to tie ribbons around it. Cut all stems the same length, around six inches below the ribbon’s lower edge. Put the bouquet in water, and voila! A custom-made, do-it-yourself bridal bouquet.

There are so many beautiful forms of bouquet that it can be a difficult choice to make. However, once you have decided on a species of flower then your choice might be a little easier as some forms of bouquet are more suited to certain species. The symbolic message of the bouquet being happiness, fertility and a new life as man and wife is translated into one bouquet of flowers, pretty extraordinary huh?

One of the most popular choice of flower is the Rose due to its classic beauty and ability to compliment pretty much any theme and color scheme. Roses come in a multitude of colours from rich reds to pastel yellows so it really is impossible to go wrong here. They may take the form of a bunch of roses tied together and held just as they are, or with additional leaves and accessories.

With many weddings taking place in all seasons of the year, there are more variations of flowers being used for the bouquet. Tulips and lilies are popular for spring and Gardenia and Narcissus for the fall. With the additional choice of hothouse flowers, winter weddings can also benefit from a wide range of flowers where there would normally be a shortage.

The varying forms of bouquet include the Pomander, which is effectively a sphere of flowers wrapped tightly with a ribbon. Almost any flower can be used with this form of elegant bouquet.

Cascading bouquets are a beautiful choice for the more traditional weddings. Popular flowers for this form are Roses, especially white, and Stephanotis. A great bouquet for a more rustic wedding, is holding the flowers naturally with a few extra features of spray, leaves and even small branches.

A less traditional but equally beautiful form of wedding bouquet is flowers simply held across the arm. Lilies can be ideal for this kind of bouquet or a flower of a more rare nature.

Another increasing trend is to use silk flowers or using the material of the gown, instead of natural flowers for the wedding bouquet. This opens up an even wider choice and can even give you the option for a completely unique design of your own creation. Some artificial bouquets are not remotely trying to mimic flowers with the use of silk ribbons juxtaposed in a beautiful form.

You may want to consider using artificial flowers for your bouquet as they come with many bonuses. Firstly they are roughly half the price you would pay for natural flowers, think what you could do with that extra budget. Also, you can get the planning and booking for the flowers completed early on and not worry about them spoiling. On the day of your wedding, you do not have to concern yourself over keeping the flowers safe as they are hardy and difficult to damage.

Give yourself plenty of time for selecting your wedding bouquet and you will be amazed at the sheer choice at your fingertips to create your uniquely perfect wedding bouquet.