Good morning everyone!  I had a pretty recent find through a Facebook yard sale site for an item I’ve been wanting for almost 9 years now and it has inspired me for this week’s post.  When my husband and I were married almost 9 years ago, I was trying to keep costs down for the wedding.  I decided to try to make all of the flowers for my wedding:  the boutonnieres, the corsages, and even my wedding bouquet.  Now I had only made wreathes and some silk flower centerpieces up until this point, but I thought it was worth a shot to save hundreds of dollars.  I’m thrilled to tell you that the flowers turned out absolutely beautiful and I couldn’t have been happier!

DIY Silk Flower Wedding Bouquet

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An added bonus I discovered was that I got to keep my wedding bouquet forever without having to worry about preserving it.  This is one of the great benefits to using silk flowers for your wedding bouquet: it lasts forever. We spend so much time and energy making our wedding bouquet look just right so that it is exquisite and represents our personalities.  So why not use flowers that won’t die, but will instead retain that beauty for decades to come?  Using silk flowers allows you to display your wedding bouquet in your home which will inspire you to share those beautiful memories of your special day with friends and families whenever they come to visit.

That is where my yard sale find comes into play – I had wanted to find a container of some sort that would protect my bouquet and keep it from getting dusty and messed up.  I found that a shadow box that you would use for football helmets or sports equipment like a soccer ball or a football would work great.  The only problem was that they were $80 at Michael’s and other craft stores and I just didn’t want to spend that much.   I waited patiently until I could find one more reasonably and bingo!  $10 on a Facebook yard sale site!  Here’s my bouquet in its new home…

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Another wonderful benefit from using silk flowers is that you don’t have to worry about what flowers are in season at the time of your wedding.  If you’re having a winter wedding and you want to have lilies, you can!  No more trying to plan your wedding bouquet according to your wedding date.  By using silk flowers you have the freedom to personalize your wedding bouquet any way that you want.

The biggest benefit to using silk flowers for your wedding bouquet is the savings.  On average, a wedding bouquet of fresh flowers made by a florist will cost $200-$400.  By using silk flowers and making your own personalized wedding bouquet, you could spend around $50 saving you hundreds!

Now that you realize how much better it is to make your own wedding bouquet, here are the first steps to consider:

Choose the size, shape and style- There are many options for what your wedding bouquet can look like.  I suggest searching images online to find which one speaks to your style.  A few to consider are:

1. Round traditional bouquet
2. Cascading bouquet
3. Hand-tied bouquet
4. Arm sheaf

Choose the type of flowers and colors- Maybe you know exactly what flowers you want to have in your wedding bouquet.  If not, you can do some window shopping at your local florist or craft store to see what blossoms speak to you.  Some suggestions of the most popular wedding flowers are: Roses, Hydrangeas, Lilies, Gerber daisies, Tulips, Peonies, Gardenias, and baby’s breath.

Choose the base- There are several types of bases you can use for your wedding bouquet:

• Use a styrofoam base with built-in handle
• Make a handle by fastening stems together (can wrap with ribbon)
• Get fancy with a tussy-mussy

I suggest checking out the styles and options online, at stores like Walmart or Target or at your local craft stores like Hobby Lobby and Michael’s.

Assemble your bouquet- Here are some basic steps for making your wedding bouquet once you have all of your supplies: 

Materials You Will Need:

• Wire cutters
• Floral tape
• Straight pins
• Floral wire
• Ribbon
• Flowers
• Base (if using a styrofoam base or tussy mussy)
• Decorations
• Hot glue gun (optional)

Making Your Silk Wedding Bouquet with a Styrofoam Base

1. Cut the stems to your desired height and place the large blossoms into your styrofoam base first.  Hold the single flower up to the styrofoam base to see how far you want the blossoms to stand up and then cut the stem about 1/2 to 1 inch longer than that.  Push the stems into the styrofoam head to place the blossoms into the base.  Remember to space them out so that you will have enough room to fit the other pieces of your bouquet in as well.
2. Cut the stems in the same manner and place the smaller blossoms, greenery, and baby’s breath into the styrofoam base to fill in the bouquet so that the base can no longer be seen.  You will be able to move the blossoms around a little, but the more you push the stems in and take them out, the looser the next blossom will be when pushed into that same location.
3. Add decorations to your bouquet to make it personalized.  You can tie ribbon around the handle of the bouquet so that it covers the stems, or so the ribbons cascade over your hands.  You can also use charms, silk, lace, and even burlap.  Whatever your desired look, make your bouquet represent your style.
4. Add floral scent to your blossoms.  Just because these are silk doesn’t mean you have to miss out on the scent of flowers.  You can buy some floral essential oils and add a few drops onto the silk flowers.  And the nice thing about adding your own scent is that you can use any scent you like.  Even though I used lilies and roses in my bouquet, I didn’t them to smell that way.  I found a lilac essential oil and used that on my flowers since lilac is my favorite floral scent.  Mix it up and make it fun – maybe use honeysuckle or lavender instead of rose and gardenia.

Making A Hand-Tied Silk Wedding Bouquet

1. Cut the stems for your larger blossoms to your desired length for your bouquet.
2. Use floral wire to wrap around the stems and hold them in place.
3. Add stems from smaller blossoms, greenery, or baby’s breath in between the larger blossoms or on the outer edges of the bouquet as desired.
4. Use floral tape to wrap around the outside of the stems to secure them.
5. Add decorations to your bouquet to make it personalized.  You can tie ribbon around the floral tape so the ribbons cascade over your hands or wrap ribbon from the base to the top of the stems to cover them completely and secure with hot glue.  You can also use charms, silk, lace, and even burlap.  Whatever your desired look, make your bouquet represent your style.
6. If using a tussy-mussy, you would place the stems into the tussy mussy and then secure with the pin.  You can use ribbon on the tussy mussy if desired, but it is usually ornate enough that this is the only decoration that you want on the handle.
7. Add floral scent to your blossoms.  Just because these are silk doesn’t mean you have to miss out on the scent of flowers.  You can buy some floral essential oils and add a few drops onto the silk flowers.  And the nice thing about adding your own scent is that you can use any scent you like.  Even though I used lilies and roses in my bouquet, I didn’t them to smell that way.  I found a lilac essential oil and used that on my flowers since lilac is my favorite floral scent.  Mix it up and make it fun – maybe use honeysuckle or lavender instead of rose and gardenia.

I hope this inspired you to make your own unique wedding bouquet!  I’d love to hear all about your bouquet so comment below to share your success.  And don’t forget to share this post on your social media accounts so that friends and family can benefit from these ideas.