DIY Bridal Bouquet

When West Elm asked me to collaborate with them and design a boutonniere DIY for their blog, Front & Main, using their paper flowers, I went overboard and also created a bouquet DIY. Their paper flowers just got me too excited to do just one project. This bouquet uses paper flowers, real flowers, and air plants. Once the real flowers dry up, weeks after a wedding, the paper flowers can be pulled out and kept as a sentimental keepsake.

Do you guys know about airplants? They are quirky little plants that live on the air and simply need to be soaked every other week to stay alive. They add just the right amount of quirky-ness to a bouquet.

What you’ll need:

5-7 Paper Flowers (mine are from West Elm)

Light pink carnations

Sweet Pea

Airplants (learn more about them at Gardener’s Path)

Ranunculus

Your favorite greens

Floral Tape

Wired ribbon

Floral Wire

Floral scissors

These are the flowers I used. Get creative and find flowers that you love in a palette that makes you happy. I made the bouquet using the basic spiral technique. Basically, you’re going to place each stem on an angle, creating a circular shape. It take a few tries to feel comfortable and not like a huge failure. I’ve put together and taken apart many bouquets before because they just weren’t working. Be patient, you can do it.

 

Hey there you funny little air plant.

Steps for a DIY paper flower / real flower / airplant bouquet:

1. Prep the airplants by threading a 12″ length section of floral wire through the bottom and securing with floral tape. You are basically giving them a “stem”.

2. Prep your real and paper flowers by removing all of the foliage.

3. Start with three main flowers. Hold them in your left hand, crossing the stems.

4. Add other stems of flowers around the three main ones. Each stem should cross the others in the same direction. Eventually, all the stems will be making a circular pattern.

5. Fill out the bouquet with paper flowers and airplants until it’s the size you prefer. Wrap floral tape around the stems to secure them.

6. Trim the stems.

7. Add an oversized bow. Oversized is the best size when it comes to bows.

Photos by brklyn view photography

 

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