After I received a quote from a florist that totaled over $350 for three bouquets, I decided that there had to be a cheaper way to do things. Now, I’m not big with DIY projects (my philosophy is that if it can’t be done while drinking a glass of wine, it’s not worth doing yourself), but bouquets don’t look that hard to make, so I decided to give it a try. Here’s how I did it!
Step 1: Buy supplies.
We bought white hydrangeas, green hypericum berries, and green trachelium at Whole Foods for a total of $22. We also purchased floral tape, straight pins, and ribbon from Michaels for about $10.
Step 2: Cut the stems.
Turns out that hydrangeas have really thick stems that cannot be conquered by ordinary scissors and need a chef’s knife. (Step 1.5 is to wash the raw-chicken residue off your cutting board from dinner last night.) If you have roses or really any flower with a more delicate stem, scissors or pruning shears will be just fine, but we had to pull out the big guns on this.
Step 3: Prune the flowers.
Strip all the leaves off your flowers. Be careful not to pull off flowers that all branch off of a main stem. This step is extra easy if you have your maid of honor to help you.
Step 4: Arrange those suckers into a bouquet.
Start with a base of a few flowers and build out. Just play around with your supplies until you get a shape you like.
Step 5: Wrap the stems with floral tape.
Make sure to hold the stems nice and tight while you do this.
Step 6: Cover the tape with pretty ribbon (or twine or lace or whatever).
Michaels didn’t have the black and white striped grosgrain ribbon that I really wanted, so we got the brown and blue equivalent instead to give us an idea of the look.
Step 7: Secure the ribbon with straight pins.
Step 8: Admire your work!
Step 9: Display your flowers in a beer mug and make a mental note to include a vase on your registry.
So there you go! That’s how to make a bouquet. It took about 20 minutes from start to finish. I’m glad we did a practice run because we didn’t have enough accent flowers and greenery to achieve the look I really wanted. Next time, I’ll know to buy more. But, hey, even with more fillers, it’s still a much better deal than the $165 the florist wanted to charge for a single bouquet!
Did anyone DIY their own flowers? Did you love the savings or regret not hiring a professional?
Beautiful! My wedding isn’t until next year, but I plan on DIYing them. I’m even going to grow them! I think your flowers are gorgeous and not a single person will know that you didn’t get them from a florist and pay their crazy prices!
After looking at all the beautiful photos that you guys do, I am regretting hiring my florist already! I wish that I would have taken the other route.
165? Ouch. I’m being charged I think about half that for a hydrangea bouquet (and about half THAT for the BM bouquets), but I am the least crafty, coordinated, put things into shapes person on earth so I am glad to pay for a pro to do it for me. Plus the wedding is a semi-destination (aka 300 miles away) so it’s easier to pay people to have stuff there on time than to try and transport it all. But I’m in awe of people who can actually make stuff for themselves! lol
I landed somewhere in the middle. I ordered our bouquets and a couple of other arrangements from the florist in our grocery store. I’m sure it was still more expensive than arranging them myself, but the grocery store was much more reasonable than the other florists I talked to.
It looks beautiful! I was in a wedding as a birdes maid which had hydrangeas in the bouquets, so a couple of quick suggestions FWIW: hydrangeas wilt SUPER quickly out of water, so either plan to have vases nearby throughout the day, or consider buying those little water thingies to put the stems in to keep the moist. They also take in water from their petals, so keeping a spray bottle around to mist your bouquets wouldn’t hurt!
Hi!
I’m a 2013 bride and I keep seeing these posts on DIY flowers/bouquets. I love the way they look and the lower cost BUT I’m very confused about how this will actually work for your wedding.
Will WholeFoods pre-order the flowers you want? When will you go buy the flowers and make the bouquets? The morning of you wedding? Is there time? Or if you do it before will they stay fresh? What if they don’t have the flowers you want in stock?
I’m NOT saying this is a bad idea, in fact, I’d love to do it! Any explanation of how this will actually come together on your wedding day would be really helpful! Thank you!!
Lauren,
Thanks for your question! The plan is to go to Whole Foods either the morning of the wedding or the night before and buy the flowers to make the bouquets. I shop at Whole Foods for most of my groceries, so I know that they ALWAYS have white hydrangeas in stock. This is why we’re going with Whole Foods. As far as filler flowers, we’ll be stuck with whatever it is that they have in stock. If you have specific flowers in mind, you can order flowers wholesale from websites like bloomsbythebox.com. I might order some ranunculus. As far as time goes, it took my sister and I about 20-30 minutes to make this one bouquet. I only have 2 bridesmaids, so we’ll be making a total of 3 bouquets. I will plan on blocking out about an hour for bouquet-making. When I made this one, I put it in a mug with a little water and the bottom, and it stayed fresh for about 3 days, so I’m not worried about it wilting overnight. Hope this helps!
Soaking hydrangeas (the whole flower, stem to blossoms) in a bucket of cold water for at least 4-6 hours, preferably overnight, helps them suck up moisture to stay fresh longer. Doing this kept my most recent grocery store-bought hydrangeas alive for 2 weeks. In the past, I’ve had them wilt even when in a vase, but this trick even revived a shriveled one!
Great job! Ya 165 for a bouquet you can do yourself??? No way. It looks amazing!
This is FANTASTIC. Flowers are low on my priority list (partly because of cost & partly because I just don’t care to be honest), and this looks like an easy way to make my own beautiful bouquet. Thank you so much for posting!
That looks so cute! We’re doing our own flowers for less than half the florist’s quote.
Definitely going to be DIYing next March when I walk down the aisle. You make it look so easy!!! Way to go and save money in the process!
I did DIY for my girl friend’s wedding, and it was a great way for the bridesmaids to hang out and have fun. We did the guys’ boutonnieres too. One tip I learned is to get the straight pins with the pearl looking stuff on the end. Then, you pin a bunch super close together in a straight line down the back. It looks so polished and put together.
Thanks for the post and the steps! I’ve been on the fence about doing my own but after reading this…I’m doing it!
Can this be done the day before the wedding or does it have to be day of?
@Plantation – I haven’t decided yet when we’ll make the bouquets, but it’ll probably be the night before because I have a feeling the morning of the wedding will be a TAD busy. 
Great job! You made it look so easy… I am thinking of DIYing flowers so this is definitely encouraging.
Mrs. Treasure, Chicago Age and Occupation: 24, Law Student Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Equity Analyst Engagement Date: July 30, 2011 Wedding Date: September 2012 Venue: Saint James Chapel at Quigley Prep/Murphy Auditorium About Me: I was born and raised in Indiana, but now live in sweet home Chicago. I'm a third-year law student and aspiring trial lawyer, which means Mr. T never wins an argument. Other than Mr. T, I love singing, exploring the Chicago restaurant scene, and Notre Dame football. We met in a musical (just like my parents!) and after 4 years together, we are excited to be planning our urban "destination" wedding.
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