Transform your backyard party with lighting in five easy steps.
Stringing market lights at a backyard party adds ambiance and twinkle! But what if your event begins before sunset? Decorate the strands of lights so they look just as darling during the daytime! Whether it’s a bachelorette night, engagement party or rehearsal dinner add fresh, wholesale flowers to your market lights and create a fun transition for your day to nighttime soiree.
Supplies:
- Water Tubes
- Spray Paint (optional)
- Floral Wire
- Pruning Shears
- Strands of Market Lights
- Fresh Flowers – we used the Bulk Spring Mix box from FiftyFlowers.com which includes Freesia, Snapdragon, Blue Delphinium, Asiatic Lily, Mini Gerbera Daisy and Honey Bracelet greenery.
COST
Excluding the cost of the market lights plan and depending on the flowers you choose this project can be $1-5 per flower-filled water tube.
TIME
One person can make about 30 tubes of flowers in roughly an hour.
PREP
Hydrate the flowers in a bucket of cool water for at least 4 hours.
Step 1: Paint the tubes
Water tubes typically come in green or clear. If you would like to add color to the water tubes, use spray paint to coat the plastic tube (not the rubber top).
Step 2: Add water
After the paint is dry, fill each tube with water and cap with the rubber top.
Step 3: Add flowers!
Clip the flower stems to be a few inches long and place them inside the tubes. You’ll want the blooms to start just above the top of the water tube. If you’re working with flowers that have thin stems you can fit up to three per tube.
Step 4: Wrap the tubes
Cut a length of wire (about 12″) and wrap half of it around the tube. Twist to secure it and leave the other half of the wire out like a tail.
Step 5: Attach to lights
Wrap the remaining wire tail around the hanging strings of market lights, centering the flowers between the lights. Use additional wire if you need to reinforce the bind.
Expert Tips from French Knot Studios
Hang your market lights before you begin preparing the flower tubes. This allows you to see exactly how many water tubes filled with flowers you want to make.
It was a very hot, summer day (95 degrees with a heat index of 105) when we did this project! The water tubes helped the flowers last, but ideally you want a temperature lower than 80 for the most longevity.
Need help planning your DIY Wedding Flowers?
Schedule a complimentary consultation with one of the wedding flower planners at FiftyFlowers.com by emailing [email protected] Or download the Flower “Recipe” worksheet designed to assist DIY brides in knowing how much to order for their DIY wedding flowers.
Project Team
Wedding Styling: French Knot Studios
Bulk Flowers: FiftyFlowers.com
Photography: The Happy Bloom
