Arranging Flowers Part 2

As I mentioned in Arranging Flowers Part 1, I plan on doing my own flowers for my wedding and recruited the help of some friends and family. This is something that I want to do because I love flowers, and just so happens to be budget savvy.  I decided to use a local floral supply.  I just felt better picking out my own flowers, and this way I can ensure that they are the colors I want them to be.

Since I have never done more than a couple of arrangements at once, I needed to do a trial run.  This way I would have a more specific number of how many of each flower that I need, I would also have a rough estimate of how long it would take to make each item, centerpiece, bouquet, boutonierre, etc. I had already picked up the non perishable items I would need for my arranging:

Assorted ribbons, good stem cutters, green florist tape, clear florist tape, corsage pins, scissors, E-6000 glue, floral wire.

So on one of my days off, I headed to the floral supply and picked up a small assortment of the flowers that I wished to use. I picked up 10 blue hydrangeas, 2 dozen roses, 1 bunch of delphinium, 1 bunch of baker fern, and 1 bunch of solidago. From these items, I created, photographed (well the G2B can be thanked for the photos) and then took apart each piece.

Top Left: my bouquet  Right: centerpiece A

Bottom Left: bridesmaid bouquet  Right: centerpiece B

To create each bouquet, I built around a central stem, once I had the desired size and design, I wrapped each bouquet with about 3 feet of florist wire.  I then wrapped double faced satin ribbon around most of the handle and used E-6000 to glue in the end.  I then cut all of the stems to the same length  For the bridesmaid bouquet, I added a dash of the periwinkle ribbon.

To create each of the arrangements I started with an empty vase, then placed the clear florist tape in a grid pattern, and taped around the edge of the vase.

For centerpiece A, I used a cross formation, and for centerpiece B, I made a grid of 3×3.  I then began arranging the flowers until I thought that they were full enough.  I am planning on using a couple of different colors of linens, so I though it important to have a couple of different arrangements.  I plan on using at least two different vase sizes, but at this point only had one.

For Centerpiece A you may have noticed the crystals, I created these as well, working in the jewelry world, crystals like these are things that I come across, so I adhered them to these willow branches with fishing line and a little E-6000.  I bought the bunch of willow branches already with the greenery on them.  The came in about 4 foot sections that I cut down to create many pieces.  The items used for these are here:

I also will need boutonierres so that was next.

The grooms, the groomsmen, and the mothers' were all created in the same way.  I started with a flower and a piece of baker fern, cut the stem to about an inch and wrapped with about a foot of floral wire.  I them wrapped green floral tape around the base and secured with a little E-6000  (in case you didn't notice this is my fave glue for all kinds of crafts).    Then I stuck a pearl tipped corsage pin in each one.

Overall I was very pleased with my research, I have recorded the flowers and assembly times for each piece.  This will help me better budget my time and money when making my own florals.

What I learned:

1. The boutonierres wilted first, so we will make them last.
2. The bouquets need lots of water, and in an effort not to soak the ribbon handles those will need to be made the day of our wedding.
3. The centerpieces lasted for a few days, so they could definitely be made before hand, maybe the day before.

Anyone else DIYing the flowers for their big day? Any tips you learned along the way?