DIY Baby's Breath Bouquet + Boutonniere

Learn how to make a simple baby’s breath bouquet and boutonniere in this easy DIY flower tutorial.

We all know that baby’s breath is super affordable as well as super chic for wedding flowers. This previously considered “filler” flower has taken center stage in many a stunning wedding, and we’re thrilled to show you how you can create a simple baby’s breath bouquet all by yourself! Just follow the steps below to see how to create your own baby’s breath bouquet and boutonniere for your wedding day:

Supplies You’ll Need:

• Ruler
• Baby’s Breath (about 2 bunches)
• Green Floral Tape
• Scissors
• Pearlized Ball Head Straight Pins
• Ribbon (we used 1 yard each of three kinds – ours is from M&J trimmings)

NOTE: because the bouquet flowers cost less than $10 total, we decided to “splurge” on really pretty ribbon. We bought velvet and a deep purple hand dyed silk. The velvet about about $3/yd, and silk about $5/yd.

• 1″ thick velvet ribbon
• 1/4″ thin velvet (matching color)
• 1″ thick hand-dyed silk purple ribbon (We had the aqua spool of grosgrain ribbon simply as another “just in case” option!)

How to make a DIY Baby’s Breath Bouquet:

1. Separate your stems

Separate the stems so they’re easier to work with, putting one aside for the boutonniere.

2. Cut off any stray branch-off blossoms.

Removing the stray sprays will help make the crown of your baby’s breath bouquet look more circular and may make it easier to manage rearranging the shape.

3. Create a crown shape

Arrange the stems so you get a round “crown” at the top of the bunch of your stems. This may take a bit of rearranging and working and turning the stems. It’s worth it! Put on some good music and just keep working with it until you get a shape you’re happy with.

4. Secure the base with tape

Rip about 3″ of floral tape off the roll. Use this as your initial “go-around” the bunch of stems, about 3-4″ from the bottom of the lowest baby’s breath bunching on the top of the steams. You will likely need an extra set of hands to help you hold the bunch tight as you wrap the first bit of tape.

TIP: Floral tape gets sticky when you stretch it! So stretch it a little bit to get it to adhere to the stems.

5. Wrap the stems fully in tape

Once you have a good anchor around the stems, take the roll of tape and start to roll around the stems with one hand, as you hold the stems together with the other. Cover about 4-5″ of the stem with tape. This may be a little tricky so ask your fiancé or a friend to help! Again, remember to stretch the tape a little as you wrap it around the bouquet stems to activate its stickiness.

6. Trim your stems so they are even

Measure down from the end of the tape about 4-5″ more and cut the stems to even lengths for a cleaner look.

Wrapping Your Bouquet with Ribbon:

8. Wrap your base layer

Take your base ribbon (we chose a purple velvet) and affix to the top of the bouquet stems with a straight pin.

9. Overlap your ribbon as you wrap

Roll around the bouquet stems overlapping the ribbon slightly with each time around (about 3mm.)

10. Be sure to cover your tape

Wrap until a little past the end of the tape (you don’t want the tape to show) and cut the ribbon an inch past the measured amount.

11. Add pins for a clean finish

Tuck the cut piece of ribbon under itself (so no fraying edge shows!) and push 2 pins up towards the top of the bouquet crown to secure the ribbon end.

Adding a second layer of ribbon:

You can add a second layer of ribbon to create a layered effect. If you choose a contrasting color, it will be more pronounced. We wrapped the ribbon in a “corset” style as shown below.

12. Arrange your ribbon evenly

Lay the bouquet on a table and tuck the contrasting ribbon (we used silk ribbon) underneath the stems and hold up “to the sky” making sure the two ends are even.

13. Criss-cross the ribbons over each other.

If the ribbon on the left is “A” and the one on the right is “B”, twist them so A is back on the left and B on the right again, then wrap around the back of the stems and come back up to the front.

TIP: make sure you tighten the criss-cross “corseted” part.

15. Repeat along the entire handle

Repeat step 14 all the way up to the top of the baby’s breath bouquet.

16. Finish the wrap

Knot the ends of your ribbon at the top of the handle. Tie a bow to finish it off!

17. Trim the ends

Cut the ends of the ribbon so both sides are even in length.

18. Finish with a pin to secure

Optional but recommended: we stuck a straight pin in at the top too. It’s decorative and ensures the bow won’t unwrap itself!

Voila! You have a lovely baby’s breath bouquet! Now on to the matching boutonniere:

How to make a baby’s breath boutonniere:

1. Trim your stems

Cut some “mini” blossoms from the bunch first set aside so the bare green stems are about 3″ in length.

2. Add extra stems to the base for bulk

For extra width in the stems (which is important for ribbon wrapping and so there’s something substantial to push the pin through when affixing the boutonniere to the groom’s lapel) we simply cut extra bare green stems and added them to the bundle of mini blossom stems.

3. Wrap stems with tape

Because the boutonniere is small and more manageable to wrap floral tape around, take a 5-6″ piece of floral tape and wrap around the stem of the boutonniere, then rip off any excess tape.

TIP: it may be easier to stretch and hold the tape in one place as you twirl the bunch of short stems so the tape wraps around it.

4. Anchor ribbon to stems with a pin

Anchor the top of the thinner velvet ribbon to the top of the boutonniere with a straight pin.

5. Wrap ribbon around the base

Wrap the ribbon around the boutonniere stems, only overlapping a few millimeters with each wrap.

6. Trim excess ribbon

Cut the excess ribbon, leaving about 1/4″ extra to tuck underneath itself, and then secure the end of the ribbon with a straight pin.

7. Finish with straight pins

Put 2 pins on the back of the boutonniere. You don’t want to forget to include them, as it’s what is used to pin the boutonniere to the label of the groom’s suit.

8. Optional: Add second ribbon as an accent

We used some of our excess silk ribbon to simply adorn our boutonniere to match the bridal bouquet!

Simple DIY Baby’s Breath Bouquet

Simple, huh? That’s what we like in a DIY project here at The Budget Savvy Bride. In all it took us less than an hour to make both of these pieces so it’s something that would be totally doable the day before or even the morning of your wedding if you had some helpers. We hope this inspires you to create your own baby’s breath bouquet or boutonniere for your DIY wedding!

We hope you enjoyed this DIY wedding flower tutorial!

Special thanks to Mikkel Paige Photography for the photos and text used in this post.

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