When it comes to weddings one of the most beautiful, yet most expensive budget line items always winds up being flowers. You wouldn't believe some of the quotes I got from florists, just for the bouquets alone, mind you (we're not even talking centerpieces, decor, etc). I literally could have funded our entire honeymoon with what some were asking. (hmm...sit on the beach and sip fruity drinks with my love, or have pretty flowers that will last about 3.2 days. Yep, that was a no brainer)

But the good news is, with a little elbow grease and some creativity, I made my own bouquets for about a third of the price, AND I got to sit on the beach without feeling guilt for the money I was throwing down the drain for flowers! Winning!

Here's what I made:

1 Bridal bouquet

9 (yes, NINE) Bridesmaids bouquets

2 Mothers mini-bouquets

4 Grandmothers mini-bouquets

2 Ceremony floral arrangements

Rose Petals for the flower girls

And do you know how much that all cost me (including supplies and ribbon)? A whopping $345.64! And guess what, they were just as beautiful as the bouquets I had picked out in the magazine...I couldn't have been happier!

Here's how I did it:

I first spent days looking online to get an idea of what type of flowers I wanted. I knew I wanted to include hydrangeas in my bouquet because not only are they beautiful, but they are very full...so a little goes a long way in making a bouquet look bigger with less flowers to purchase. I love roses, so I knew I wanted to include a few of those as well. And I knew I wanted my bouquets to be round and a pop of green (to match my shoes and my color scheme of gray with dark purple & green accents).

I went to the Sam's Club website and here is what I ordered:

Lime Green Hydrangeas (30 Stems)

Green Baby Hydrangeas (40 Stems)

Green & White Roses (125 Stems)

Green Hypericum Berries (100 Stems) Note: I loved the added depth these surprisingly gave the bouquets!

The total for all of the flowers came to about $326 (and BONUS: Sam's Club had FREE shipping!). Then I spent about $20 on green floral tape, burlap and ribbons. I would recommend ordering the flowers so that they arrive by Thursday for a Saturday wedding. That gives you a day to receive them, clip and put them in fresh water (as soon as they arrive...this is important) and still be able to make them Friday morning while having the rest of your day to enjoy the rehearsal, rehearsal dinner & wedding without having to feel rushed! This also gave us a buffer for shipping error...which happened to be a great thing, because my roses were delayed a day due to a hurricane! Yikes!

Once you receive your flowers, clip them, and let them drink some water over night (they travel a long way, those puppies are thirsty when they arrive!), here are the other supplies you'll need:

Green Floral Tape (I used about 2-3 rolls for 10 bouquets)

Burlap

Ribbon of your choice

Glue gun

Floral clippers

Clear plastic rubber bands (they help hold the bottom of the bouquet together where you want it while you wrap with floral tape)

An extra pair of hands to help hold the bouquets while you wrap is super helpful.

I started with the bridesmaids bouquets...I had 9 to make, so I knew they'd take the longest! Here are the flowers I used for each of these bouquets:

3 large hydrangea stems

2-3 mini-hydrangea stems

4 green roses

3-4 hypericum berries

I stripped the leaves off of all the flowers except the large hydrangeas...I used those as the "base" greenery around the bottom of the bouquet. Once you arrange the bouquet in your hand how you like it, place a clear plastic rubberband at the top of the stems (about where you want to start your tape...leave a small space at the top to see a little bit of the stem) and one at the bottom, where you will end your tape. Have someone else hold the bouquet while you wrap the stems tightly with floral tape and secure. (this tape is sticky, so it will stick to itself...no need to glue it down)

Once your'e done with that, place the bouquet in water and set aside. Note: It was easier to do this process for all the bouquets first, then add the burlap and ribbon together as the last step, because the floral tape will leave your hands sticky!

Next I made the bridal bouquet:

5-6 large hydrangea stems

3-4 mini-hydrangea stems

8-9 white roses

5-6 hypericum berrie stems

I basically did the same procedure as the bridesmaids bouquets, I just made mine slightly larger, and used only the white roses (instead of green ones) to make it look a little different. I used green ribbon with my bouquet to match my green shoes, and on the bridesmaids bouquet I used dark purple ribbon to match their shoes.

The mother's & grandmother's mini-bouquets were basically smaller versions of the bridesmaids bouquets with 3 roses, 2-3 mini-hydrangea stems and 2-3 hypericum berries...sadly I couldn't find a picture of those - sorry!

Once you've got all of your bouquets assembled, it's time for the burlap and ribbon. We cut a piece of burlap just slightly larger than the width of the floral tape around the stems, and left room to fold down the top and bottom sides (so that the edges were smooth and not jagged). Fold down the top and bottom edges of the burlap, wrap around the base of the bouquet and secure with one line of hot glue (be careful not to burn yourself!) you'll need an extra pair of hands for this process as well to get it tight and secure.

After the glue dries, tie the ribbon of your choice around the center, where the tie will face outward. I chose to tie mine in a knot, you can do a bow as well...it's totally whatever look you prefer!

For an extra touch of glam, as well as my something old and borrowed, I added a beautiful brooch from one of my grandmothers, and underneath it, I tied my other grandmother's original wedding band. They looked beautiful and made my bouquet extra special...I felt like I was carrying them down the aisle with me!

Once you're done with your bouquets, be sure to store them in a vase with water and also in a cool place - hydrangeas are absolutely beautiful, but they do wilt easy...keep them cool!!

And that's it, beautiful bouquets for about a third of the price... I couldn't have been happier with the way they turned out and the money we saved!

Hope this helps for any brides who are toying with the idea of doing your own bouquets...please feel free to comment below with any questions! Happy arranging!

Photos Courtesy of : Sugar Snap Photography

Disclaimer: Post contains some affiliate links.

DIY Wedding Bouquets for under $350

ABOUT

BLOG ARCHIVES

INSTAGRAM