Taken from Nuptia.ca wedding site, with permission Written by Gabby Savoy

Tuesday, 30 September 2008

If you’re looking to save money on your wedding, think about arranging the flowers yourself. Here some tips if you choose to go this route: First of all, spend as much time as possible at botanic gardens, wholesale stores, and farmers’ markets. Ask questions and take notes. You can get the flowers from a wholesale market, on-line, or from local growers. Up to 70 per cent of flowers are available year-round, but remember that there are some types that are truly seasonal. How to make your wedding bouquet and boutonnieres The easiest bouquet to make is a hand-tied bouquet, and the best flowers for this type of bouquet are roses. You can make a hand-tied bouquet by holding a stem in one hand and adding other stems around in it a spiral fashion. Keep in mind that roses are fragile and living things, so if they don’t turn out exactly how you expected, be patient! Here’s a step by step guide: Bouquet: 1. Clean and cut each stem diagonally and place them in water. Do this for about 18 – 24 rose stems, and don’t forget to remove the leaves and thorns. This can be done with a damp towel or dishwashing cloth. Keep roses in water. 2. Take the largest flower of the bunch – this will be the center of your bouquet. Add extra flowers evenly around the center flower, tucking them just below the head. Allow the stems to cross at the bottom by turning the bouquet clockwise (at 45 degrees) as you work. 3. Once you have all the roses secured at 45 degree angles, add some greenery or/and fill flowers to give your bouquet a decorative cuff. Secure the fill flowers with clear sticky-tape and/or an elastic band. 4. Now take the green florist tape and wind it tightly around the stems, five cm from where you want to cut the stems. 5. Take the fabric strip (make sure the edges have been finished off or sewn into a “tube” so that the raw edges are inside the tube) and wind this around the stems and pin in place with decorative florist pins. 6. Now cut the stems. Boutonnieres 1. Use a single rose and fill flowers. 2. Position the rose in the middle of the greenery and add extra fill flowers so that they frame the rose. 3. Use clear tape to hold cut stems together at the desired length. 4. Wind the green florist tape around the stems – cover the stems completely. Secure with decorative florist’s pin.