DIY bouquet trial run

Inspired by some pretty flowers I saw at Publix after picking out my bridesmaids' dresses and this article from Real Simple, I decided something crazy. Why don't I make my own bouquet for the wedding?

Materials I used:
7/8" silver ribbon ($2.00 for 7 yards)*
floral wire ($1.14 for 175 feet)*
floral stem wrapping tape ($1.00 for two 1/2"x90' rolls)*
long pearlized pins ($2.47 for 100)
2 dozen pink & white roses ($5.00 per dozen)*
kitchen scissors
* indicates sale price

First thing I did was open up the cellophane and lay out the roses.

And then I decided to take some completely unnecessary photos.

Then, I actually got to work and took all the leaves and thorns off the stems.

Then I tried to take an action shot of me bundling the roses. I failed miserably and cut off my head. Take your time bundling, though! It's easy to get your flowers uneven which, if you continue, you'll see that I did just that.

Next, I wrapped floral wire around two points on the stem. This is hard than I anticipated because it doesn't hold super great and is kind of slippy. What I did was not the two ends of wire together and the wrapped the excess wire around the opposite way from which it was originally wrapped. I did this so the wire would fold at the knot area. Does that make sense?

Following the floral wire was the floral tape. This stuff is sticky on both sides which is great. However, it looks like mini-crepe paper and is about as thin. It doesn't stretch a ton so you can't use it to wrap the stems super tight. I was grateful that I had the wire down before the tape to really hold things.

After the tape, I wrapped my ribbon. I didn't know how to begin and I had this great idea of weaving it in and out of some of the stems. I'm not sure how I like that. The ribbon isn't as smooth as it is on professionally done flowers. I don't think I care though.

I used to pearlized pins to keep the ribbon together. I just shoved them into the shaft a teeny bit of the way (enough to get past the tape but not enough to get down to the stems) and then up.

Next, I cut off the excess stems. This was kind of crazy and bits of stem went flying everywhere. It's a little longer than I wanted but not bad for my first try at a bouquet, eh?

Next, I took more completely unnecessary photos. See the photo with me holding the roses looking silly? That's the real color of the flowers I was using. The rest are peachy due to yellow like and my general dislike of cheap camera flash. (Neither color, pink or peach, are mine, by the way. I just bought the flowers that were on clearance.)

While it's not a horrible bouquet, it is certainly not a lovely one either. I think I may unwrap and try it all again. I'm glad I decided to do a trial run before it got too close. I'd hate to get to my wedding day and realize all I could make were ugly bouquets. Please, let me know what you think. And if you've done this before, I'd love some tips!

Next trial run: hair and makeup. Those pictures will NOT be posted as Mike reads this blog. ;)