How to Make a DIY Wedding Bouquet: A Complete Tutorial

When you decide to design your own wedding flowers, you may find yourself asking: How do I create a DIY wedding bouquet? Of all the arrangements you will create for your big day, wedding bouquets are one of the most important. From the bridal bouquet to bridesmaid bouquets, these blooms are frequently photographed and are carried by very special people throughout the ceremony. They can also be repurposed into table decor for the reception! Designing a DIY wedding bouquet can be accomplished in eight simple steps. Today, we're walking you through the start-to-finish process of turning your wholesale flowers into the perfect bouquet:

1.) Order flowers

The key to creating your dream flower bouquet is to start with your dream flowers! When ordering flowers online, you may want to consider the following questions:

• How many wedding bouquets are you creating?
• What colors and textures do you want to feature in your flowers?
• What size and style will your bouquets be?

Once you have answered these questions, you will want to purchase the fresh flowers that best fit your budget and style. One of the most affordable approaches to DIY flowers is ordering wholesale flowers. You can shop by color, flower type, or price! If you're looking for flower combinations based on your color scheme or vision, you'll love our DIY combo packs and our Make This Look page.

All of our flowers ship FREE from the farms to your doorstep!

2.) Gather your team and your supplies

Next, it's time to gather the rest of your resources - your team and your supplies! Asking loved ones to help with your wedding flowers is a great way to involve them in your special day. Whether you have each person design their own bouquet, or decide to form an assembly line, having all-hands-on-deck will make the flower designing process go by faster. Your flower designing team can include family, friends, coworkers, members of your wedding party, or anyone else you trust!

To create your DIY wedding bouquet, you'll also need a variety of floral design tools and supplies. Here is a list of materials we recommend having on hand as you make your bouquets:

• 5-gallon buckets
• Flower food

• Floral tape
• Ribbon
• Pins
• Thorn stripper
• Floral shears
• Gardening gloves

3.) Prepare your flowers

When ordering wholesale flowers, you'll need to care for your flowers in order to keep them fresh and hydrated leading up to your event. Our Flower Care page gives a detailed explanation of how to care for your flowers. Once your flowers arrive, you should cut your stems at a diagonal angle and place them in a clean bucket with cool water and flower food. To avoid bacteria in the water, it is also important to remove any foliage that falls below the waterline. As they hydrate, continue to recut their stems, and refresh their water and flower food.

As you prepare to create your bouquets, remove excess greenery from each flower stem to achieve your desired look. Wholesale roses are often shipped with guard petals in order to protect the bloom. You may carefully remove any brown or discolored petals from each rose. Now layout your flowers and greenery, and get ready to design!

4.) Start with greenery

First, using your hand as a "vase," start to build the foundation of your arrangement with greenery. This will help set the flow and shape of your DIY wedding bouquet. Some of the most popular types of greenery include ruscus, eucalyptus, and leather leaf. As you add to your arrangement, remember to hold the stems about halfway down the desired length of your bouquet.

5.) Add focal flowers

Next, add a few focal flowers to your DIY wedding bouquet. Focal flowers are the stars of your arrangement. These are the florals that catch your eye, and they tend to have one, large bloom per stem. You will likely have one to three types of focal flowers in your arrangement. Some common focal flowers are roses, proteas, anemones, sunflowers, ranunculus, and mums.

6.) Add fillers, line flowers, and more greenery

Then, continue to build your bouquet by adding filler flowers, line flowers, and greenery at a diagonal angle. These stems are used to add volume, height, and dimension to your arrangement. As your bouquet grows, you may need to rearrange your greenery and focal flowers. You can also use your greenery to fill in potential gaps and to achieve your desired bouquet shape and size.

• Filler Flowers: Filler flowers are the smaller blooms that make up a bouquet or arrangement. Although they are not the flowers that immediately draw your eye, they play an important role in completing the overall look and style of a wedding bouquet. Filler flowers can include baby's breath, poms, spray roses, and mini carnations.
• Line Flowers: Line flowers are tall flowers that can add height and an extra "wow-factor" to your bridal bouquet or bridesmaid bouquet. Some examples of line flowers are bells of Ireland, snapdragons, and delphinium.

7.) Finalize, and secure with wire, tape, and ribbon

As you finish up your design, make sure to check for any gaps or holes, and place filler flowers or greenery where they are needed. To hide the stems, you might want to place a layer of greenery around the outside of your DIY arrangement.

To secure your bouquet, tie the stems with floral wire and then cover about 2 to 4 inches in floral tape, depending on the desired length of your bouquet. Finish up by covering the floral tape in a ribbon of your choice and securing it with pins.

8.) Trim and hydrate your DIY wedding bouquet!

Finally, trim the stems of your bouquet, leaving a few inches below the ribbon. Place your finished arrangement in a vase with 1 to 2 inches of cool water to keep it fresh and hydrated, and enjoy the beautiful DIY wedding bouquet that you've created!

Tropical DIY Wedding Bouquet Tutorial

Want to watch the full process of creating a DIY wedding bouquet? In this video, we break down how to design a stunning, tropical-inspired bridal bouquet:

Other Arrangements to Go With Your DIY Wedding Bouquet

Wedding bouquets aren't the only arrangements you'll need for your big day! At FiftyFlowers, we're here to help you through every step of your DIY flowers. Our YouTube channel and DIY wedding flower blog are full of trends, tips, tricks, and tutorials to help you create your arrangements. We also share advice and ideas on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest!

Consider checking out these links for more information on designing your wedding flowers from home:

• How to make a DIY boutonniere and corsage 
• DIY flowers for your chairs 
• How to make a flower crown video 
• How to design cake flowers video