Floral Collars and Crowns for your Four Legged Friends
Sources: Fuzzy, furry, and…flowery? While some may see a pet at such an elegant event as an accident waiting to happen, we say that EVERY loved one should be part of your special day, whether they have two legs or four!
Inherently, dogs are absolutely beautiful animals. Graceful, proud, and completely lovable, they will probably be the guests with the biggest smile. Especially if you are having an outdoor wedding, dogs can be an excellent addition to the wedding party, as well as add a stunning sense of beauty and bliss to your ambiance. Best of all, they can look just as chic and photogenic as the rest of the company.
Whether it’s matching flower crowns with the bride or having a stylized floral collar just for them, dogs have this extraordinary ability to take the simple and make it spectacular.
Even our own precious office dog, Chewy, gets her own makeover from time to time with flowers!
The process to make a floral collar is easier than it looks and adds a fabulous DIY touch for your event. With your flowers in mind, consider the method below to fashionably touch up your pup and ready them for your ceremony!
Here’s what you’ll need:
- 18 Gauge Floral Wire
- OASIS® Waterproof Tape, Half Inch
- Wire Cutters
- 20 stems mixed fresh blooms of your choice
- Your choice of greenery or more fresh blooms
How to:
1. Have all of your flowers processed and hydrated. To keep your flowers fresh, we highly recommend making this collar no earlier than the night before your event.
2. Using the wire, measure out a comfortable collar size for your dog. Loop wire around your dog’s neck to find the right size before you cut your wire. Make sure to make the collar loose enough to be comfortable for your pup!
3. Completely cover the wire base with a layer of floral tape. To do this, you will need to ready a strip of the tape, pull slightly, and then wrap around the wire base. Floral wire is not a sticky adhesive until stretched; then, it will attach perfectly to other areas of floral tape. Make sure to pull every strip taut before use!
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4. Decide how you want to organize your collar. Find a nice pattern of blooms and greenery that fits your dog, and then separate your stems into piles, or bunches, that follow this pattern. For example, one rose, one stem of ruscus, and one sprig of baby’s breath could be a very simple bunched pile.
5. Cut the stems in your piles. You will have to decide how short depending on how large your dog is. The basic rule, though, is that small dogs should have extremely short stems, only around an inch to two inches so that the collar will not be bothersome, while larger dogs can have longer stems.
*Optional: by making your greenery slightly longer than your blooms you can create some extremely vibrant texture and contrast. Just make sure your dog will be able to move around comfortably with the collar on.
6. With the first bunch, figure out how you want the flowers to lay on the wire. Then, secure the flowers together with floral tape the same way you taped the wire earlier. Once the stems are secured tightly together, secure the bunch to the wire with floral tape. Secure near one of the top ends of the wire, leaving about two inches of empty space before the wire ends. This will be used to secure the dog collar together.
7. Continue adding in bunches onto the wire, overlapping them on top of previous bunches to get a smooth, continuous look on the collar.
8. Once all of your flowers are added, use any extra blooms to fill in empty-looking spaces in the collar.
9. Once completed, refrigerate overnight until your event. Make sure to take out any fruits or vegetables in your refrigerator, as these release a gas that is harmful to flowers!
10. Just before your photography and event, tie the wire collar onto your dog’s neck. Twist the free wire ends together tightly in the back, giving your pup a stylized and gorgeous look for the ceremony!
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Of course, this fabulous design isn’t limited to dogs. Nearly any family pet can be a fantastic part of your wedding ceremony and look unbelievable doing it, too!
Sources: horse and bride, bride and groom with llama, sheep in flower crown, cat flower crown, bride and groom with horse, rabbit floral collar, donkey floral crown, donkey floral crown with bride
No matter who you have celebrating with you, floral collars and crowns are an incredible touch for any four-legged friend. Your animals will look classy and stylish smiling with you on your special day!
Read More Like This:
1. How to Make a Flower Crown for your Wedding
2. 26 Types of Filler Flowers and Their Meaning
3. Wedding Trend: Floral Anklets
