Your Guide on How to Make a Traditional Bouquet of Fake Flowers
A bride holding a bouquet of fake flowers.
Wedding bouquets have been a staple in marriage ceremonies since the time of the Romans. Flowers are carried because they symbolize fertility, new beginnings, and loyalty.
But fresh flowers are extremely costly, especially if your dream blooms aren’t in season. If you plan on DIYing your bouquet, fresh flowers require constant watering and care or else they will droop. Plus, if you have allergies, you could find yourself sneezing in your wedding photos!
The perfect solution is an artificial bouquet of flowers. These silk or acrylic blooms are always in season, never droop, and last forever, so you can keep and display your bouquet for years to come.
The best part is that you can put together your own long-lasting, traditional bouquet of faux flowers for a fraction of the price. When the ceremony is over, you can even incorporate it into a wedding party table design!
So if you’re on a budget or just love to DIY, here’s how you can create a wedding bouquet of fake flowers for your wedding day!
Choosing Your Flowers
Before you build your bouquet, you’ll need to do some research. Decide what shape you are looking to achieve. Do you want a bouquet with cascading flowers or a tighter build? This will help you to select the right fake flowers.
Look for high-quality faux flowers to achieve the most realistic look possible. Look for materials like polyester, silk, and even wood, which have enough structure and softness to look like real flowers.
Next, much like decorating a gazebo, you will need to decide which types of flowers you’ll want to use. Opt for a mix of symbolism and visual appeal. For example, roses represent love and their petals look great in a bouquet. Peonies, hydrangeas, calla lilies, jasmine, and gardenias are also popular choices.
The colors you choose will depend on your wedding date. Spring and summer weddings tend to have softer colors than fall and winter ceremonies. Think about which flowers bloom during your wedding season to make the best choice. You’ll also need some greenery, vines, and other natural textures to make your bouquet really pop.
There are lots of places to buy fake flowers. You will find a larger selection online than in craft stores, but you won’t be able to gauge the quality and risk the package getting delayed in transit.
Craft stores offer coupons regularly, but if you need to buy a large amount of flowers, you may find their stock coming up short. At the end of the day, choose the method that works best for you, your budget, and your wedding timeline.
Gathering Your Supplies
A box of red and pink roses. Image via Walmart.
Once you have a clear vision for your wedding bouquet of fake flowers, you’ll need to gather the supplies to put together a stunning piece for your wedding. Here’s everything you’ll need, including how many flower stems you’ll need to build a stunning bouquet.
Floral tape
Thin floral wire
Wire cutters
1-4 base stems
1-5 large blooms
3-7 stems of smaller flowers
3-8 pieces of greenery
A glue gun
Twine or ribbon
Embellishments to personalize
The fuller you want your bouquet, the more supplies you will need. If you’re looking to add personal touches, you can incorporate a vintage pin, pearls, or other accents to create a unique bouquet handle.
Preparing Your Flowers
To make the perfect bouquet, you need to do a little work before assembling. Inspect each bloom and stem to make sure the petals and leaves are secure. You won’t want your bouquet shedding on your big day!
Prepare the stems by removing excess leaves, leaving one or two near the bloom. This will balance the bouquet, streamline the stem area, and keep the top section full. You can also remove any stickers or tags.
Avoid making other irreversible changes before you’ve decided on how your fake flowers will be put together. Don’t worry about making all the stems the same length at this point. You’ll experiment with the arrangement and can trim, tape, and wire for stability once you know how the bouquet will fit together.
Creating the Bouquet Base
A bride being held by the groom with a bouquet of flowers. Image by Olivia Bauso.
The first step in building the perfect traditional bouquet of artificial flowers is a sturdy base layer. As you begin building your bouquet, start with 2-4 large flowers to build the base. A large bouquet will need a larger base to secure your focal flowers to.
Lamb’s ear, poppy pods, and ranunculus are good options as they are sturdy and will help make a solid core to support your flowers. Play around with the arrangement and height of your base pieces. This foundation will act as the center of your bouquet and determine the overall shape, size, and structure.
Group these flowers together and wind them with floral wire, cutting and bending the wire to prevent sharp edges. Add some floral tape throughout the base to ensure the stems stay firmly together.
Building Your Bouquet
Once your base is secure, begin adding your flowers. Hold the base in your hand, placing each stem strategically to evenly space the flowers. Build out from the center, rotating the bouquet as you add pieces to ensure it is balanced. Add tape every 3-4 stems to keep everything together!
Alternate colors and sizes evenly to keep everything looking expensive. Use greenery to break up the colors and add visual interest. Keep going until you reach the desired level of fullness, working in even layers. On the outer layer, you can add long flowers or trailing greenery for a cascading look or keep your bouquet firm with tight, wrapped stems.
Remember: there’s no right or wrong way to build your bouquet- it’s all about what matches your vision! So whether you use a reference or create from your heart, what’s most important is that the bouquet is what YOU want! So if it’s not looking quite as you envisioned, put the blooms down, take a breather, and regroup. You got this!
Securing and Finishing Touches
A close up of a bouquet of fake flowers with pearl strings. Image by Emmaline Bride.
Once your bouquet looks perfect, it’s time to secure it! Use about 5-8 inches of floral to tie the blooms together. Wrap it around the stems several times, keeping the wire right under the blooms and working your way down.
Twist the ends of the wire together and tuck them into the center of your bouquet. Then, trim the stems to your desired length.
Next, wrap the stems in floral tape for added support. Feel free to wrap from just beneath the blooms all the way down to the bottom. At this point, you can add materials like birch bark around the stems for a finished look. This will hide the wire and tape. Take your time and check to see if the bouquet is comfortable to hold.
Personalizing Your Bouquet
Finally, it’s time to personalize your bouquet. There are endless possibilities, so choose the materials that go well with your wedding theme.
If you are designing an elegant wedding, pearls will make your bouquet look more graceful. You can attach sentimental items, like jewelry, photos, or other items that remind you of those you love. This is a great way to honor loved ones who have passed on, but you’d like to honor in your ceremony.
Ribbon is another versatile option Velvet ribbon is perfect for a fall or winter wedding while gauzy organza ribbon just screams spring or summer. You can layer multiple colors or go monochromatic. Some brides like the look of cascading ribbons while others prefer to keep the wrap tight.
You can also wrap the step in creative materials that reflect your personality, like book pages, vintage lace, and embroidery. Experiment with fun ways to wrap the bottom of your bouquet to make it uniquely YOU.
Once you’re done adding final touches on your bouquet, be sure to add it to your wedding decor checklist so you don’t leave it behind on your big day!
Conclusion
Crafting a traditional bouquet of fake flowers is a great way to save money, honor your vision, and put a unique stamp on your wedding day. Artificial flowers have the ability to look just as good, if not better, than fresh flowers while removing the fear of a browning, droopy bouquet ruining your special event.
Once the wedding is over, you can display your wedding bouquet in your home and a memory of the happiest day of your life. Or you can store it to hand down to future generations, making it an instant heirloom.
Take your time and do your research before building your wedding bouquet. Give yourself grace and experiment. Before long, you’ll have the perfect artificial wedding bouquet that you can brag you made yourself!