Found on Green Apples
Coffee beans are being incorporated into wedding designs more these days. The aroma and aesthetics bring a nice, urban and earthy feel to your event. The beans can be used in centerpiece with candles or placed at the bottom of a vase with water and flowers as well.
If coffee isn’t your thing, try using another small food item like cranberries or jelly beans.
Centerpieces bring an event together. They are the creative touch that help to set the mood of your reception. Check out these unique choices that range from simple to extravagant.
Making your own bridal bouquets and boutonnieres does not have to be difficult. In fact, there is lots of help out there for those who wish to add that personal touch to or remove a little economic stress from their wedding celebration. So, below are a few steps to create both bouquets and boutonnieres, thereby saving you time, money, and headache. Have fun, and if you have any notes or special steps that worked for you, please let us know!
For your bridal bouquets, you will need you choice of flowers with long stems, a bit of greenery, rubber bands, decorative ribbon, and any other accents you wish to use.
First, select and prepare your flowers for the bouquets (we suggest wholesale flowers from an online grower or nearby nursery. The Grower’s Box is excellent), and remove excess foliage, thorns and damaged petals until you get the type of green/bloom mix you want. Use stem cutters or a knife to cut the stems at an angle about 1-2 inches from the bottom. Allow the flowers to sit in water until you are ready to use them.
Next, decide on what type of arrangement you desire—elegantly chic, accented and green, minimalistic and romantic? Once, style is decided, arrange your flowers by layering or grouping so that the flowers you want highlighted are front and center…or at least center. Be sure to choose full, round blossoms for your chic and romantic style, as they give better shape to your arrangement.
Then, once you have arranged your flowers just the way you desire, gather the stems together and secure them tightly with a rubber band. If you are using stemmed beads or accents to give your arrangement a aesthetic boost, insert them at this point, wedging them gently into the banded bunch.
You could insert them before the binding, but I’ve found it to be much more helpful to add such accents once the general arrangement of the bouquet has been made and solidified.
Finally, wrap a length of ribbon around the stem base of your bouquet until you have the amount of stem coverage you desire. Secure the end of the ribbon to the bouquet with tacky glue, hot glue, or any other type of craft adhesive. You can dress up this wrapping with decorative pins and glitters (a small sparkling broach or cheap but complimentary earring would work best).
Now, just set your bouquet in water and let the flowers soak up the nourishment until you are ready for the ‘I do’s.
For Boutonnieres, the process is pretty much the same. You will need, the blossom, greenery, stem cutters or scissors, florist tape, wire, straight pins and decorative ribbon.
Choose a particular bloom for the boutonniere. Using a stem cutter or sharp knife, cut the stem to a length of approximately 3-4 inches. Set let it rest in a cup of water while you create a nest for the flower. Taking a few leafs, fern fronds, or other bits of greenery and layer them until you achieve the desired shape backing (the bed should be visible from the sides of the flower).
Next, begin to wrap floral tape down the stems in a spiral to secure them together. Wrap until about an inch of the stem is covered. Trim away the excess stem and continue to wrap floral tape around the wire about three inches down, then wrap the tape back up toward the flower head. Once you’re back at the top, wrap tape around several times to be sure it’s secure. Trim the excess tape.
Finally, trim the stem so the total length is about 1 1/2 inches. Curl the end around a pencil point and pinch the tip to finish it. Attach a ribbon bow or wrap the stem in coordinating ribbon for added pizzazz. Depending on the weight of the boutonniere, insert one or two pearl-tipped pins into the stem to use later for attaching it to the lapel.
The boutonniere is now complete! Mist it with water and place it in a zip-sealing plastic bag (blow a puff of breath into the bag before you seal it to provide airspace). Place no more than 2 boutonnieres in the same bag.
