An Extraordinary Saturday: DIY Florals

I took the two days before the wedding off work.  Not to have massages and manicures, to arrange flowers.  I learned a lot along the way, and it was fun!  Hard work, but fun.

Here’s the breakdown.  I made three bridesmaid bouquets (medium/large) and one bridal bouquet (big!)  Two corsages, nine large table arrangements and about forty small arrangements.  Plus two large table arrangements for the bar and guestbook table.  (Large = teapot or pitcher, small = sugar bowl, creamer, gravy boat, or candy dish.)  I spent about thirteen hours all told, and I used nearly all of the flowers I had.

I had ordered 144 Jeanne Moreau garden roses from Fifty Flowers, but that variety wasn’t available when it came time to ship.  They were very nice about finding a substitution, and when I couldn’t make up my mind between backup options they split my order between two varieties at no extra charge.  (Vitality and Creamy Blush garden roses.)  Which was fortunate, since neither was exactly what I wanted but the mix worked well.

I also ordered the following from Fresh Roses:

• 40 stems   white snapdragons
• 40 stems   white Stock
• 75 stems   Roses, Premium, Emma
• 75 stems   Roses, Premium, Vendela
• 3 field bunches Plumosa  (Completely filled a 5-gallon bucket, I could have ordered less if I’d known how big a field bunch would be.)
• 50 stems  green Hypericum berries (I had a few leftover, which was fine since many of them were more yellow than green.)
• 200 stems  Roses, Standard  Bridal White

Both orders came by FedEx, were packed well, and needed lots of prep work.  DJ and I immediately unpacked them into water with floral food.  Here’s something I learned – when friends and family offer to help with the flowers, say yes.  But not necessarily with the arranging – you need help with the prep!  I spent four hours giving stems fresh cuts, dethorning roses, stripping leaves, and removing guard petals.  I think I discarded roughly two thirds of the biomass of the shipment in several large wet kitchen trash bags.  Also, have extra garden gloves.  I wore one pair out completely, and it was nice to have a dry pair on hand.

I used a rose thorn stripper for the prep, which was a lifesaver for thorns and removing leaves.  Once I’d prepped all the flowers in my bathroom, I set up my arranging station on my dining room table.  Floral foam, tape, pins, clippers, paper towels.  I moved the flowers (in their 5-gallon buckets) to chairs so I could reach them comfortably from one position.   It very quickly turned into a holy mess.

I pulled the prettiest and best roses for the bouquets, and set them aside in cool water with floral food added.  I did the larger arrangements first, then the smaller ones, filling the space around the edges with moss.

MOH Katie brought me dinner and wine just in time to help with the bouquets.  I started by wrapping three stems together with tape, then adding stems around the outside and taping as I went.  Then I’d hand the bundle to her and check it out from a few feet away.  It was all very wabi-sabi and wine-friendly, definitely not for perfectionists.  Once we were happy with the balance, I wrapped the tape a few more times for security, then cut the stems.  Tip: make all the bouquets before you cut the stems.  You might want to remake your first bouquet if you get better as you go - I did.  I made my bouquet last, with about 30 garden roses, ten Vendela roses and no greenery.

I wanted the ribbon to be very casual, with trailing ends.  I started wrapping at the top, with the starting end left long.  After a few inches I turned around and came back up, where I tied a big floppy bow.  The bow was anchored with a pearl pin so it wouldn’t come untied.  I liked it so much I did mine the exact same way – easy!

All photos from my camera except the last one, from Bow Tie Photography.