It was a beautiful, breezy, 22 celsius day when Francis and I tied the knot this past June.
We got engaged 8 months prior. Then spent weekends and school breaks between cutting invites, scrolling Pinterest, chop sawing place holders, scrolling Pinterest…How did brides do it before Pinterest?!
From the start, Francis and I made the decision to have a more affordable wedding and do a lot of the work ourselves. Yes, planning a wedding yourself is a lot of work, it is also so rewarding!
With the help of my two bridesmaids, Carrie and Hannah, we arranged all the flowers bouquets and boutonnieres two days before the wedding date.
Hannah and I helped Carrie with her bouquets the previous summer and found that it actually is fun to do and saves so much. We are so excited to be doing Hannah’s flowers next summer!
I ordered the flowers wholesale from Costco and Zehrs about 5 weeks prior.
Zehrs is owned by Loblaws – I’ve ordered from Loblaws for another wedding but didn’t find them as helpful as the Fergus Zehrs.
Though they were available for me to pick up early in the week, I waited to pick up on the day I was to arrange them so they’d be kept in the stores’ fridges.
Immediately when I brought the flowers home I trimmed the ends and put them in fresh water – be sure to do this again once you’ve arranged the bouquets.
Making sure the ends are freshly cut is vital to keeping the flowers looking great for your day. It is important to keep the stems long so that you can trim them down about an inch from the ribbon the day of the wedding. I also stored the arranged bouquets in a fridge until the wedding day.
One of the funniest things that happened the day of was that we forgot to trim the stems of the bouquets’ down! At Francis and I’s first look one of my bridesmaids noticed this and so decided to knock on park neighbours doors to ask for scissors. The first door they knocked on had scissors sitting on a table just inside!
If you would like to make your own bouquets here is a sample stem count list.
It can be hard to know how many stems to order, I’d order a bit more than you think necessary. You can always make an arrangement for the gift table, signing table, etc.
For a mixed bouquet of a focal flower, secondary flower, filler, and greens:
LARGE BOUQUET (BRIDAL): 25-30 STEMS
MEDIUM BOUQUET (BRIDESMAID): 18-20 STEMS
SMALL BOUQUET (FLOWER GIRL OR JUNIOR BRIDESMAID): 10 STEM
BOUTONNIERES: 1 STEM FOCAL FLOWER, 2 STEMS FILLER, AND 1 GREEN.
Below is an easy, seven step guide to arranging a bridal bouquet:
I begin by creating a solid base with my focal flower. It is always pleasing to the eye to use odd numbers so I like to use threes and fives when arranging. Next, fill in the focal flower with your secondary flower. Then add the filler flowers and greenery into the base – moving stems as necessary.
Once you’ve reached an arrangement you are happy with, gather the bouquet in your hand and wrap the stems several times with floral tape. Using double sided tape, glue ribbon to the outside of the floral tape and wrap again so that the tape is hidden. Use pearl-headed pins to secure the ribbon. Lastly, trim the stems to about one to two inches below the ribbon on the day of the wedding.
Photos by wonderful photographer Michaela Joy Photography
