Easy, Inexpensive, DIY Silk Bridal Bouquets

Flowers are the crowning jewel of accessories for both bride and bride's maid, but you don't have to spend a fortune to get beautiful bouquets in colors customized to your event. Whether you have hard to find wedding colors, a limited budget, want a keep-sake that will last, or have an allergy to the real thing. No need to fret. These easy to create bouquets are just what the doctor ordered!

In the tutorial examples pictured below, this particular client chose a color palette of varying purple hues. She had no significant preference of flower types used to create the bouquets, other than requesting arum lilies be included in her bridal bouquet, and they too needed to be some shade purple. The rest, was up to me.

The first thing I did was visit my two favorite, local craft stores; Michael's and Hobby Lobby. Both had every type of purple silk flower imaginable, except arum lilies. After a fruitless, exhausting, day-long search, I decided to improvise. I was determined to give my client the wedding bouquets she had dreamed about. The next day I purchased all of the silk flowers I would need for the bouquets; including stark white arum lilies, along with a bottle of purple, acrylic fabric paint. I used Apple Barrel acrylic paint for this particular project, but Folk Art acrylic paint is another reliable brand that I have often used.

When I returned home, I first wanted to experiment with the intensity of purple I would be applying to the white lilies. I mixed a dab of the purple paint with a little water to dilute. Acrylic paint is water-based, so always be sure to dilute with water, not paint thinner. Your bride will also appreciate not having the faint, lingering, metallic aroma of a mechanic shop following her through the chapel on her big day. Also remember, that when painting something delicate, like silk flowers, it's always better to start off too light. A color that's too dark will look un-natural, and you'll find yourself buying a whole lot of lilies before you get it right. Personally, my home's vases were in no need of obnoxiously, dark purple "trial run" arum lilies. Nor was there a shrine to the fallen pop rock hero who sang of rain in a similar hue, on the agenda (though admittedly a fan) . These things taken into account, I opted to go gradual and get the color right the first time around. I worked my artistic magic, and shaded the lily slightly darker towards the inside, to give a more natural look. When I had finished painting the final lily purple (funny, a song from a classic children's cartoon, regarding the application of color to roses comes to mind) I laid the lilies on a clean cloth to dry.

Once the lilies were completely dried, I began putting together the bouquets, starting with the bride's. I used a lot of large, dark purple chrysanthemums at the base of the bouquet. I then incorporated varying hues of purple, medium-size carnations and asters. I added a few purple and white roses and the purple arum lilies. When I had a shape I was happy with, somewhat round, I placed some white and lavender baby's breath and long, green, grass-like sprays between the flowers to give the arrangement a natural look. Finally, I added a lengthy shower of pearls on acrylic line, to the front of the bouquet. As I placed each piece in the bouquet with one hand, I continuously held on to it with the other. It's important not to set the bouquet down during arrangement as you will lose the desired shape. Also, leave the stems long until they are securely fastened. Once the bouquet is exactly how you want it, begin tying wire around the stems. It's a good idea to have some wire pre-cut to length for this step. For a large bridal bouquet, you will need to fasten the stems in two to three places. You want to leave enough room below the bouquet for the bride to hold it, with one hand above the other. Leave a little room at the top for the bow, and some at the bottom, so it does not look as though she is gripping the end of the stems. A bride shouldn't have to think too much about how to hold her bouquet, it should just rest naturally in her hands. Once you have secured all of the wire by hand, use a pair of pliers to twist the wires tight to ensure the bouquet keeps it's shape. When you have snipped off the loose ends of the twisted wires, use the pliers to clamp them flush with the stems, then wrap the wire several times with electrical tape to ensure that there are no sharp ends to come in contact with the bride's hands. Now the fun part! Wrap some wired ribbon of a complementary color, around the bare stems and tape, starting at the bottom and working your way to the flowers, then tie. This is your bride's bouquet grip. You can then use some of the same ribbon to create a bow at the top and even further accent with plastic jewels, rhinestones or crystals. The plastic stems contain a thick wire. Use wire cutters to cut the stems about a half an inch below the ribbon.

At this point, at the request of the client, I used spare flowers, pearls and ribbon from her bridal bouquet to make a special, smaller, "throw-away" bouquet for her to toss at the reception, so that she could keep her bouquet.

The last step was making the bride's maid flowers. These should be made much smaller than the bridal bouquet which should always be the most exquisite. The color of a bride's maid's bouquet should sit in contrast to the dress she wears. In this instance, the dresses were a deep purple hue, so I chose large white daisies as the focal point, and white pearl-laced stems, with tiny, lavender flowers to accent. I secured the stems in the same way as I did with the bridal bouquet, also wrapping them in ribbon. As the bride's maid bouquets were much smaller than the bride's, I took care to make the ribbons look appealing, even adding jeweled accents to the bows.

I later heard that the bouquets were the talk of the wedding. Few realized, until it was brought to their attention, that they were in fact silk flowers, and not the real deal. The best part, they cost a third of the price to make and you'll have them forever.

Supplies you will need:

* Silk flowers in varying sizes, shapes and hues of the bride's chosen color. Remember, if there is a particular flower you can not find in the bride's color, purchase some in white and find an acrylic fabric paint that will work.

* Floral accent pieces; such as baby's breath, grass wisps, pearls, ferns, etc., depending on the desired look.

* Wired ribbon in a complimentary color (should be at least one inch in width)

* Jewels, pearls, or other accents for the ribbon grips and bows

* Wire

* Pliers

* Wire Cutters - for cutting stems

* UL Electrical tape