Last month we had the pleasure of working with WedPics App on a brief DIY wedding centerpiece tutorial. We realize there are lots of brides out there that want to make their own centerpieces for their special day. While we don’t always recommend doing all the florals yourself, we can give you a few tips for the smaller, budget-conscience weddings where we think DIY would work perfectly. For the complete tutorial, please head over to Wedpics App Wedding Blog
STEP 1: GATHER FLOWERS & GREENERY
We used an array of plants and flowers that were found in our backyards and gardens. We recommend foraging for your greenery. Look to see what you have around your house or around your friend’s houses, especially bushes or trees that need to be trimmed, and use that as your base greenery. For flowers, we recommend staying in the season with your blooms so you can clip from your yard or buy from your local farmers market. If you’re looking for hard to find flowers (like garden roses or some tropicals), we suggest finding a local florist who can supply you flowers, or purchase plants from your local nursery or Home Depot.
STEP 2: PREPARE YOUR VESSEL
Create a structural base for your stems by taping out a grid onto the top of your vessel. This step is especially important for arrangements that are wider than they are tall to keep your stems upright and in place. Space the pieces of tape out evenly, wider vessels will require more lines of tape than the more narrow vessels. As for the vases—they don’t need to be fancy, check dollar/thrift stores for simple glass containers, like the one we’re using here.
STEP 3: CREATE A GREENERY BASE
Shoot for no more than 3 different types to keep your arrangement from becoming cluttered. Go for an asymmetrical shape, with one side being higher than the other. If you worried about the longevity of your greenery, create a test vase of your foraged items (leave it out for several days) to assess for wilting and lifespan before using in your final arrangements.
STEP 4: DEFINE YOUR SHAPE WITH TALLER FLOWERS
Once you have your greenery in place, you can further define your shape with taller flowers. This will help you get that more natural, asymmetrical shape that the pros master. We use Foxglove from our garden here.
STEP 5: “CARPETING”
Create a “carpet” of smaller flowers that sit low in the arrangement. This helps to hide any “holes” that may exist and will help create depth in the overall composition once you start to add more of the focal flowers. We’re using Phlox from local flower farm, Happy as a Cone Flower as our material.
STEP 6: FOCAL FLOWERS AND FILLER
Finish your arrangement with your star-of-the-show flowers and add more height in places that you see need it. We like to cluster like-elements together to mimic nature and cut down on visual clutter. Remember to cut stems long… you can always trim more away but you can’t make them longer once you’ve snipped! We used Allium and Poppies from our garden and Daphne from Happy as a Cone Flower.
STEP 7 – FINISHING SPRAY
Spray your arrangement with finishing spray to help prevent wilting and drying out. We use Crowning Glory spray. Then you’re finished!
CARING FOR YOUR FLOWERS
- Store flowers in a cool, shady spot – wilting is much more likely to occur in heat and direct sunlight.
- For summer weddings, create arrangements as close to the big day as possible (the day before or day of, ideally!). Wait as long as possible before buying or cutting your flowers.
- Make sure your arrangements have fresh water and plenty of it – the water line should be about an inch below the rim of your vase!
- You can also mist your flowers with a spray bottle to prevent them from drying out.
- If you have room in your refrigerator, you can keep finished arrangements in there, be sure the temperature is set to 35 or above to prevent your flowers from getting too cold. Be sure to remove any citrus fruits from the fridge as they tend to shorten the life of fresh flowers.
Big thank you to Christina of WedPics for all the lovely photos and working with us on this feature!