Wedding flowers, you can make your own

How exciting you are planning your wedding, Congratulations! if you have checked out the cost of flowers for a wedding you know having them custom made in your colors and specific flowers can cost you some serious cash. Why not save some money and have the pride you will feel on your wedding day as you and your attendants carry flowers hand made by you. There are many different variations on the traditional wedding flower and arrangements. For those that are crafty why not make your own flowers. I created my bridal flowers and they came out so gorgeous.I have to say when finished I adored them, and no one could believe I made them. My flowers included a large kissing ball, for me, my matron and junior bridesmaid were a slightly smaller kissing balls. The flower girls had flower wands, and ribbon streamers had boutonniere and corsages for ,the groom and his guys, parents and our officiant. I used organza, and singed the edges. They all came out gorgeous and we spend a fraction of the cost. The pictures below are of my wedding so you can see the different creations , My guy and I had a beach wedding, we both love beach and beach roses are a favorite flower of my, I lived a stones throw form the Atlantic for 5 yrs. Therefore because of my love for them I used beach roses as my inspiration.

Ok, so lets begin.

Organza, tulle and satin- in one color or complimentary colors. Also I used a light and dark green organza for the leaves.

Organza in the colors you would like your flowers to be, I also used fine colored tulle and satin, although the organza works best. My suggestion is to by a small amount 1/4 yard or so, material to practice and be sure end result will be what you would like.

Candles:I used tea lights

Scissors : Thread & needle

pearls, buttons or jewels: for center of your flowers

pin backs: I used these on all of my CORSAGES, easier than the stick pins

Glue gun: I would suggest a low temp one, I blistered a few fingers using my high temp.

You could make a more tradition flower arrangement using a pre- made bouquet holder. Found at most craft stores. You can also use these flowers for other decorations.We made a heart in the sand, I glued flowers onto rocks they look so pretty.

Lets begin creating:

We will begin by cutting out the flower or circle. It will take 4 or 5 circles to make one flower, I started with this flower Pattern, above. But than I ended up using random size circle, for my templets. using a coffee can lid, a water glass, a mug, use can use any circular object you have .The size of the object will determine the finished size of the flower.

Once you have some circles cut out, take one of the tea lights and light it. We are going to singe the edges. I used scraps of material to practice singeing, if because if you get your material to close to the flame it will light it on fire. So practice until you feel confident in the singe. Singe each cutout.The edges will curl, it is suppose to. Once that is done you will take a few of your sinced pieces and you will stack them on top of each other. Once you have the look you want hot glue or sew them together, add your centers.

To Make a Kissing Ball:

You will need:

Styrofoam ball or balls; I used a large one for me ( the bride) and a bit smaller for Matron and JR Bridesmaid. and even smaller ball for my Flower Girls (I had 2) I made wands for them.

Wide ribbon: For loop handle on kissing balls, smaller ribbon for Flower Girls wands

Flowers: the ones you made:

Putting a kissing ball together, the first thing you will need to do is make a large loop from the ribbon, this will be your kissing ball handle glue each end of loop to what will be the handle of your ball.this will be covered by the flowers.

For flower girls wands: you will need a small dowel, length is up to you, Wrap and hot glue to dowel, also glue ribbon streamers to the top of the dowel, these will flow down towards the bottom of the dowel. At this point poke the dowel into ball making a hole glue in place. Next you will need to glue flowers all over the ball, and now you have a wand.

To make cosages: I used these for all, men and women who would normally have boutiners and corsages, I think you will agree they look fabulous:

These are just made of flowers, felt and pin back.

Take a flower, cut a circle big of felt big enough to fit the pin back on. I sewed the pin back onto the felt circle. the glued onto the flower. You would add little ribbon streamers if desired.