Flower Arranging - a "how-to" of sorts

     So, a few days ago, I decided that I wanted to check out the wholesale flower market in Glendale. I was a little bit disappointed with the small selection. They had roses, spray roses, mums, stock, lisianthus, minimal greenery, and a few others - not a large selection. The prices weren't terrible though, and I ended up with a huge bunch of mums and some stock for $13. My next stop was to buy some greenery at Whole Foods (one of the very few places that carries greenery on it's own). I purchased some yellow solidago and bupeurum, both of which are a vibrant green with a hint of yellow, and a bunch of clover. The roses were the hardest to find, since no one seemed to have the color I was looking for. I finally found a bunch that I liked at Ralphs, and then made my way home to begin! In total, I spent less than $45 for a LOT of flowers!

this is what $45 of flowers looks like

Bupleurum

purple clover

purple stock

white mums 

solidago

orange roses

     The first thing I did, was to put all of the flowers in water. I separated each type of flower into it's own container, to make it easier for me to pick them out later. The next step, was probably the most time-consuming, and involved removing all of the leaves along the stalks of my flowers. Fortunately for me, the type of roses I selected already had their thorns removed, making my job much simpler - you can simply hold the stem just below the flower, then use your other hand to grip the stem and slide your fingers down the stalk, effectively stripping the leaves (some leaves are trickier than others though). Depending on how you use the Stock, you may choose to remove some of the flowers at the base, leaving just a small cluster of blooms at the top. I also left a lot of the greenery in tact - otherwise too much of the flower is lost. Also, as a side note, I've discovered that the clover leaves tend to dry out rather quickly - so I usually just remove them. The flowers themselves dry out quite nicely and maintain their color and shape - the stems themselves can be quite flimsy, so I used some floral/green wire to wrap the stems and make them a bit sturdier. 

     Next, it's on to the actual arranging. Now, obviously, all of the stems are going to be different lengths, so you just have to hold the flowers in hand as you work. I started with one of the larger blooms - in this case, an orange rose. I then began placing several mums in a large cluster around the side of the rose, creating a white sort of barrier to break up the space between the orange and purple. This is also where the greenery comes in handy! I decided that I wanted a fresh garden look - meaning that I wanted it to give it that appearance of being like a fresh-picked bunch of wildflowers, while still maintaining a clean and intentional look.

     Once I had the center of the bouquet going, I started rotating the bunch in my hand, adding large blooms surrounded by greenery/filler and mums. Since I had an abundance of mums to work with, it made sense to create a bouquet that would incorporate a lot of white, with small punches of color. In all, I used somewhere around 20 mums, 3 roses, 2 stock, and about a quarter of my greenery.

Almost done!

The final product - from all sides

   
     As soon as I was satisfied with my bouquet, I wrapped the stems with wire to hold it's shape, cut the stems down to length, and placed it in a vase with fresh water. Having used only about a third of my flowers, I decided to try my hand at making a small centerpiece. Using the same flowers and a similar flower ratio (1 rose, 1 stock, 10 mums, greenery), I made a small bouquet, cut the stems to length, and placed them loosely in a small vase (the vase is actually a cut wine glass - another craft project I've been dabbling with lately).

small bouquet / centerpiece

     After completing my arrangements, I sat back and took a long look. For the most part, I was pretty happy with how they turned out, but I wasn't 100% sure if I liked the mix of purple and pale orange. Am I crazy for using that color combination? Anyways, after taking photos and showing J, I decided to take my bouquet apart and create something different. J seemed to prefer the purple and yellow (not so much the orange), so I decided to create a bouquet with only purple accents. I used the same technique as before, but found that criss-crossing the flowers as I worked, helped create a fuller base to the bouquet. The flowers included are the clover, stock, mums, and solidago (the bits that were not in full bloom and thus less yellow).

Purple and Green

     Now that I had an abundance of orange roses, and I still had over half my supply of mums, I decided to create a third large bouquet. I used the white mums, orange roses, bupleurum (which have a slightly yellow tint to them) to create this! While I really like this bouquet, I really wish I had a bit more color to blend the orange and white. Perhaps if I'd used a bit of the solidago, of better yet, another large yellow or pink bloom. Ah well, next time! 

Orange and Green

    I also ended up making a smaller centerpiece in a small china bowl purchased at goodwill, as well as a loose bouquet of solidago and white mums, and a tiny jar arrangement - i'm thinking of potentially making small jar arrangements to hang over the chairs for the ceremony.

All Bouquets - so you can actually see the sizes!

ring shots!

     So, after all of these trial, I'm still convinced that I CAN do my own flowers. But everyone keeps telling me that I'm crazy for even thinking of doing it. I know it would be a lot of hard work, and that it would take up a lot of my time, but it would save soooo much money! One of my friends told me that when she went to a florist for a bridal bouquet, she was given an estimate of around $300. JUST for the bridal bouquet! And here, I have made two very pretty (in my opinion) bouquets for less than $50. I just don't know if I can justify spending more than $1,000 on my wedding flowers. As much as I love flowers and want as many as I can have for my wedding, it doesn't change the fact that they will die. They are meant to look gorgeous for the wedding day, but then they will die and be gone. They don't last, and I just don't think I can justify spending that much money on something that won't last more than a few days. Especially after I've already broken that rule for my dress!

     Any thoughts, advice, words of wisdom/encouragement? What do YOU think? Am I crazy?