A romantic bridal bouquet - Part 3 - Finishing the bouquet

Finishing the Bouquet

Once you have finalised your arrangement, it's time to put the finishing touches to the bouquet.

You Will Need:

• Your finished bouquet
• Very sharp secateurs
• Paper-covered wire or twine
• Ribbon
• Sharp scissors

Finishing the Bouquet

Step 12

Keeping a hold of your finalised arrangement in one hand, take a pair of sharp secateurs in the other and use them to trim all the stems down to the same length - they should be long enough to give space to hold the bouquet comfortably, with a short excess.

Step 13

With a loose grip, gently tap the ends of the stems onto a flat surface to slightly loosen the bouquet and breathe some air into it.

Step 14

Cut a generous length of paper-covered wire or twine.

Step 15

Still holding the bouquet in one hand, roughly find the middle of the twine, and place it under the forefinger of the hand you are using to hold the bouquet.

Step 16

Now use your other hand to wrap both ends of the twine around the bouquet, tight enough to hold everything in place, but not so tight that you damage the stems.

Step 17

Tie a knot in the twine to secure it, and trim any excess.

Step 18

The bouquet will need a decent drink, so make sure to have a vessel with you that can be filled with water for it to sit in. The bride may even like it to sit on her dressing table while she is getting ready. Keep it in water until the very last moment.

Step 19

As the very final finishing touch, tie the ribbon you have chosen around your bouquet to hide the twine.

Ideas for Ribbons

• You can either neatly bind your bouquet and pin the end of the ribbon in place, or you can tie either a simple knot or a bow and have the ends of the ribbon trailing down.
• Hand-dyed silk ribbon is incredibly beautiful but on the more expensive side.
• Satin ribbon is very light and flowy, while grosgrain ribbon is heavier and gives a more structured look.
• It can be effective to combine two different widths of ribbon for more of a statement look.

Button Hole Ideas for Different Seasons

Spring

• Small Hellebore bloom (as long as the seed head is properly developed), muscari, astrantia and Narcissus tied with silk ribbon.
• Ranunculus, astrantia and rosemary.

Autumn

• A small rose, alchemica mollis, astrantia and a scented geranium leaf.

Winter

• Eryngium, winter bells hellebore, babyblue eucalyptus, berried eucalyptus sprig and wax flower.