A romantic bridal bouquet - Part 2 - The hand-tied technique

The Hand-tied Technique

Once your stems have been chosen and conditioned, it's time to arrange and assemble your bouquet. I'll be demonstrating the hand-tied technique, which offers the greatest flexibility for adding in and adjusting stems as you go.

You Will Need:

• Conditioned stems
• Very sharp secateurs
• Paper-covered wire or twine
• Ribbon
• Sharp scissors

The Hand-tied Technique

Step 6

If you are right-handed, take the first stem in your left hand. If you are left-handed, you will take the first stem in your right hand.

Step 7

Place the stem between your thumb and forefinger, and hold onto it lightly. Throughout the whole process, your grip should always be loose.

Step 8

Take your next stem, place it diagonally across the first and loosely grip - then use your other hand to twist the stems together.

Step 9

Continue to add stems in this manner - holding the bouquet in one hand, and positioning each stem and twisting with the other. Vary the height and placement of the stems as you see fit. It's a good idea to put more delicate stems towards the middle of your bouquet, and sturdier stems around the outside to protect them.

Step 10

Keep an eye on how your bouquet is looking from all angles; it can be helpful to make your bouquet in front of a mirror so you can get more of a 360° view. Feel free to adjust the height of different stems in the bouquet as you go, pulling the flower heads up if they're getting a bit lost.

Step 11

When you're happy with how your bouquet looks at the top, it's time to consider which flowers to add near the base to create a balanced shape. Play around with different options until you're pleased with the final result.