Winter Wedding Bouquet

Video Transcription

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Wedding bouquets today have lots of movement. People call them dancers. It's a little tricky, but once you know the technique, it's easy. Let me show you how it's done.

Today, I started with this gorgeous rose. It's called Sahara Sensation, comes from GardenRosesDirect.com. Then all the other flowers are from Florabundance. Got some sweet William, ranunculus, and butterfly ranunculus, hanging amaranthus, sage, and seeded eucalyptus. To begin, you want to go through and remove all the leaves off of the seeded eucalyptus, so you have just the berries, and then go back, remove any thorns, and leaves off the roses, so that they're ready to go. The mechanics? Doing a natural armature using a little bit of Italian ruscus. I'm just going to fold it over on itself, tying it in a knot, bringing it back down, then repeating that with another piece, folding it on itself, feeding it in, tying it in a knot, and then to make it stay in place, securing it with just a bit of bind wire.

As you begin the bouquet, you want to start with the heavier things first and larger things, tucking them in a little deeper, so that they become a strong nest to support your other materials. The seeded eucalyptus drapes so nicely, just feeding it right into the armature. Then coming back with a bit of the dianthus. It's heavier, so letting it tuck in tightly to the center, and repeating, thinking about most of the flowers towards the front, but a few to the back, so that it's not flat. Again, just weaving it in, tucking it tightly. Maybe some of the larger ranunculus. And of course, some of the beautiful roses, because you want them at different levels. Some will come up taller, but some you want tucked low, to pull the eye down into the bouquet. Then repeat, coming out towards the side.

With the larger flowers in place, then you can come back and accent it with longer, softer blooms. The butterfly ranunculus, letting them come over the top a bit. Repeating, maybe coming out to the side. Tucking in more of the ranunculus and letting them be a little taller. Coming above, being more graceful. Maybe another coming out towards the front, weaving it through, catching it in your hands. And then to enhance the drape, a little bit of the hanging amaranthus, weaving it in, letting it drop. Finding the perfect little hole to feed it through, then coming back with additional blooms to extend to the sides.

As you finish, think about the underside, and tuck in just a little more foliage, wherever it needs to support the flowers. Look to see if there's any spots that needs another bloom. Maybe right over here, feeding it in. Then when everything's where you want it, go back, and bind it off, using a bit of bind wire to secure it in place.

The recipe? I started with the Sahara Sensation roses from GardenRosesDirect.com. Used nine stems. Then I filled in with the other flowers from Florabundance. I used five of the ranunculus, five of the sweet William, three of the butterfly ranunculus, then a bit of sage, little bit of seeded eucalyptus, and three stems of the hanging amaranthus.

The wedding season is almost year-round now, and winter weddings, oh, so lovely. You'll see more beautiful wedding inspiration on the website, Flower School .com. You have questions? You can reach us through there. But now it's your turn. Gather up your favorite winter flowers, and you can see there's a lot to choose from. Create a bouquet, give it a little bounce, a light feeling. Take a picture, post it on social media, and hashtag Floral Design Institute. That way, we all can see what you do as you do something you love.