Fall Bridal Bouquet

Autumn weddings are growing in popularity. In fact, October is fast becoming the new month for weddings. In this video how-to demonstration Leanne creates a stunning hand-tied bouquet in the bespoke garden style with flowers from Florabundance.com. You will delight in Leanne’s use of complex blush hues combined with darker colors and textures. This bouquet is spectacular and on-trend. Enjoy!

Welcome to the Flower School .com video library. I'm Leanne Kesler, director of the Floral Design Institute. Today, I'm here to share with you a fabulous autumn bridal bouquet. 


The materials, all beautiful flowers from Florabundance.com. We started with the classic, the blush of course it's on trend, how many blush weddings have you done? Maybe too many? But for autumn, it's updated. The blush is not quite so feminine and precisely tint. It's a little more grayed, moody, complex. Beautiful blush lisianthus, antique carnations, snap dragons, and then updated for fall with deeper, darker, beautiful textures. Tess garden roses, berries, grains, hydrangea. So many fabulous things perfect for the autumn bride. 


The hand-tied bouquets of today have evolved. They're very easy as long as all your materials are prepared ahead of time. Bring your flowers in early, hydrate them, have them fully prepared, then go through, strip down, make sure that the stems are bare, no leaves. You want everything cleaned up, organized. The garden roses, Tess isn't one of the thorniest, but there are thorns. You want to remove all of those. The berries don't have thorns. But everything is prepared ahead of time. Then, we'll have just a small amount of foliage, because today's bouquets are very, very, very flower focused. 


So starting with a hydrangea, a natural armature, and then feeding materials in. As you work, just taking a rose, setting it in at a slant. Maybe a berry, bringing it in at a slant, and then giving it a turn adding in a carnation. Getting that antique hue going. Turning, lisianthus. Everything you place in your hand, the head goes one direction, the stem in the opposite, then you turn. You can group materials. You want to do two roses, that's totally fine. You can add them in your hand at the same time, but always stem one direction, head the other. Give it a turn. And back. And you can see it's so easy, as long as you keep the stems always going the same direction, and the heads lining up. 


As I work, I think about my flowers and the colors balancing them out. If I want to I can feed it inward so that it kind of tucks into the hydrangea, then also beside it. Turning. Everything I add, just tuck it in. Add multiple things at once. That's okay. Keeping the leaves above your hand. Everything below your hand, very bare, and coming at around. Then thinking about extending. The bouquets today are not quite as round as they used to be. They're much more horizontal and elongated, oval. Some are cascading. You can have choices, so as I bring it in, letting it get a little longer, and turning. Brightening this side, feeding it in. Extending, giving it a turn. 


Maybe even bringing in another hydrangea. You don't have to do it with just one. Having it come out, and see how it's elongating now. Getting a little more oval. Maybe bringing in the snap dragons, and exaggerating that extension, coming out to the side, capturing the pink of the carnation, and bringing it over, then turning. Double checking your placement. If something has slid down you can pull it out just a little bit. Give it a tuck, feeding it, again. Then make a decision, how big do you want to go? Double check as you turn it that it's balanced all the way around. A few more berries. Maybe another of the lisianthus, keeping it grouped. So it's a little longer right there. Then turning. Maybe accenting the line that started with the snap dragons, and bringing it back out so that you get a little movement going out to the sides. 


As I finish the bouquet, there's one more trend that's happening with all the autumn flowers, and that's vines. Vines are so fabulous and Florabundance.com has so many to choose from. For this bouquet, I decided to work with honeysuckle. It has a nice draping quality, just putting it in. Again, the stem is going the same direction, head is out the opposite. Again, elongating just a bit more, then turning, deciding where else I might want to add something. I've got another rose, maybe tucking it in right over here, adding a little bit more color on that side, then turning. And balancing with more of the snap dragon to give even more movement, turning it. I can twist them so their heads all look the same direction, or adjust them a bit. Just give them a little twist and a tug. Getting that movement going on. A little more honeysuckle vine, then when I'm done, double checking that everything is flowing the way that I want, and filling in where I may have a little hole. 


To finish, I want to conceal my back mechanics, so just a couple leaves. Fatsia are wonderful, they're big, they're showy, and they cover all the mechanics so quickly. Just bringing them around, and tucking them in. Then using a bit of raffia or bind wire, tie it off snugly, making sure that everything will stay right where you placed it. I go around two to three times, just to make sure. Then knotting it securely. Then you need to just cut the stems, and enhance, maybe with a beautiful printed linen. 


Beautiful flowers thanks to Florabundance.com, and up to date, on trend, fall hand-tie. No longer round and mounded, now flowing, with movement coming through, almost like a Hogarth curve. And then, fabulous textures and hues of the season. For more creative inspiration, check out the website Flower School .com. If you have questions, you can reach us through there or pick up the telephone and give us a call at 503-223-8089. And of course, I'd love to see what you create. Take a photo, post it on social media, and tag Floral Design Institute. That way we all can see what you create as you do something you love.

  • Fresh Flower Food Individual Pack 10 ounce tub
    Fresh Flower Food Individual Pack 10 ounce tub
  • Quick Dip Individual Pack One Pint
    Quick Dip Individual Pack One Pint
  • Crowning Glory Individual Pack 32 ounce spray bottle
    Crowning Glory Individual Pack 32 ounce spray bottle