Silk Floral Bouquets, Boutonnieres, and Corsages

Here we are, the result of the bouquets on a budget, when you're making them for your own wedding.

I had a few restrictions on my wedding flowers:

1. I refused to spend $700 - $1,000 on just bouquets and boutonnieres
2. I didn't want to be crafting the day before my wedding
3. There wasn't a good wholesale flower shop near my wedding

I was really at a loss for what to do about this!  I had considered several options, and none of them seemed great.  Then one day wandering around the craft store, I eyed some silk flowers.  Generally, I think silk flowers look really fake, and I've seen some terrible bouquets made from them.  But the white hydrangeas and peonies at Michael's actually look really realistic.

I bought a few and took them home to compare to my wedding gown fabric (wouldn't want to clash), as well as some snippets from my bridesmaids dresses.  They looked pretty darn good!

Using silk flowers, I could spend a fraction of what it would cost for real flowers, I could do them weeks before the wedding, they would hold up to hugs, humidity, heat, and dancing, and I'd be able to keep them in pristine condition long after the wedding was over!

I decided to do a bouquet of peonies for me and hydrangeas for my bridesmaids.  The groomsmen and Moms would get boutonnieres and corsages from ranunculus.


Bridal Bouquet

I used ten peony stems for my bridal bouquet, priced at $6 each.  I had to go to three different Michael's to get them all, and used a 20% off coupon at two stores.  The stems at the third store had some stains on multiple petals of each stem, so I talked them manager into a 40% discount, and just snipped off the ugly petals when I got home.

real-touch peony

I arranged them just like any bouquet, securing everything with floral tape.  I wanted the handle to be thicker, so I used the excess from the stems and doubled up.

white peony bouquet

There were some shiny bits of metal showing at the bottom, and some were pretty sharp, so I used a file to dull the ends.  It also helped disguise the silver bits.

I finished off the stems with a coral satin ribbon.

White peony bouquet with coral ribbon

CORRECTION: The coral satin ribbon was too harsh against the dress.  Instead, we used fabric and lace leftover from making my wedding dress to wrap the handle.

silk peony bouquet with beaded lace wrap

Silk flowers are easily crushed and wrinkled, so I secured my bouquet in a box so it wouldn't get messed up.

Bridesmaid Bouquets

For the bridesmaids, I used two giant white hydrangeas (the $10 kind from Michael's).  They were much higher quality, and their large size allowed me to use fewer stems, so it was actually cheaper in the long run.  I also had my 20% off coupon.

I secured the two stems together with floral tape.  The stems were super long, so I cut them into thirds, and used the extra pieces to fatten up the handle, securing everything with more floral tape.

I considered hot gluing some of the leaves underneath the blooms, but they looked kind of fake so I decided against it.

I finished off the handles with coral pink satin ribbon.  The bouquets still seemed to be lacking something, so I added a bow.

White hydrangea bouquet with coral ribbon

I was really proud of my packing job for the bouquets!  They made the trip with no problem at all!

Safe packaging for bouquets

Boutonnieres

I used one large ranunculus bloom for each groomsmen boutonniere, and a large and small together for the groom and the Dads.  The ring bearer got a smaller set of blooms, which turned out pretty adorable.  One "stem" came with three large blooms, one small bloom, and one bud on it.  I bought four stems altogether, at $7 each from JoAnn's, but coupons made for a nice discount.

White ranunculus silk flowers

I used ivy leaves to finish off the boutonniere.  I initially tried securing them with floral tape, but the leaves were so unwieldy that I finally decided to just hot glue them on.

I wrapped the stem in coral pink satin ribbon, and hot glued the end in place.  I don't recommend super glue - the last time I tried it, it never dried!

White ranunculus boutonniere with coral pink ribbon

I've noticed at weddings that the guys always have a tough time pinning their boutonnieres in place.  To make it easy on them, I hot glued a pin to the back.

Then I added name labels to avoid confusion day-of.

Label boutonnieres to avoid confusion

I think silk flower boutonnieres are a fabulous idea, whether the bouquets are real or not.  Every wedding or prom I've been to, the boutonnieres are wrecked by the end of the night after the guys give a million hugs and have been on the dance floor for hours.  The silk flowers held up perfectly!


Corsages

I used several sizes of ranunculus blooms for the corsages.  I found pearl stretch bracelets at JoAnn's for $2 (the same price as a junky wrist corsage base, but so much prettier and more comfortable!).

DIY wrist corsage

I hot glued all the blooms in place, then hot glued the entire arrangement onto the bracelets.

Ranunculus wrist corsage

Just like the boutonnieres, corsages always get ruined at weddings or proms.  These held up great though!

navy and coral wedding with white peony bouquet and white ranunculus boutonniere

I know everyone has opinions, generally poor, of using silk flowers at weddings.  I think these turned out well though, and at a grand total of $150, it's tough to complain!  I saved money and freed up time during my wedding week.  All the pieces held up fantastically through heat/humidity/hugs/dancing, and I have to say I'm kind of glad I'll be able to keep my flower girl will be able to keep my bouquet just like it was on my wedding night!