DIY Bouquets - Step by Step Guide

When it came to my Wedding, I decided to make my own bouquet.

I had seen some beautiful brooch bouquets at different weddings in the past, and these were my inspiration. I had some brooches from my late Grandmother and late Great Grand Evelyn. It was really nice to use these brooches in the bouquet.

If you are interested in enquiring about bespoke orders for your wedding, simply get in touch via email: jane@janeymac.ie or DM me on instagram: @janeymac.ie

Continue reading to check out how my wedding bouquet came to life 😊

Materials

Polystyrene ball (medium sized)
Wooden handle (approximately 18 cm in length)
Fabric (I used the same satin from my wedding dress)
Card
Brooches
Pearls of all sizes
Diamante
Dress making pins
Glue gun and glue sticks
Fake white roses

Step 1

The first step of the process was to wrap the fabric (or thick ribbon) around the handle.
I started at one end and sealed with a dot of hot glue. I then worked my way to the top and sealed it with another dot of hot glue.

Step 2

The 2^nd step was to prepare the polystyrene head.
I cut the polystyrene ball in half with a knife leaving a hemisphere shape.
I then marked the centre of the flat surface on the hemisphere with a pen.
Using a knife, I cut a hole into the centre point.
I then covered the hemisphere with fabric, using pins to hold the fabric in place.

Step 3

The next step was to seal the base of the bouquet.
I traced the circular part of the bouquet onto card, and cut out the circular shape.
After this, I traced the end of the handle in the centre of the card and cut out the circular shape.
I then placed the card on fabric and glue in as seen in pictures.
Once this was done, I cut out centre circle in the fabric also (as shown in the photos below).

Step 4

I glued the card base onto the flat part of the polystyrene hemisphere.

Step 5

Attached the handle to the polystyrene half by pushing the handle into the hole in the centre, using hot glue to secure it.

Step 6

The next step was to add roses.
I started at the outer edge of the bouquet, added a dot of glue to each rose and applied to base.
I also applied three dress making pins to each rose for extra security.
When I had the first row done, I started the second row as outlined in the photos below.

Step 7

The next step was to add brooches.
I started with the centre top with the most beautiful brooch and worked my way outwards around the bouquet.

Step 8

Underneath the bouquet, I also finished around the top of the handle under the base
I cut long strips of ‘sew on’ stay flex (it’s a material that is sewn to light fabric to give it structure and more weight).

I added a layer of the satin over it (because the stay flex was too white for my bouquet). I used my sewing machine to attach the satin to it – see photos.

I folded the strips into pleat gathers and tack with needle and thread. I kept checking it against the base to make sure it will fit.
I attached this with glue neatly and I also added a smaller pleat trim to the centre also for some extra detail.
I added diamante to the end of the bouquet handle as a finishing touch.