We’re trying to keep the cost of our wedding as low as we can without compromising on the things we’d like to have, and one of the ways in which we can do this is to do the flowers ourselves. I started to do a little bit of research into the cost and I just couldn’t believe how expensive it is for a bridal bouquet, never mind any other flowers! So that got me thinking, and I decided to investigate the possibility of arranging them myself.

Please note: you can find a more up-to-date version of this post here (with step-by-step instructions!).

I don’t really consider myself to be much of a flower arranger at all, but I found a wonderful step-by-step guide by A Practical Wedding which is so clear and easy to follow. To make a bouquet you will need some florist’s tape, ribbon and a couple of floristry pins in addition to your choice of flowers. I also bought a pair of florist’s scissors which made removing thorns and trimming the flowers much easier in comparison to using my orange-handled kitchen scissors. I didn’t have a huge choice of flowers (because it is almost the middle of November), so I settled with white roses and spray carnations.

Preparing the flowers took about 10 minutes, and it’s really important that you remove all of the foliage and any thorns. It only took about another 10-15 minutes to finish the rest of the bouquet, and it was so much fun! Even though the bouquet is simple I’m so pleased with the effect, and the natural beauty of the flowers really comes through. Next August there will be a much wider choice available, and I’ll go down to York Market the day before and buy a variety to make bouquets – so the flowers will be seasonal, beautiful and I can support local traders too. Now I’ve done a trial run I can’t wait to make the real thing!

Post updated 24th June 2016.