HOW TO MAKE A BEAUTIFUL FLORAL BOUQUET ON A BUDGET

I needed a fresh floral bouquet for a photo shoot I was doing this week at a new venue, Bridgewater Hall.  I had a budget of $20 in mind that I wanted to stay under.  I knew I wanted the bouquet to be pink and purple.  I also wanted it to pop with color but have an organic feel to it with some spriggy greenery and for it to not have that perfectly “shaped” feel to it.  I found this fresh bouquet at Wal-Mart for $14.95 but did not find the greenery  I was looking for with the fresh flowers. I decided to look in the craft section for Eucalyptus but they were almost $5 per stem and I would have needed 4 or 5 to get the look I wanted (putting me over budget). While I was in the craft area I happened to see these bunches of lavender. This will be my “filler’ and also give me the spriggy look I was wanting. (I know spriggy is not really a word).  I thought they looked pretty realistic and they were only  $.98 cents per bunch so I  got two of them.  I also purchased a spool of white satin ribbon for $2 and some floral tape for less than $2 bringing my grand total to just barely over $21+ tax.

Here is how you do it:

1- First, separate the existing bouquet

2- Pull out any of the flowers you do not want to use and discard

3- Remove leaves off the flowers you are going to use and organize the them into categories

4- Begin with one flower and add one flower at a time, adding your filler sprigs in between.

5- Wrap the floral tape firmly, but not too tight, around the bouquet

6- Wrap the ribbon neatly around the floral tape several times and secure with a straight pin or fabric glue

7- Store the bouquet in the refrigerator until you are ready to use them.

The first 6 photos were taken with my cell phone and the rest were taken with my camera at the photo shoot.                                                                               I love these colors and was very pleased with the results. Fresh flowers always brighten up a table.

~Laura