Flowers are some of my favorite gifts to give. They can be the perfect gift for any occasion. The right bouquet is great for Birthdays, Anniversaries, Hostess Gifts, Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day and Tuesday! Flowers can brighten any day, but from a florist a beautiful bouquet can cost a pretty penny. Here are a few tricks I’ve picked up to help you create a stellar bouquet at a fraction of the cost and make a florist-worthy bouquet at home.
F I N D I N G T H E F L O W E R S :
If you are blessed to live in a city with a thriving flower market, then hop over to your local wholesale flower market. I have found stunning flowers at The Original Flower Market in Los Angeles and the Flower District in New York City.
There are also resources online for flowers at wholesale prices such as Blooms by the Box that can offer larger quantities of flowers at better prices.
The most convenient option for flowers is probably grocery store flowers. Now, I know images of bad bouquets in patterned plastic wrap are running through your head, but trust me, grabbing flowers from Trader Joe's or Whole Foods can help you create perfect presents. I steer clear of the pre-made bouquets and purchase bunches of individual flowers. Trader Joe's is my favorite for selection and consistency but different locations will have different options so check out all of your local grocers for the best variety.
With flowers from Trader Joe's you can expect a single bunch of flowers will cost about $4-6, which gets you about 4-6 stems depending on the flower. These stems might have multiple blooms on it, which is a great bonus! A florist could charge you $3-4 for a single stem, so you do the math!
C H O O S I N G A B O U Q U E T :
For DIY bouquets, I categorize them into three bouquet types that increase by difficulty and price level.
Type One: Simple and Stunning
What you’ll need to shop for:
- Just one type of flower
This bouquet is easy to shop for and put together. You only need one type of bloom, but a lot of them to make a statement worthy, but super simple, bouquet. I love to do this type of bouquet with someone's favorite flower. It's also great during peony season because everyone goes crazy for these flowers. If you purchased five bunches from Trader Joe's that would give you about 20-25 stems for about $25. With this type or bouquet, more is more, so if you can add another bunch or another two bunches to this bouquet you'd really have an impressive bouquet of flowers.
Type Two: Elevated Elegance
What you’ll need to shop for:
- One type of main flower (a flower with a large blossom)
- One small flower
- Greenery
This bouquet steps it up just a little bit but in an easy, do-able way. Sprucing up the Simple and Stunning bouquet with the added touch of a secondary, small flower and greenery.
Type Three: The Bold and the Beautiful
What you’ll need to shop for:
- One type of main flower (a flower with a large blossom)
- One small flower
- Greenery
- Pop – a unique flower or plant of interest for texture
This bouquet adds a little surprise to the mix with the added visual impact of an interesting flower or plant. Think of an air plant for spring, or holly berries or pussy willows in the winter, or even a vibrant flower that will stand out from the rest of the bouquet.
A S S E M B L I N G T H E B O U Q U E T :
I'm assembling a bouquet with all of the elements from the Type Three Bouquet, The Bold and the Beautiful. It's easy to put all of the parts together to create a great gift of flowers.
What you'll need:
Flowers
Scissors
Ribbon
1. Select the flowers. I chose a monochromatic bunch of flowers for a white and green look.
2. Grab one stem of your main flower. Then add greenery around the front and back of the main flower. Think of the bouquet like a spiral and the main flower in the center is your starting point. Add greenery around the outside of the main flower to start the next ring of the spiral.
3. Add some of the secondary flower around the greenery to create the third layer or ring of the bouquet.
4. Add another layer of greenery.
5. Add a layer of the "pop" plant or flower.
6. Repeat steps two through five until you run out of flowers. Alternating between the main flower, greenery, secondary flower, greenery, and pop again--and then back to the main flower will keep your bouquet visually interesting.
7. When you're finished adding flowers to your bouquet, grab your ribbon and scissors. Tie a ribbon around the bouquet so it keeps the flowers together. Either a bow or knot is fine. I usually hold the bouquet in one hand while wrapping the ribbon around the stems with the other hand. If this is difficult you can cut one 12" segment of ribbon before you get started on the bouquet.
8. Now trim the stems to make them approximately even. Make sure to cut the stems at an angle so they can absorb water when your recipient puts them in a vase.
Remember there are no rules, these are just guidelines to help you create the bouquet. So don't worry, you can't mess this up. Flowers are beautiful so you will be creating and giving something beautiful even if you decide to get creative with the guidelines.
W R A P P I N G T H E B O U Q U E T :
Wrapping the bouquet is just as important as wrapping a gift so don't skimp on the wrapping!
What you’ll need:
- Craft Paper
- Tissue Paper
- Scissors
- Tape
- Ribbon
I chose white paper, white tissue paper and kept using the green ribbon to keep a consistent color pallet with the flowers. The white craft paper, white tissue paper and green gross grain ribbon were purchased from Micheal's.
1. To start, cut the craft paper into an even square.
2. Grab one piece of tissue paper and fold the sheet in half. Fold the paper in half so none of the corners touch and you can see all four corners above the fold. Take the folded tissue paper and put it onto the top corner of the cut square of craft paper.
3. Place the bouquet of flowers on top of the tissue paper close to the top corner of the tissue paper and craft paper.
4. Add another piece of folded tissue paper on top of the flowers.
5. Cut the craft paper (not the tissue paper) to trim off any excess paper if necessary, but do not cut higher than than the flower stems.
6. Make another cut in the craft paper, this time cut along the diagonal of the paper, parallel to the flower stems.
7. Now we're ready to wrap the paper around the flowers. First, grab the longer left side of the craft paper and fold it over the flower stems. Then grab the shorter edge of the craft paper and fold it over the entire bouquet.
8. After the craft paper is folded over, tie the ribbon around the stems and craft paper to keep the paper secure. Fluff the paper and tissue paper as needed and you're done!
Now you have a beautiful bouquet that makes a great gift for anyone!
These elements make the flowers feel like they are expensive and come from a florist! Coordinate the flower, paper and ribbon and your bouquet will look like you spent at least twice as much on it.
Very Happy Gifting!
…
VHM
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