Question about faux hand-tied wedding bouquets -mechanics

Snapdragon Studio

Snapdragon Studio

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May 28, 2009
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I've never used a bouquet holder (I always hand-tie), but I have a couple weddings where I think one might be helpful. My burning question is this... what do you do with the portion of the bouquet where the flowers/foam meet the stems you bundle around the holder? I'm talking about the base/underside of the bouquet. I'm concerned it won't look natural. Anyone care to share some instruction? Or perhaps snap a photo of your next bouquet's backside?

Thanks in advance for any advice!
 
Go to my facebook page. look under my Bridal bouquet albums. On all of the bouquets I do in holders I finish the back. I HATE to see an ugly white plastic gross or worse- a lace backing (good grief!)
I finish mine with foliage. You just have to figure out which way to position the foliage.
 
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Shannon Donnie Conner...Is my page

Send me a friend request and I'll accept it. I have a lot of photos in there. On the upper right you will see 'photos' click 'see all' or what ever it is and there's a bunch more albums.
It's my personal page BTW and I only am friends with people I actually know or my Flower Chat homies.
 
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Jennifer,

It's so funny how things change in the industry. I made my first hand-tied when I was 16 and we wired and taped all of the flowers! I was so happy when the oasis holders came out, that was during the time I did lots of weddings and most of them were cascades. I only learned how to do a real hand-tied possibly 6 years ago or so.

I too despise the look of the plastic holder. I would tape the handle and then wrap it with ribbon, I thought it looked a lot better. I hot-glued galax to the top portion of the plastic holder.

I never took pictures of anything I made, the pictures looked horrible. The only pictures of my bouquets were done by a photographer for the owners of the shop I worked at, I don't have any idea where those would be. (That shop closed down a couple years after I left and I don't know where they are now.)

There was one wedding where I did the faux hand-tied but I actually just used the igloo without the handle. (There was no straight-handled holder back then, it was early 90's. You may want to experiment a little. The hardest part was making absolutely sure that the "handle" was really secure. When you get through with it though, you would never ever know it wasn't just a bunch of flowers gathered together.

I'll do a mock up after Easter for you.
 
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shannonlovesflowers said:
Go to my facebook page. look under my Bridal bouquet albums. On all of the bouquets I do in holders I finish the back. I HATE to see an ugly white plastic gross or worse- a lace backing (good grief!)
I finish mine with foliage. You just have to figure out which way to position the foliage.
Click to expand...

Just sent a friend request. I'm Jennifer Mayer Fish
 
P1010004.JPGP1010018-1.JPGP1010030.JPGMB140707656.JPGMB140707632.JPGmandy 065.JPGjessie 036.JPGI always cover the holder with either stems, branches, grass or I make my own covers out of pipe insulation and then cover that with ribbon and decorate. The insulation is very comfortable for a bride that carries her bouquet for hours and it is soft and easy to add decoration like pins, crystal buttons, or brooches, etc.The cream holder without the bouquet was done for a bride who's dress was all lace and pearls. I don't usually use ribbon to cover the bottom of the holders but in this case the bride wanted it.The good thing about making the bouquet covers is that you can do them weeks ahead if you want. I usually use leaves that are already in the bouquet or camelia leaves to cover the bottom. I find camelia leaves are sturdy.Hope this helps.

Dianne
 
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We mostly use salal leaves to cover the ugly plastic and use cling to hold it on and do that right before we start putting flowers in the oasis part. If you do it too far ahead, the leaves dry up or turn black where you put glue or cling on the under side.
 
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I agree to do the leaves just before you do the flowers. I hope nobody thought I did the whole thing weeks ahead.I was just referring to the actual holder cover part like the one I attached without the flowers. I guess salal would be a good leaf cover.
It grows in abundance here in the wild and I guess I think of it as a weed so I never use salal in anything .I use camelia mostly because I have a big bush in my back yard and it is always there whenever I need it.

Dianne
 
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We have to pay for salal from the wholesalers, of course it's very dry here not much of anything grows except sagebrush and Russian olive trees. We have to irrigate and water and if it can't take the cold in the winter, it dies anyway. I think salal grows wild on the west side of Washington state.
 
Tuberose said:
We have to pay for salal from the wholesalers, of course it's very dry here not much of anything grows except sagebrush and Russian olive trees. We have to irrigate and water and if it can't take the cold in the winter, it dies anyway. I think salal grows wild on the west side of Washington state.
Click to expand...

yes... in abundance!
 
dianne:
great photos, this is much easier than holding 28 roses trying to make this round nosegay.(SOMETIMES CRIPPLED HANDS)...thanks for feedback.....we have used flower stems tied with chinelle then glue to the handles....this pipe insulation is much easier. FOR THE BACKING, how far in advance will salal/galax/or camelia hold in the cooler?
 
This will be a quick reply because I have the whole family coming for Easter dinner tonight and was just shutting off the computer. As far as the leaves I only glue them on just prior to making up the bouquet and I always make the bouquets the day of the wedding or sometimes for the attendants the night prior.They may be OK for longer but I've never tried it.

Dianne
 
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I usually cover the back of the bouquet holder with galex. but camellia, sala or ivy also works great. I use tack 2000. Usually I do them 5-8 days before the wedding, they hld up fine in the cooler. I stand them oasis side down in a tray with an inch or two of water to keep them saoking till it's time.
For years, I pdded the plastic handle with white faom sleeves sold by lomey so the handle would be softer to hold, (then ribbon wrap, and whatever bling after that) But I figured out last year that pipe insulating foam comes in the right size and is pennies each, as opposed to a couple of bucks.
When someone insists on having stems showing, so it looks like a hand-tied, I add flower stems, glued on to the foam, then wrap, decorate etc.
JP
 
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Nice job on the bouquet, if it is heavy I try to make the handle a bit thicker (more stems) so that they have more of something to hold onto. I actually like a thicker handle anyway but some gals like it thinner.

I add the leaves to the holder just before designing the bouquet because I have noticed if I do it much more in advance the leaves tend to get discolored where the glue, etc is at. We haven't done a padded only handle in ages, most of the gals really want that faux hand tied look.
 
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artistry in bloom said:
View attachment 14627View attachment 14626View attachment 14625View attachment 14624View attachment 14623View attachment 14622View attachment 14621I always cover the holder with either stems, branches, grass or I make my own covers out of pipe insulation and then cover that with ribbon and decorate. The insulation is very comfortable for a bride that carries her bouquet for hours and it is soft and easy to add decoration like pins, crystal buttons, or brooches, etc.The cream holder without the bouquet was done for a bride who's dress was all lace and pearls. I don't usually use ribbon to cover the bottom of the holders but in this case the bride wanted it.The good thing about making the bouquet covers is that you can do them weeks ahead if you want. I usually use leaves that are already in the bouquet or camelia leaves to cover the bottom. I find camelia leaves are sturdy.Hope this helps.

Dianne
Click to expand...

Did you make these!
Good freakin' job!
 
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