Make This: Giant DIY ‘Flower Blocked’ Bouquet

When I work with flowers, I kind of like to go big. Exhibit A / Exhibit B.

Unfortunately, I don’t always have access to hundred of flowers at once, which makes doing large scale flower projects all the more difficult. So, I have a short list of dream flower DIYs that I add to whenever I think of something and then I just kind of wait for an opportunity to arise.

Soooo… when I got the chance to work with a ton of gorgeous flowers recently, during Meet/Make/Do, I knew exactly what I wanted to make. It was on my list and everything! A giant DIY bouquet. But not just any bouquet…a ‘flower blocked’ bouquet. I just made this term up so bear with me. Think color blocked, but with flower types/species instead of colors. Make sense?

The idea is that the process is much more organic and less formulaic than a standard bouquet…almost like an abstract or colorfield painting.

So, let me set the scene a little bit… When we got to Palm Springs, boxes and boxes of flowers started arriving at our doorstep almost immediately. And I totally felt like a kid in a candy store. Especially because there was one flower in particular that I was dying to get my hands on: the Juliet garden rose (also known as David Austin english garden roses).

I actually did a little research before we got there, using the Bing Image Search tool to gather inspiration on these flower in particular, since I had never worked with them before. Obviously, there are so many gorgeous bouquets out there that use garden roses. BUT my only (tiny) complaint is that they all kind of look the same.

Which is one of the reasons why I wanted to do something different, with a flower blocked bouquet.

That said, here is the list of flowers I used in this bouquet:

Light Peach Juliet Garden Roses // Ivory Peach Garden Roses // Keira Pink Garden Roses // Pink Piano Garden Spray Roses // Pink Mayra Garden Roses // White Anemones // Parrot Tulips // White Veronica // Seeded Eucalyptus

*BIG thank you to Flower Muse for all the amazing flowers that you sent us to work with at Meet/Make/Do. Their flowers are seriously THE BEST.

Additional supplies needed: scissors // heavy string

How-To:

This how-to explanation is probably best described via the step by step photos, but I’ll explain the process in words too, just in case.

Oh, and before you get started, be sure to grab a partner to help you with this project. You’re going to want a second pair of hands to hold the bouquet as it gets larger.

1. Start by picking flowers that will work well together, visually – whether that means working with a color story, or overall vibe/style, etc. Then make sure all the flowers you plan to use are prepped properly.

Here’s how to prep your flowers: Cut 1/2″³ to 1″³ off the bottom of each stem, at a diagonal to maximize water intake. Remove leaves/foliage before placing them in buckets filled with 3″³ ““ 4″³ of room temp water. If possible, keep flowers in a cool area away from direct sunlight until you are ready to use them.

2. Next, start adding flowers of the same type, in several colors, one by one (start with about 5-7 blooms). Cross the stems under the blooms to form an X as you add flowers. I would have your flower buddy hold the flowers as you place them. Similar to what you see in the photos.

I started with a variety of garden roses. And probably added 20 or so garden roses of varying types and colors before adding any other species of flower.

3. Next add a new type of flower in the same color family. I went with a large block of white anemones, around 15-20 stems. I only added them to one side to give the bouquet a little asymmetry.

4. Next, add two bunches of white veronica. One on each side of the bouquet. Then add parrot tulips anywhere you see holes that need to be filled in toward the bottom of the bouquet. Tulips are perfect for the bottom of a bouquet because of their natural curve.

5. Lastly, add 3-5 full stems of seeded eucalyptus to the back of the bouquet, before securing all of the stems together with heavy duty string or twine and cutting off any excess.

That’s all there is to it. Not too hard, right?

This would be a great option for wedding bouquets (bridal and/or bridal party), if you really want to make a statement.

And if wedding bells aren’t in your future, you can totally trim up the stems a little more and put this arrangement into a pretty vase. I kind of like the stems all crazy, but it makes it tough to get ’em all into a vase that way.

P.S. Tomorrow is the last day to enter to win a swag bag, filled with goodies from our Palm Springs event, valued at $185. You can enter to win right here, if you’re interested.

All photos by Mary Costa Photography // Concept and styling by Brittni Mehlhoff

Big thank you to Kelly for being my model and second pair of hands for this project.

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This post is sponsored by Bing. All opinions and ideas are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make this blog possible.