[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/plastic-fantastic\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/plastic-fantastic\/","headline":"Plastic Fantastic","name":"Plastic Fantastic","description":"Plastic Fantastic Take your bridal bouquet from faux to show By Meghan Russell Creating your own floral arrangements for the big day can save big...","datePublished":"2010-06-30","dateModified":"2021-06-21","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/author\/admin\/#Person","name":"Equally Wed","url":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/author\/admin\/","identifier":787,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ca62cf123aaaf135c80b055249bacbda79de9226e11cdfcde6529bedf89683de?s=96&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ca62cf123aaaf135c80b055249bacbda79de9226e11cdfcde6529bedf89683de?s=96&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Equally Wed","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"http:\/\/equallywed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/equally-wed-lgbtq-weddings-logo.jpg","url":"http:\/\/equallywed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/equally-wed-lgbtq-weddings-logo.jpg","width":218,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/diy-plastic-fantastic-03-arrange-flowers.JPG","url":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/diy-plastic-fantastic-03-arrange-flowers.JPG","height":225,"width":300},"url":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/plastic-fantastic\/","about":["DIY"],"wordCount":710,"articleBody":" Plastic Fantastic Take your bridal bouquet from faux to show By Meghan RussellCreating your own floral arrangements for the big day can save big bucks. A traditional, hand-tied fake-flower bouquet alone could save you $80 to $100, says crafty floral expert Marc Andrzjewski of Upstate New York. \u201cIt\u2019s cheaper and you can control exactly what you want,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd you can\u2019t break them.\u201dThis wedding season, Andrzjewski walks brides step-by-step through one of his favorite DIY projects: using fake flowers to bring your bridal bouquet to life.…Step 1. Gather the materials.Consider the style of your wedding\u2014traditional, contemporary, etc.\u2014and what colors you plan to wear and use to decorate. This will help you decide which flowers work best for your ceremony.Head to your local craft store or any Walmart and select a bagged flower bunch you like. These can be made of silk or similar material, contain either single- or multiple-flower bunches and come with green wire stems. \u201cReal stems can get as expensive as $8 per stem, depending on the flower you want,\u201d says Andrzjewski. \u201cBut with bunches, you can get the same kind of flowers and get more out of it. I can get three bunches of flowers at Walmart for only $10.\u201d He also suggests purchasing a variety of flower types, such as daisies, hydrangeas, roses, peonies and chrysanthemums.You also will need wire cutters, green or white floral tape, ribbon and either crystal or pearl corsage pins.Step 2. Start building.Group the flowers according to their kind. Then find either the longest or largest flower to use as the centerpiece of the bouquet and hold it in your hand. Andrzjewski recommends a rose. \u201cIf you have a real bouquet, you\u2019ll have a lot of tight roses, but with a fake one, they\u2019re a little more open, more textured, so you get more of the beauty of the flower.\u201dNext, take a different kind of flower, perhaps a hydrangea, and place that to the left of your central rose. Place a second hydrangea to the rose\u2019s right. Then take yet another flower, like a peony, and position one in front of the rose and one in back. \u201cSo it looks like a cross with the rose in the middle.\u201dOnce you have your initial cross formation, the rest is up to you. Continue dispersing the flowers in any pattern of your choice around the central rose, until the bouquet is as full as you desire.Step 3. Tape it off.Stretch out the floral tape so that it will adhere to itself, and wrap it around the stems of the bouquet to bind them together and hide the wires. For a shorter bouquet, snip the ends of the stems with wire cutters. Otherwise, you may also wrap the floral tape until it covers the entire grouping of stems.Maneuver the extra leaves from your purchased flower bunches so that they cover any remaining wires that can be seen. You can hot glue them, and glue the flowers onto the wires for increased security.Step 4. Apply extras.Ribbon will help mask the floral tape and fill in any gaps. Select the color ribbon you wish to use, take one end and lay it vertically on the bouquet. Bring it down to about an eighth of an inch from the bottom of the bouquet, fold the ribbon downward, loop it around the bouquet bottom and fold it into a triangle so that the ribbon is now lying horizontally.Proceed to wrap the ribbon around the bouquet, overlapping it until you have a solid ribbon the entire bouquet.Take your choice of corsage pins and, starting at the bottom of the stem, push them sideways into the stem so it holds the ribbon down. Work your way up the stem until you reach the top. Then push the final pins downward so that the needles cannot prick your hands when you hold the bouquet. \u201cSo basically you have a line of crystals or pearls just holding that ribbon together, so it looks like a sleeve,\u201d Andrzjewski says. \u201cThey\u2019re a little more expensive, but it adds a touch of glitter.\u201dBonus step: Now try your hand at smaller, matching bridesmaids\u2019 bouquets!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Photos by Marc Andrzjewski"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Plastic Fantastic","item":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/plastic-fantastic\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]