Flowers, part 3

So, I think I'll be going for it with the DIY flowers. I bought some flowers 5 days ago and they're still looking great and I've kept the corsages in the fridge for a few days and they're still looking good, so I'm feeling OK about it all. But, my grandmother did call me up the other day to tell me she wants a wrist corsage so that she doesn't mess up her dress. Well, all I know about that is that wrist corsages are hard. Don't believe me, take a look at this tutorial. At the very least, it would take a lot more materials and would involve drying time. Definitely things I don't want to be worrying about a day or two before the wedding. So, I thought, why not make a corsage that attaches with magnets!

Since none of my wedding blooms have great foliage, I decided I'll have a fabric leaf with a magnet attached as the base of my bouts and corsages. The leaves were clearly inspired by Miss Doxie's excellent flower post.

Start with the desired fabric, attach the iron on adhesive, peel away the paper, lay down some well placed floral wire, lay down the second layer of fabric and iron all that adhesive into place.

Then draw your leaf shapes on with tailor's chalk.

Cut out the shapes with pinking shears or plain scissors, make sure that the bottoms of both sides of the leaf are the same length. (Unless you're meticulous about this part beforehand they probably won't be)

Use a buttonhole stitch to secure your wire. Then position your magnet on the back (it should hold itself steady to the wire) and cover with a flap of fabric.

Sew down the flap of fabric. Then arrange your flowers and wrap the stems in the wire from your leaf. Wrap in floral tape and stick the second magnet to the outside for the recipients to place behind their lapels.

Voila! No pinholes here and because the fabric leaves can be made beforehand, it literally takes about 2 minutes to finish off the corsage or bout with the fresh flowers. Sorry for the big leaf, the real ones will probably not be so humongous.

For all of the flowers, I'll be going to the florist a little closer to the wedding and getting more specific about what types and quantities of the flowers should be ordered. I'll be picking them up the Thursday before the wedding so that I can have plenty of time to clean and sort them. I plan on making the bouquets, bouts and corsages on Friday. I hope to have everything sorted so that all we have to do on Saturday is trim the arrangements and place them in the vases.

I haven't had much luck sourcing the celosia (there are a few kinds, I like the spear kind and it's the one that's hard to source, the cockscomb type is a little easier to come by), so I'll be letting it go and trying to get some of those vibrant colors from the carnations.

All in all, I'm happy with the way things are going and I think that $300 is a steal for wedding flowers that are unique, rustic, laid back and very me.