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1. 

   

   Cut your wire into straight lengths with pliers/clippers. We used 24 gauge (0.5mm) wire and cut it into 25 inch lengths for my bouquet, 20 inches for the bridesmaid's bouquets.
   
   We found that 28 gauge wire was too flimsy to hold up a bead, and larger sizes would have been difficult to fit through the bead-hole.

2. 

   

   Thread the wire through the bead, to the halfway point. Fold the two sides of the wire together, and give them a couple of loose twists.
   
   If you don't have a cordless drill, here is where you just keep on twisting that wire until it's wound all the way along itself. The drill does give a more polished look, which we preferred. It's also a lot faster, so I really recommend trying to borrow one if you don't have your own.

3. 

   

   Attach a hook to your drill. We used a metal ring from the end of our BBQ tongs, but the end of a wire coat-hanger or any sturdy wire or plastic hook will do. We sort of shoved the hook into the drill, nothing fancy.

4. 

   

   Place the loop of the loosely twisted wire over the hook. Hold on firmly to the ends of the wire.
   
   Hint: moisturising your hands before doing this makes them too slippery to hold the wire!

5. 

   

   Give the cordless drill a short burst - it will take a few tries to work out what speed you want and how long to do it for. The wire halves will twist around themselves.
   
   

6. 

   

   When you've made enough stems, hold them together the way you'd like them to sit. Duct tape around the base of the bouquet. We found this easier to do with two people, one to hold the wires together in a bunch, and one to wrap the tape. Make sure you cover the end, otherwise the ends of the wires will stick out and be too scratchy, or catch on your clothes.
   
   Bend the wire into whatever shape you like - we had grand plans of shaping them into a dome shape, but settled for spreading them out a bit. The wires are nice and springy, but they will twist around each other.

7. 

   

   Wrap ribbon around the stem to cover the duct tape. This can be done by one person if you like, as the wires will stay in place now. We used about 2 or 3 metres of ribbon, but this will vary depending on how wide your ribbon is and how long you want the trailing ends to be. We used a bit of floral tape to stick the ribbon on at the top and bottom.
   
   Tie bows, or not, however you like. We liked the look of a simple double knot.

8. 

   

   The final product. Approximately 150 stems. The bridesmaids' bouquets were shorter, with fewer wires, and the flower-girl's bouquet was shorter and smaller again.
   
   To make 1 bridal bouquet, 3 bridesmaids' bouquets and 1 flower-girl bouquet, it took approximately 10 hours with 3 or 4 of us working as a production line to get to the duct tape stage. This includes time for snacks and glasses of wine :) It then took 2 of us maybe an hour to wrap the all the stems with ribbon.
   
   It took our flower-girl only 5 minutes to completely unravel her ribbon. If you give one of these to a child, either stick the ribbon down completely so it can't come off (floral tape is good for this), or don't stick it down at all so that repairs are easier :)

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Jasmin N.

Jan 16, 2008 1:10pm

oh pretty

Might do that for my wedding, when ever it is i get married, but add some ribbons to it to make it a little more girlly.

Darling Niki

Jan 16, 2008 1:15pm

Absolutely gorgeous! OOOhhhh I think I will make it with colored artistic wire for a centerpiece on my coffee table :-)

Cat Morley

Jan 16, 2008 5:12pm

This is really beautiful, thanks for sharing!

athenamat

Jan 16, 2008 9:36pm

These are really pretty .. but I ahve to ask, why didn't you want to carry flowers?

Erika A.

Jan 16, 2008 10:30pm

Wow these are quite elegant.
Congratulations on your marriage!

Julie G.

Jan 16, 2008 11:54pm

Thanks everyone! What I like about this idea is that it's so customisable: more ribbons, centerpiece, double the stems, bend the wire into shapes. Whatever you like, it's easy to mix it up.

athenamat, I'm just not a floral kind of girl. I did look at some, but didn't feel comfortable carrying them. But I still wanted to carry something or else I'd end up biting my nails :) Also, in my area, a lot of flowers are grown elsewhere then transported in, which isn't the best for the flowers or the environment. It just didn't seem like a good fit for me or the occasion - I don't have anything against flowers in general :)

Nix Sidhe

Jan 17, 2008 3:09am

That's really gorgeous. I'd love to do an autumn theme one.

Michelle Ames

Jan 17, 2008 2:16pm

I made these for my wedding in 2005. My bouquet had 300 stems and the bridesmaids each had 150. The flowergirl's stems were stuck into styrofoam in a basket that she carried. I, too, used gold wire, with crystals, pearls and pink and amethyst accents.

I made a silk flower bouquet to throw. :-)

Julie G.

Jan 17, 2008 11:46pm

Michelle A, your bouquet is beautiful, it looks so lush!