Ok so I told you before that I was considering doing this but the only thing I'm concerned about is what my bridesmaids will carry. What are your bridesmaids carrying?

Aaaand, great work btw...you make it look so easy ;)

OH! I got so caught up in the bouquet that I forgot to mention anything about your wreck! I'm glad your ok and I'm also sorry about your rib. Hopefully it'll heal sooooon! You're in my prayers :)

Jenn -- hehe, thank you :) I'm waiting on the x-ray results to confirm the chest pain. It might end up being an inflammatory cartilage?

About the bouquet -- I was thinking of making small -flower- bouquets for my bridesmaids out of the red garden roses I posted before. I think as long as the bridesmaids aren't carrying a HUGE flower bouquet, it will still look good with flowers for them. Also, keeping them the same color (not too many mixed flower colors) so that it all looks uniformed (red bouquets + brooch bouquet for the bride).

Thank you! Though I promise it's relatively simple once you get the supplies. As soon as we started playing with the flower stems I was like "AHA! THIS is what I needed!" And of course lots of hot glue ;)

Hey Ale!!
So sorry to hear about your wreck but thank goodness you are okay. And also....take care of that rib!! If the doc says to rest, you rest!! The bouquet is coming out amazing!! I have never seen that!! Your creativity never ceases to amaze me!! ;)

JC

Those are very cute and unique!

Jessica -- how cute and motherly -- I wouldn't expect anything less from you :) I knoooow. I have a problem with "resting" but once I get the x-rays, I will take it very serious. Promise!

HNBride-- thank you! Though it wasn't exactly my original idea, I was inspired by a post on Ruffled. I'm hoping this will help other brides who want to give it a shot!

Oh no! I hope you are okay!! Also, I absolutely adore this bouquet - it's so elegant!

I can't believe you did this!! It looks soooo professional, like something out of a DYI book!!!

I forgot to mention this, but I hope you and your rib are feeling better!!! Sorry about the accident.

i'm on project wedding too. and adore the idea of the brooch bouquet... so i linked to your post from my blog. :) congratulations & best wishes!!!

Great job! I am wanting to tackle on of these so my question is...what was wrong with the foam core and why didn't it work?? Thanks for sharing your tutorial!

Hey there! Thank you! :)

The foam core was horrible. The problem is that some brooches are TOO heavy for it. I, like most people, thought I needed a sphere shape to attach my brooches to in order to give it that "bouquet" look. So I would wind a LOT of metal wiring around the brooch, then stab it INTO the foam. The brooch was *not* secure enough AND there was still GAPS between the brooches.

That was the biggest problem: the gaps. Trust me, taking floral wire plus some pipe cleaners will create SUCH a sturdy base and make it look like an actual flower. Once you gather them, they start looking more and more like a bouquet. Link me to your blog! I'd love to see how it turns out!!

WOW..Thank you so much for the DIY lesson on making the brooch bouquet. I saw the idea in a bridal magazine & wanted to make it myself. I was thrilled when I came across your blog. THANK YOU. I'll let you know how it turns out.
P.S. You rock!!!

Thanks a lot for posting this page, I am just getting started on planning to make a brooch bouquet for myself, I will definitely use your tips!

No way! You're a genius! This is gorgeous and I'm going to start working on mine TODAY! Thank you for generously posting this tutorial, even when you had such an awful day (I trust you're all better now). I'm so inspired!
~ jauntygirl

thank u so much iwill b doin this for my wedding in april i just love it, the perfect heirloom

Omgosh, y'all are the best and most motivating people!! :) It's inspiring to help at least one person -- even more so when it's more than that!

LINK me to your final results!!! Or e-mail them to me! alejandra@imaginaledesign.com

xoxo
Ale

Hi Ale,

I have gone through all the brooch bouquet steps and now I am trying to arrange it - it's so hard! The brooches are really overlapping each other. I also bought the bouquet holder with green foam inside from Hobby Lobby, did you stick them in that first, or arrange them first then stick their wire stems into the foam? Ahhh!

Yes! It is very hard! Because I had *so many* stems, I ended up cutting out a LOT of the green stuff inside the bouquet holder. So basically, I cut out a cylinder of the green stuff to make a wider hold for the stems. When I had first attempted to stab a stem INTO the foam, it would start removing the green thread off my stem = not good.

I arranged my bouquet *beforehand* BUT I had my mother in law hold it for me while I added more brooch stems. You can't just hold it by yourself and arrange it -- you need an extra pair of hands! Once all the stems were arranged, they made quite a -thick- batch so it fit really snug into the bouquet holder. Since I had a nice gap inside the bouquet holder, I stuck the arranged bouquet into the holder. Then I added fabric to cover the holder and super glued a pearl necklace around it for more decoration.

Does this help?

Yay! Thank you so much for these illustrated step-by-step directions! I am getting married in May and fell in love with this type of bouquet but had no idea how to start. I was toying with the idea of using a styrofoam half-sphere but after reading this I am definately going to go with your advice! Thank you for saving me from frustration!

It looks lovely. But do need both wires. you could get some florest tape (green) and wrap it around the stems to give you a bendable ridgedness that would not end up being as heavy as two lots of wire will be.

YES! Great point Patchworked! Thank you :)