The technique I think I struggle with the most when putting together arrangments is color placement. Working with so many shades and colors tends to drive me a little nuts because I always seem to struggle with pulling together a cohesive look at the end. Chelsea, of course makes it look incredibly easy and I’m so happy she breaks everything down by color and amount of stems. I always finding myself buying a lot more than I ultimately need too.

Instructions

For the Bridal Bouquet:
You need:
10 red/white anemone stems
3 full pink roses
10 Ranunculus stems in eggplant
2 bunches of buttercup greens
2 bunches of vinca vine
2 stems of green hellebores
clippers or scissors
twine
ribbon (1.5 yards)
pins

Step # 1: Remove all most of the leaves from the stems.


Step # 2: Start with a selection of flowers in your hand. Add roses at the bottom and let the ranunculus buds peek out at the top. Turn the bouquet each time you add a new grouping of flowers. Keep turning and adding until you are happy with it. Add greens around the bottom.

Step # 3: Secure with twine.

Step #4: Clip the stems so they are all the same length.

Step #5: Wrap ribbon around stem and secure with two pins.

Chelsea, thank you again! So excited to have you on board!!

One of the biggest movements I’ve seen over the last year in blogging
about weddings is how many of you are designing the flowers for your
own wedding and events. Maybe its because your budget doesn’t allow
hiring a florist or planning a wedding has a sparked a new found
interest in flowers and you like the idea of having creative control
over the design aspect. Since my strengths aren’t neccesarily in the creative
department, I’ve been brainstorming ways to bring more talented
contributors on the site to meet needs in the wedding world I feel
aren’t currently being met. After a few months of planning and
budgeting, I am so happy to introduce our newest contributor to Once
Wed, Chelsea Fuss.

Chelsea, the editor behind Frolic, is not only a fabulous blogger, but
also an extremely talented stylist and floral designer. Frolic is one
of my favorite daily reads and I’m so excited about having her as a contributor on Once Wed.  I adore Chelsea’s simple but stunning approach to flowers
and think her tutorials will complement the site perfectly. We haven’t worked out an
exact schedule yet, but Chelsea will be joining the site frequently
lending ideas on all types of floral arrangments from centerpieces to
bouquets to actual full tables. She will try to cover a range of
designs and flowers, so hopefully everyone can draw a bit of
inspiration for their own wedding or event. Her column today consists
of two pieces, but up first is a lovely, daisy boutonniere…

For the Boutonniere
You’ll need:
1-2 English daisy plants
scissors or clippers
floral tape
glue
pins

Step #1: Clip off 3-5 flowers down at the bottom of the stem

Step
# 2: Gather flowers in your hand. Place the smallest flower so it peeks
out of the top of the group. Secure with floral tape. Place on leaf at
the back where it will lay against the lapel.

Step # 3: Cover floral tape with linen tape or ribbon. Secure with a drop of hot glue. Use a pin to secure to jacket.

Stay tuned for a lovely, bouquet tutorial by Chelsea coming up next…

Ivory luminous chiffon spaghetti strap gown with beaded cowl neckline, ivory double-faced satin ribbon at high waist and beaded skirt. Sweep train.

Chiffon has a slight snag in the back and the ribbon has some fraying.

Great for a trash the dress bridal shoot!

Gown has not been altered from original state

The dress has a sweetheart top, the waist is fitted. There are pearls and rhinestones along the very top of the dress and at the waistline. It has a train that can be bustled up. The bottom part of the dress has several layers of tooling. There are no marks on the dress. It was only worn for several hours but I did not have it cleaned afterwards, so that may need to be done. I also have the slip to go under the dress to give it some poof. It will be sold with the dress. If interested email melissavannatta1@hotmail.com.