My bouquet!

So I finished my bouquet! Yay me!! I wanted something original, something that wasn't silk flowers (real ones are $$ and they would die between the wedding and reception seeing as they're on two different days), and something I could be proud of.

And what better time than to come up with some sort of crafty skill to put in my book of things I know how to do.

My inspirations....

Aren't they FANTASTIC?!

I love them. So this is what I came up with. I can't wait to get some better pictures of them (like with me in my wedding dress haha!) I made "button-eres" for the boys and some to put on the tables as well.

Here's my basic approach:

100 ft of "clothesline wire" (I think that's like 9 gauge?)

800 buttons--slightly overkill if you're just doing bouquets, but I've made table decor, "button-eres" and jewelry for the Moms also.

Beads

Needle-nose pliers and wire cutters

Tape (floral or duct)

Ribbon

There are different types of buttons. Some have "shanks" on them and some have holes, either 2 or 4. I bent a 12-15 inch piece of wire at the top third and added a shanked button at the top. After bending the wire tightly around the shank (without breaking it off), I would add other buttons either by sliding them through two ends of wire, or alternating them with one button on one end and another on the other. I added beads to space the buttons out more. Then I wrapped the ends together and made it as small as I could so it would stay together. The bridesmaid bouquets have about 15 "flowers" and mine has 30. I wrapped them in tape to keep from getting poked and then added the ribbon to make it look prettier.

The great thing about these being on wire is I can bend it out wider or narrower as I want. The button-eres are single "flowers" and the bracelets for the moms have the buttons laying flat on the ribbon.

Mother's bracelets

Mixed in with the other table decor

"Button-eres" Notice the center one has a matching button as my bouquet. That's Ian's. Awww

All of the girls

Hardest project of all of them. I had to stack the beads, connect the ends, and loop them around so they'd connect. But I LOVE it now that it's done! This is something I feel like I can hang on my wall even after the wedding and be proud of!