How to Make an Easy Wrist Corsage -

Make an Easy Wrist Corsage

Having a destination wedding created some challenges during my planning. I wanted to be somewhat of a DIY bride to save some money but obviously wasn’t able to drag countless suitcases full of all my creative projects to another country, so I had to pick and choose. I love flowers and wanted to have a personal touch in my floral decorations. Back in college, I worked in a flower shop and did many weddings during the summer. I learned a lot and enjoyed the creative outlet it gave me. I have since had the privilege of being a part of many of my friends weddings by arranging their flowers for them for their wedding day.

Some may say I’m a “flower snob” and when it came to my own wedding, I thought I knew exactly what I wanted my flowers to be. I’m sure many women have grown up thinking of their wedding and how they wanted the whole picture to look. During my whole planning process, I was surprised to find that my tastes had changed from what I envisioned as a younger girl, to what would look would fit with my overall plan (and what would fit in my budget!). Having a destination wedding created several planning road blocks that forced me to be creative in order to keep to my overall vision and my budget.

Roadblocks:

1) There is not a wide variety of flowers to close from. Most flowers and imported and seasonal. It was definitely more difficult to get a hold of the flowers I wanted in Mexico than in Colorado. 2) As soon as you mention the word WEDDING, the prices are instantly increased. Knowing the retaliative price of flowers, I was shocked to find what the resort was charging! 3) It is difficult to explain and describe your vision to a planner over e-mail, whose first language is not English. I ended up just searching Pinterest and sending lots of photos. Solution: a more personalized project to same money for the boutonnieres and corsage… artificial flowers.

My favorite flowers are the purple/ fuchsia Phalaenopsis orchids…definitely not something that is local to Mexico where we got married. The cost they were going to charge me for boutonnieres and corsage was outrageous in my opinion. Some may call it trashy, but I had to weigh paying a ton for something I wasn’t sure would be what I wanted, and would probably not make to the ceremony in one piece. I was able to add personal touches to make them special and it was something my mother and mother-in-law could hold onto as a keepsake.

I hope you can use this to make your own for weddings, proms or any other special event, and maybe save a buck…

Supplies:

Wrist band (I used a pearl bracelet one found in the wedding section at the craft store)

Main flower: something larger in size with the main color of your corsage

Smaller filler flower: secondary color of corsage

Artificial Leaves

Filler: I used artificial grass. You don’t have to use grass, you could use some small filler-type flower in the color you want.

Hot glue gun

Ribbon- 1/2″ or less works best

Wire cutters

Optional: small picture frame found in jewelry/ beading section, small photo or words that fit in the frame

I went to the craft store and found the most realistic white Phalaenopsis orchids I could find.

Step 1:

I first cut off a small leaf leaving a little stem and glued a piece of artificial grass to the leaf front.

Step 2:

Glue the larger of two orchids to the leaf and grass.

Step 3:

Glue this piece to the plastic piece attached to the wristband.

Step 4:

Then add a second, smaller orchid near the top of the first and tucked under so both orchids lay nicely together. I added another leaf and piece of looped grass behind the second orchid.

Step 5:

I made a bow out of white satin ribbon and secured the middle with a short piece of wire. You could also use a short piece of ribbon to secure the middle. I tucked this under one of the petals on the orchid and glued it into place on the plastic pad of the bracelet. Arrange however looks best with your flowers.

Step 6:

I added a small bud from another stem of purple orchids I had leftover so the whole thing looks uniform and somewhat symmetrical.

Step 7:

As an added extra, I found small picture frame charm that I added one of our engagement pictures to. If you turn it over, the back says “We Love You Mom”