[Prom Week] Corsages

So, in the midst of all the party preparations, I took some time to make a few corsages.  I have never made a corsage before.  I've never really done anything with flowers, other than plop them into the ground or put them in a pot.  But, I really wanted to try.  Because most florists around here are charging about $25 for a wrist corsage.  That's twenty-five dollars that I would love to spend somewhere else.

About a week before the dance, I decided that I had better practice making a corsage.  If it went terribly wrong, I would still have time to order one.  I didn't want to pay a lot of money for the practice flowers, so I just bought an inexpensive mixed bouquet to play around with.  I looked at several tutorials on-line, and I watched quite a few YouTube videos.  This was my practice attempt:

I found the best place to purchase flowers in my neighborhood was Costco.  I was able to get an assortment of roses for $15.99.  I also purchased some filler flowers (like babies breath).  I ended up making three corsages for about $25.

This is what I learned from the whole experience:

* The more corsages you make the more economical it is.  If I was just going to make one corsage for my son, I would not have saved any money at all by the time I bought all of the supplies.

*Now that I have all of the supplies, I will save even more money next time around.

*You can make a lot of corsages/boutonnieres out of two dozen roses!  Let the word out and help your friends save money too!

*It's really fun to make bouquets out of the extra flowers and display them around the house.

*Take the time to wire your flowers.  There's nothing worse than having the head of your flower break-off.
(I did wire all of my flowers, but there was a girl at the dinner that "lost" one of her roses--just fell right off.)

*It can be difficult to find flowers that match specific dress colors.   Thank goodness for white roses!!

*If you can find them, smaller roses are best.

*Invest in a wristlet that has a substantial elastic band, or replace the cheap band with something better.

*My addiction to ribbon came in very handy!  It was so nice to sort through my ginormous basket and find whatever color I needed.

*A plastic double cupcake box works perfectly for transporting a corsage.

*Making boutonierres is super easy!  Don't ever ever ever pay someone else to make one for you.  Just buy a single rose for a couple of bucks and go for it!  

*Be willing to try new things.  It turns out that I really enjoyed working with flowers and making corsages.  It was fun to discover a new interest!