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!
