I would like to now show you something that I do to make the stems, keep them in a tight bundle, and its also going to help when we add our ribbon to finish it off at the end. This is corsage tape or stem tape, its got a stretchiness to it and a waxiness to it, so it can be added by placing it against the stems and holding it with your thumb, and then bringing it around. It will kind of adhere to itself, and its just going to pull all of your stems in together. This is not going to show at the end. This is just to give you a finished off look. Gets easier as you go down, doesnt have to be perfect, this is just almost like a primer for your ribbon. If you break it, just stick it back on there and keep going.
For this bouquet were going to leave a little bit of the stems out at the bottom, that way you can keep it hydrated. You would usually do this the day before the wedding. Im kind of running the tape back on itself just to make sure its on there tight. I would say weve gone down about five inches down the stems.
So, now youre going to take your ribbon. This is a double sided satin, you want to use a nice ribbon, so to feel nice against your skin when youre holding it. Take the end, hold it against this waxy tape that we just put on and do the same thing, only were going to go up the stem this time, instead of down the stem. When it starts to get thinner at the top, you can kind of pucker your ribbon and keep going around so its nice and tight. Once youve covered your wax string and the green tape that you are using, go ahead and cut a good length of this. Take this piece of ribbon thats left, go around your bouquet loosely, bring it up through there, and pull it tight. Just to make sure its secure, lets do it again, around, and up tight.
Now, cut this off, this extra ribbon, were going to leave just a little bit of a tail, and this is where youre going to use your pearl topped boutonniere pins. Tuck this ribbon in as much as you can to the stems, and take your pearl topped boutonniere pin and go right down through that loose edge, right along the stems, the sides of the stems, and thats finished off. Now, you could add a bow if you wanted to, but with a round bouquet where it looks nice all the way around, you dont really need to have a front to it. So, the next thing you would want to do is trim your stems. You want to leave about an inch at the bottom for now. These snips are great for this, just cut it straight on. Now youre ready to store your bouquet, and that will be the next step, I will be right back with how to store it.