{vintage} ✿ Brooch Bridal Bouquet

One of the latest vintage inspired wedding trends happens to be a favorite of MINE...Vintage Brooch Bridal Bouquets. What an awesome alternative to the traditional bouquet, right? Especially if you are lucky enough to have wonderful vintage jewel and gem heirlooms that you can incorporate into your bouquet.

Heirloom Brooch Bouquet by Noaki Jewelry

These beauties are a bit time-consuming though and you need to keep that in mind when deciding between a DIY Project or asking a professional to create your bouquet. Etsy has many talented artisans that can handle your order, keep in mind that you are looking at approximately 8 weeks time and approximately $400.00 to $800.00 in cost. I have found one artist that really caught my attention, Noaki Jewelry out of Los Angeles, California. Her execution of this heirloom bouquet is PERFECT, elegant, and inspiring. Another fabulous aspect of Noaki's shop is that she offers to turn your precious pieces of jewelry into an heirloom brooch bouquet. The cost is $300.00, which after completing my research for this post, is just an amazing price especially for such fabulous work. Please be sure to take a few minutes and look around her Etsy Shop.

However, if you are feeling adventurous and are a total DIY kinda person then this just might be the project for you.

There are several ways that you can acquire the brooches, my personal fave is one that I read where the mother of the bride wrote a short note to family and friends explaining her daughter's plan to make a vintage brooch bridal bouquet for her wedding and her wish to include her family and friends in the process, making the bouquet much more special {something borrowed per se}. The mother also included a photo of the inspiration for the bouquet so that everyone could see what kind of jewelry would work best. She received over 30 donations, at the time of her posting and everyone was thrilled to be asked to be a part of the bouquet. 

Her total investment in the bouquet included the following: postage, cards, padded envelopes and reprints - which she did at Walgreen's for 10 cents each.  She put a $.61 cent stamp on the padded envelope in case the piece they were sending would be heavy - but the whole packet that she mailed took just a $.44 cent stamp on it.

However most of the bouquets that I have fallen in love with have taken approximately 50 to 75 brooches to complete. So you can shop Etsy, eBay, flea markets, thrift stores, or even Dollar Stores for that new-old look. You really don't have to spend a fortune to find these pieces. Many sellers will offer brooches in lots and you can use vintage hat pins, earrings, miscellaneous gems to fill in.

I personally have not made a vintage brooch bridal bouquet but have read post after post in forum after forum and think that I have chosen the method that makes the most sense, has the prettiest results, and won't leave you frustrated on your wedding day.

1. Take each individual brooch and secure a medium gauge craft wire around the pin latch wrapping it through several times and extending the wire down 7-8 inches.
2. Take pipe cleaners (From the dollar store for $1 bag of 20 or more) and wrap 1 pipe cleaner down around the secured wire (This will give some extra thickness to the wire and you will see why in the next step).
3. Take green floral tape (from Michaels or a floral store) and wrap this from the top of your attached wire all the way to the bottom of your 7-8 inch piece. This will make it look like a flower stem and the pipe cleaner will add dimension making it more realistic. If you want to take the extra time and effort, cut leaf shapes out of the left-over florist tape and attach it to the underside of the brooch covering up the pin and wire attached.
4. Carefully place the brooch stems together, fitting them in and alternating heights. As you put it together stop occasionally and wrap some wire or pipe cleaners around the bunch mid-way down the stems to make it extra secure. Continue until you use up all of the brooches and get the fullness desired.
5. Purchase ribbon in the color and thickness you like take this ribbon and wrap it around your gathered bunch of stems, either pinning it in place or hot gluing it. Then add any additional decoration to it as you wish (ie. a bow, crystals, shells, feathers, pearls).
6. Add any other final touches to it as you see fit.

Another excellent source for DIY instructions for this project can be found at Parsonage Events' Blog Post: How To Make A Vintage Brooch Bouquet. They do an excellent step by step instruction along with photos, which is always so very helpful.

Enjoy ♥

{photo credits} Photo One: Noaki Jewelry on Etsy | Photo Two: Noaki Jewelry on Etsy | Photo Three: Monte Cristo's Fine Estate & Antique Jewelry | Photo Four: Destination Weddings & Honeymoons | Photo Five: Alice Hu Photography | Photo Six: Parsonage Events | Photo Seven: Studio del Fiore