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Amy Balsters

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Hot Tip: My Favorite Way to Bind Bouquets

Today’s topic might not be sexy, but is it flower-saving? Hand-saving? Practical? Yes, yes, yes!

Two of my biggest concerns as a floral designer are efficiency and self-care. I want to operate strategically, quickly, and intentionally. Simultaneously, I want to perform in a way that minimizes stress on my body. 

One small action that has helped me address both of these concerns is modifying the way I bind my bouquets. Seriously. 

Amy Balsters demonstrating a bouquet design

Binding is typically an afterthought. I mean, between sourcing, processing, and designing, binding seems like an unimportant, last minute detail. But here’s why it’s crucial:

  • Overbinding can damage your floral stems, inhibiting water uptake right before showtime or even breaking expensive, irreplaceable stems.
  • Certain binding techniques can create bouquets that are stylistically stiff and don’t allow blooms to move and bounce.
  • Some binding techniques take a lot of time or a lot of material to achieve the necessary support.
  • Excessive binding materials can be difficult to cover with ribbon. 
  • Binding can create additional weight and girth on a bouquet, and bouquets are already exhausting enough to hold! 
  • Uncomplicated binding allows you to stop and come back to a bouquet (without accidentally dismantling it) should it need an edit, a replacement bloom, or if your hand simply needs a break.

See what I mean? 

Amy Balsters making adjustments to a bouquet while a model bride holds it

It is important to acknowledge that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to binding your bouquets. If anything, I think it’s important to have a variety of techniques in your arsenal. These techniques can be applied to the varying needs of bouquet making. 

That being said, there is one technique that stands out amongst the rest. This technique is utilized by flower farmers, wholesalers, and one of my favorite educators (who passed it along to me), Ariella Chezar. It’s beloved for its performance, efficiency, and ease of use! What more could you ask for?

Furthermore, this incredibly uncomplicated technique requires just one inexpensive tool: a rubber band. 

The rubber band technique leverages the woodiest, strongest stem to anchor the whole bouquet. Simply slip the rubber band up the stem to the binding point, then stretch around all the stems once or twice, and then back up the strong stem. Can’t visualize it? No problem! I have a super quick tutorial right here.

This technique has seriously saved me not only time and materials, but has helped prevent the hand pain often associated with designing and handling bouquets. Stylistically, it’s a winner because today’s brides want bouquets that bounce as they walk down the aisle. All in all, it’s a no-brainer hack that makes design that much easier.

A bride holds a beautiful pink, blush, and lavender bouquet

Want to learn more about this and other binding techniques? I cover all my go-tos in my Bouquet Bootcamp® Online Course as well as my Bouquet Bootcamp® Hands On Workshop (get on the waitlist here)!

Let me know if you try the rubber band binding technique, or if you have another favorite to share!

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