I Crocheted All Of My Own Wedding Flowers

When I got engaged I knew I wanted very specific flowers for my wedding (lily and black orchid) but refuse to pay hundreds/thousands of dollars for something that will die a day later (and the black orchid is rare). I decided to design and crochet my own flowers. It cost about $150 USD (with shipping to the US) and over three years of my life. Every flower and leaf was crocheted and hand painted by me. I never really tried flower arrangements but I think they all turned out nice.

I have been crocheting off and on for about 15 years and have written many patterns but have only dabbled in crochet flowers. I knew we were planning a long engagement so started right away researching patterns, techniques, and designs. I had found the lily pattern I wanted but none of the orchids were quite what I was looking for so I designed my own.

I was able to experiment and get exactly the look I wanted. It took about three hours to crochet, paint, and assemble each flower. I made four boutonnières, two corsages, seven center pieces, a piano piece, and one bouquet for my Maid-of-Honor. I was going to have my father and stepfather walk me down the aisle so saw no need for a bouquet for myself and intended to make a flowered hairpiece instead.

We set the date in January 2020 to be in August 2020...then COVID-19 shut the world down...including my venue. We were devastated but knew we were not alone. With the longer wait time came more flowers. I added a large piece for the arch. Then, my father passed suddenly. I was heartbroken, he would not be there to walk me down the aisle. I made the decision to make a bridal bouquet and I placed a small pendant with his ashes inside so he could walk me down the aisle.

After one final delay due to COIVD restrictions and my fiancé not being American, we were finally wed in July 2022. After four years of planning and over three years of crocheting, my DIY wedding flowers were on display for all to see. They were a big hit and a lot of them were taken as souvenirs by my guests. My new husband keeps his boutonnière in his office and all wedding participants kept their flowers. I was able to keep my bouquet (with my daddy's ashes), a center piece, and my cake topper as a reminder of the work I did and my special day. I will have them always to treasure the memory.

I posted the final photos on the Reddit crochet thread and got such amazing responses. I thought only those that crocheted would be interested but it spread like wildfire. It is so nice to bring others into the crochet world and see what can be done.