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Felt and paper bouquets are super popular for good reason — they're fucking awesome! And you can keep them around a hell of a lot longer than real flowers. But I am here to tell you that there are oh so many more options for your alternative bouquet. Believe it or don't, but 25 is just a fraction of the examples we've got squirreled away on Offbeat Bride in our non-floral bouquet archive.
You want metal? Sure — copper or iron? Or maybe you want seashells? Twigs? Holiday ornaments? EGGS? You want to go super old-school with a sheaf of wheat?! We got you covered, y'all. Love a particular bouquet? Click on its photo to read the full post about the wedding it came from!
Maps and feathers and buttons, oh my!
Hand-embroidered felt flowers last forever.
Holiday lights and ornaments for a festive bouquet.
Accessorize your feathers with Swarovski crystals.
Romantic and ethereal: colored-glass, starry lanterns.
Egg bouquets make for a fun nod to fertility or, heck, how much you love breakfast.
Barbie dolls in ball gowns are a poofy bouquet alternative!
Your DIY brooch bouquet tutorial awaits you.
A sheaf of wheat is one of the oldest wedding bouquets in history.
Foodie bouquet alert! Herbs and fiddleheads and artichokes and kale.
Welded copper flowers for when you need something a little more durable than paper and felt.
Crocheted roses = cuddly bouquet.
Wire bouquets. Less cuddly but AWESOME.
Peppermint lollipops are a delicious bouquet any time of the year!
Flower cookies onna stick — share with your groom if you're feeling generous.
Spices for everyone! Say it with anise.
Slip a sexy lil pink feather fan on your wrist.
WEDDING MUFF. Embroidered, for extra pretty.
Who doesn't love pinwheels? NOBODY.
Don't feel like crocheting or knitting? Carry the yarn balls, yo.
Airplant bouquet for an airy alternative. (No? Too much?)
We've seen lollipops and peppermint sticks and cookies. How about suckers?
Who's saying YES to a non-floral bouquet for their wedding? Tell us what you'll carry… or twirl or spin or brandish?
SO awesome! I’m also a huge fan of using raw cotton. So affordable & looks so organic & unique!
Just remember to properly shellack the lollipops if you go that route (or maybe not take them out of the wrappers at all)– I had a bride use lollipops for her bouquet & it was a melted mess before the ceremony even began. Her dress was spared, but her bridesmaids were covered in syrup!
Ooo! Really great tip, NoraSpect, thanks!
I made all of our flowers out of the first few chapters of “Return of the King”. (Used library book I rescued from the dumpster. I would never harm new/wanted books!) I had a very large rose attached to a sonic screwdriver with a pocket watch wrapped around it for my bouquet, a rose attached to my MoH’s belt, a smaller plain rose on a pin for the Best Man, and a rose with leaves attached for my husband. The only cost for the flowers (I owned almost everything I used from previous crafts) was the $11 sonic screwdriver. (Pocket watches were given to every member of the bridal party. On sale 4 for $20!)
Side view of bouquet. Yes, it does light up!
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My bouquet will be made out of silk flowers made by a company called Fellow Flowers. All of their hair flowers have a specific meaning depending on what color they are. They are popular in the running community which is how I found them. My bouquet will be made of silver, red and one Magenta flower. Silver is their “silver lining” flower. Red is strength. The Magenta means “worthy”. Perfect meaning for my bouquet for my second marriage.
I really, really thought about doing lanterns instead of flowers (I have a collection). But then I found these awesome gold/glitter fake leaves at Joann’s in the Christmas floral stuff, and ran with that. So everyone’s going to be shedding glitter all day (I can’t wait!).
The egg one is so clever! I love it. I thought about doing a pine cone one since we got married in winter, but ended up with a fabric flower one instead. Love the ingenuity of these!
I did my own brooch bouquet, and it was a lot easier than I thought it would hem especially when I decided to use some silk hydrangeas as a form underneath. It was perfect!
A lot of great ideas here! I especially love the wheat sheaf–if I didn’t have allergies I might even steal that one. I decided a while ago that beaded flowers were what I wanted for my bouquet when the time comes. Read a few tutorials (including the one here on OBB), made a few prototypes, and now I’m planning to make them all myself.
My wire bouquet (pictured above) still sits on my dresser and I get to admire it every day
One of my coworkers made flowers out of coffee filters and they looked amazing.I’m actually thinking about doing that now.
These are all adorable! I plan to carry a completely edible “salad bouquet” that a friend and I will make that morning.
My bouquet (and that of my girls) was made of candy corn and white melting chocolate. It was AWESOME (and time consuming…and I’m pretty sure I don’t want to eat candy corn ever again!)