If you’re a bride dreaming of a wedding bouquet that feels meaningful, personal, and beautifully simple, designing your own dried flower bouquet might be just the path for you. Dried flowers are not only long-lasting and sustainable, but they carry a handmade charm that fresh blooms just can’t match. For Ontario brides, especially those who love gardening or crafting, creating your own bouquet is completely doable—with the right planning.
Plan Ahead: Growing and Drying Your Own Wedding Flowers
To grow and dry your own wedding flowers, you’ll need to start at least a year and a half in advance. That timeline gives you one full growing season to harvest from, and the following months to dry, store, and experiment with your designs.
Best Flowers to Grow for Drying
Here are some tried-and-true flowers that grow well in Ontario and retain their beauty when dried:
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Strawflower (Helichrysum) – papery blooms in a rainbow of colours
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Statice – strong stems and vivid purples, pinks, and whites
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Yarrow – adds structure and soft colour tones
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Amaranth – dramatic texture and movement
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Celosia – velvety and unique shapes
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Gomphrena – bright and cheerful globe-like flowers
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Everlasting daisies – dainty and classic
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Lavender – fragrant and elegant
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Nigella (Love-in-a-Mist) – seedpods add whimsy and texture
You can find seeds for these flowers through Canadian seed companies that specialize in cut flowers. I recommend Stems Flower Farm for high-quality seeds grown with our climate in mind.
Drying Tips
After harvesting, flowers should be dried in small bundles, hung upside down in a dark, dry space with good airflow. Most blooms take 2–4 weeks to fully dry. You’ll want to avoid moisture or light to preserve their colour and shape.
Buying Dried Flowers Instead
If you don’t have the time or space to grow your own flowers, don’t worry—there are plenty of places where you can purchase dried blooms by the bunch. Look for:
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Local flower farms – Many Ontario growers (including myself!) offer dried blooms in late summer and fall.
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Etsy Canada – A great marketplace for small-scale sellers with unique varieties.
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Afloral – afloral.com
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Botanique Workshop – botaniqueworkshop.com
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West Elm Canada – westelm.ca
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Amazon Canada – amazon.ca
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Twyla’s Flower Farm – twylasflowerfarm.com
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Craft stores – Michaels often carries preserved florals year-round
And of course, if you're looking for naturally grown dried flowers from my farm near Toronto, Ontario, I’d love to help you. You can find more about what I offer for weddings on my dried wedding flowers page.
Learning to Build the Bouquet
If you’re new to floral arranging, don’t worry—there are some great video tutorials online that walk you through the process of building a dried bouquet from start to finish. Here are a few I recommend watching:
These videos cover techniques like spiraling your stems, creating shape and movement, and how to finish your bouquet with ribbon or twine.
Final Thoughts
Creating your own dried flower bouquet is a beautiful way to connect with your wedding day on a deeper level. Whether you grow your blooms from seed or source them from trusted suppliers, you’ll end up with something that reflects your hands, your heart, and your unique style.
If you’re planning to DIY your bouquet and need help choosing flowers or sourcing the right stems, feel free to reach out—I’m always happy to share advice from the field.
