I have a treasured friend … her daughter was getting married, and I was honored and excited to be creating French beaded flowers for the event.
If you have seen a large beaded flower, you know it can be quite heavy. Those tiny little beads, when wired together to create a flower, become quite difficult to carry for longer than a few minutes. 
Wedding bouquets of beaded flowers are stunning, without a doubt. But to hold them for hours – not a good idea. We decided to feature just one large beaded flower in the bouquet of fresh blossoms.
Jen chose Gerbera daisies for her bouquet. It’s a wonderful choice, and currently quite popular among brides. The bouquet was amazing; bright and cheerful, yet quite elegant at the same time. I like to think that the big fuchsia beaded Gerbera, placed in the center, was part of the reason her flowers received rave reviews! And the beaded Gerbera became a lasting keepsake of the cherished memory of her wedding.
I used metallic fuchsia 3-cut beads and brown seed beads for the large center, all wired to a flat mesh disc. The layers of petals were created with 11/0 glass seed beads, and the flower was assembled onto three stem wires to support the weight of all those beads.
For some fun and fancy, I used Delica silk finish beads to create some romantic daisies for Jen’s hair. They looked wonderful; their satiny sheen sparkling in the light against the beautiful red of her hair. Being cylindrical in shape, Delicas don’t normally work well in French beaded flowers, but in this case they looked great!
Best wishes to you, Jen and John. May your future together be filled with endless joy and love, and perhaps now and then a sprinkling of beaded flowers.
The flowers are still just as beautiful as they were that day. I have saved my daisy in my curio cabinet so that I will be able to enjoy it for a very long time. It still amazes me that you have the patience to create these beatiful works of art!
I made my whole bridal bouquet, bridesmaid bouquet and two boutonnieres with french beaded flowers. Although it was a RIDICULOUS amount of work, I have it as a display piece. When I was thinking about taking it apart to make a display with the flowers, my husband objected, saying that he wanted that bouquet to remain intact.
I had a lot of leftover beads and decided to design and sell some french beaded flower items at a school fair coming up. I’ve gotten very positive reviews from coworkers.
Maki, I believe I’ve seen photos of your wedding flowers … they are beautiful indeed!