DIY Flowers?

[QueenG]

Has anyone here done their own flower arrangements/bouquets/boutonierres? I plan on having a venue that more or less speaks for itself and want my centerpieces to be candles and lanterns, so I really don''t need to do very much as far as flowers go. Just trying to see where I can save money. I love flowers, but I''d rather the money go towards food/being able to invite more guests. I''m thinking of ordering bulk flowers (Sunflowers, Gerbera Dasies), and making bouquets for the bridal party out of 3 sunflowers and ribbon (the bridal party shouldn''t be more than 2 people, plus moms and flower girl). For myself I was thinking of a bunch of orange Gerbera Daisies and using then for the boutonierres too. Any leftover flowers from the bulk orders could be tossed in vases and used on the placecard table, for the ceremony, wherever else we can think of. Would this be too much to take on? Should I just find a florist that can do something this simple or do it myself the day before? Am I asking for trouble? Has anyone here done something like this? Thanks in advance, ladies! You''ve all been such a big help during this proccess, be it through answering my questions or answering someone else''s!

 

[luvthemstrawberries]

I can''t answer this, but I''m hoping to try the same thing and would love to know what other people have to say!

 

[lliang_chi]

I''m no flower expert, but you might want to substitute gerberas for orange roses or something. Gerbera stems aren''t as hardy and a lot of arrangements with tall geberas (that I''ve seen), support the stems by wrapping wire around it. It''s just more work to my (non-expert) opinion. But I''m sure someone else here would be much better to answer your questions.

 

[Clairitek]

Last year I made my friends bridal bouquet, 8 BM bouquets, 10 bouts, and 2 mother''s bouquets. We did them all with roses and used a basic instruction sheet on constructing the bouquets.

I did a quick google search and came up with these instructions on The Knot.

You are in the Philly area, right? I HIGHLY suggest checking out a Produce Junction for your flowers. If you can handle waiting until a few days before your wedding to figure out your blooms it would really work to your advantage. If you want to have something specific there are always wholesale flowers websites. In fact, I''m positive that in the last 6-8 months there have been a couple of DIY flower threads here on PS. I plan on working on some very simple low arrangements for my flowers and heading to PJ a day or two before the wedding to buy them.

The materials we used to make the bouquets for my friend''s wedding were ribbon (whatever color you want), green florist''s tape, and those long straight pins with pearls on the end.

 

[QueenG]

Thanks for the tip, lliang! I wonder how they''d work for a bouquet for me... If they''d be too floppy, I guess I''d have t find another flower in orange that would go nicely with sunflowers.

 

[QueenG]

Yes, Clairitek, I am in the Philly-area. Thanks for the tip about Produce Junction! They always have such gorgeous flowers. I''m not sure if it would work for me since I''m being a little more specific about the flowers I want. I actually had a thought to order flowers through Costco. You should check their site out. They have wedding packages and bulk flowers that can be shipped right to you. Reasonable prices too.

 

[blondebunny]

What I suggest is going to fiftyflowers.com and pricing out how much it would cost you to DIY.. and make to include purchasing shears and other supplies.. and then go to a florist and give them your budget for flowers and see how close they can get to it... if its really close to it.. .maybe $!00 extra I''d say go with the florist because it eliminates the stress for you...

i did that and the florist got me to UNDER what I would have paid myself to do them But i am only having carnations and I got a free bridal bouquet...so that kind of helped with the costs too..

HTH!

 

[Aloros]

I''d say definitely do it if you can get some people to agree to help. It''s a lot of work, but if you split it between several people, it''s not much.

My fiance and I helped put together the boutonierres for my cousin''s wedding. My mom used to work at a florist''s, a long time ago, so she was telling us what to do.

 

[emeraldlover1]

Date: 1/28/2009 6:48:02 PM
Author: blondebunny
What I suggest is going to fiftyflowers.com and pricing out how much it would cost you to DIY.. and make to include purchasing shears and other supplies.. and then go to a florist and give them your budget for flowers and see how close they can get to it... if its really close to it.. .maybe $!00 extra I''d say go with the florist because it eliminates the stress for you...

i did that and the florist got me to UNDER what I would have paid myself to do them But i am only having carnations and I got a free bridal bouquet...so that kind of helped with the costs too..

HTH!

This is EXACTLY what I did. I got a quote from fiftyflowers as well as the florist. We are doing candles, lanterns, and manzanita branches with hanging votives. Let me tell you it was so much more expensive to purchase all that stuff ourselves rather than use a floral designer. I spent 6 months costing all that stuff out and looking at wholesalers and just this week booked my floral designer. This was by far the hardest thing for me to decide on and book. Good luck!

 

[honey22]

Ditto blondebunny, get a few quotes from florists and check your own costs. The florist is likely to get a bulk trade discount and if you keep it simple, their work is minimal, so you won''t be paying tons for labour costs. You may be suprised at how close the professional quote is? I am not sure, but I certainly wouldn''t want to be making my own flowers the morning of the wedding. Doing hair and makeup and pre-wedding pics sounds stressful and hectic enough!!!

 

[QueenG]

The more I think about it, and the more I hear from everyone here, maybe the best bet IS to just price things out and speak to a florist. I really wouldn''t have anyone to help out with bouquets and arrangements, so I''d be doing it all myself. Since I don''t want any pricey flowers to begin with (since the wedding is more casual), it might not be worth the trouble of frantically putting together arrangements the day before.

 

[Octavia]

I think it also depends on whether you have a certain look in mind, or whether you''d be happy with it if your homemade ones don''t turn out exactly right. Just because a bouquet is casual, doesn''t mean it doesn''t take work to get the look right. I''m doing mainly non-floral centerpieces (I described them in the caterer thread) and will be DIY-ing -- but I''m also going for an "organic" look.

FWIW, I''ve been told that Whole Foods will do flowers. The girl who recommended them said she got all of her bouquets, corsages, and buttonieres for about $75 (of course, I don''t remember how many of each there were) and she was really, really happy with the way they turned out. I haven''t actually looked into this option, but I might if I decide to only DIY the centerpieces and not the bouquets and stuff.

 

[QueenG]

What a great idea, Octavia! Whole Foods is actually quite a great source for weddings. A friend had her cake done there a few years back. Not only was it unique and well-designed, it was delicious and relatively inexpensive. Thanks for the tip!

I really don''t mind and actually prefer doing most of the work myself. I love the organic look and would learn more towards that if not for the venue we have in mind pushing us in a different direction. I''ll be doing as much as possible myself, the favors, the centerpieces, whatever I can, it''s just that the flowers can''t be done ahead of time. I don''t really care if things look perfect, I just don''t want the end result to look sloppy and silly (which I could see happening with me frantically trying to finish things up the day before/morning of the wedding!).

 

[lliang_chi]

Hi Lioness,

I''ll be DIY my flowers for my wedding. Definitely the centerpieces, probably the bouquets & bouts as well. We''re planning on getting it all done by Thursday night. My parents have giant coolers (they''re in agriculture/farming) we can use to keep the flowers fresh.

I agree with the PP you definitely need help cutting and stripping the flowers.

 

[Pandora II]

I DIY''d all my flowers - but I have done quite a bit of flower arranging and I roped in 3 friends of my mother''s who are practically professional.

I bought a huge amount of fake ivy on ebay to use as background filler - great as it looks real and you can prepare it in advance for hanging and then sell it afterwards and get some $$$ back.

I mainly used lavender, roses - including some old english country roses, gerberas, daisies and a load of foliage including rosemary and other herbs. The gerberas came pre-wired which was handy.

Ebay supplied all the trays, oasis, tape, wires, ribbons etc

I spent around $600 for two big pedestals, 4 BM bouquets, my bouquet, 14 buttonholes and 8 big arrangements.

For centre-pieces I did tall pedestals with bowls of fruit that cascaded down the sides - they thought I was crazy at the supermarket buying 12 pineapples, 36 oranges, thousands of lemons....

It can be done, but it was a HUGE amount of work - I only got back home with 1.5 hours before the wedding to get my hair and makeup done and into my dress. I also cut my hands really badly on the roses - manicure comes after DIY flowers!

 

[tropiqalkiwi]

Date: 1/29/2009 12:56:17 PM
Author: Lioness
The more I think about it, and the more I hear from everyone here, maybe the best bet IS to just price things out and speak to a florist. I really wouldn''t have anyone to help out with bouquets and arrangements, so I''d be doing it all myself. Since I don''t want any pricey flowers to begin with (since the wedding is more casual), it might not be worth the trouble of frantically putting together arrangements the day before.

I have decided to use a florist for this very reason, there will be other things I want to do the day before my wedding and I won''t have the time to put everything I want together. I think it would be easier if you wanted more of a natural look, like fresh picked flowers, which you could simply gather up and tie off with nice ribbon.

If you do end up buying your own flowers this is simply the best deal I found when searching for bulk flowers.
2G Roses
They have a nice section where you can see which flowers they have available for each season, with a great overall selection.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

I''m not sure where you''re located, but I''ve heard fantastic things about Whole Foods floral department. I''ve seen really nice bouquets there and there prices are quite reasonable. Just a thought!

 

[QueenG]

Hudson_Hawk, this was JUST mentioned in another thread. I am definitely going to look into that!

From reading the responses here, I think it may be best for ME to lean toward a florist doing the work for me. I just don''t think I''d handle the pressure of doing any of this last-minute without any help. Plus, considering the minimal amount of flowers I plan on using, it might not be all that great of an expense.