Bouquet: Would You Make Your Own if You Know How?

[LilyOfTheValley]

Let's say that you have taken classes and have experiences in Floriculture and floral arrangements, would you make your own bouquet?

Do you think doing that would even save much money at all?

I don't even know how much a bridal bouquet costs, actually.

 

[Inanna]

Yes, if I had the floral experience I would absolutely make my own bouquet! Actually, I have no experience whatsoever, and I''m still considering it.

I just received a floral quote and the bridemaids bouquets alone, which consist only of ivory roses and red calla lilies, are $175 each. Maybe its just a crazy expensive quote I received, but I''d imagine A LOT of money could be saved regardless.

 

[lliang_chi]

Yes we are DIYing all flowers. I don''t have experience but my mom does.

 

[musey]

Date: 3/10/2009 6:42:57 PM
Author:LilyOfTheValley
I don''t even know how much a bridal bouquet costs, actually.

Depends on your area, the flowers you want and whether they''re in season, and the markup of the florist (which depends on how ''high-end'' it is). Mine was about $200, if I recall correctly.

I don''t think you have to have taken classes in order to make a bouquet. If you know what you think looks good, you probably just need a bit of guidance in wrapping it.

If you have access to a wholesale floral district like we have in LA, it could potentially save you a LOT of money, I''m sure.

The biggest issue for me, and the primary reason why I didn''t do my bouquet (because I love doing floral arrangements), is that it has to be done somewhat last-minute and I just did NOT want to have to deal with that the day or two before the wedding.

 

[brooklyngirl]

Date: 3/10/2009 7:15:52 PM
Author: musey

Date: 3/10/2009 6:42:57 PM

Author:LilyOfTheValley

I don''t even know how much a bridal bouquet costs, actually.

Depends on your area, the flowers you want and whether they''re in season, and the markup of the florist (which depends on how ''high-end'' it is). Mine was about $200, if I recall correctly.


I don''t think you have to have taken classes in order to make a bouquet. If you know what you think looks good, you probably just need a bit of guidance in wrapping it.


If you have access to a wholesale floral district like we have in LA, it could potentially save you a LOT of money, I''m sure.


The biggest issue for me, and the primary reason why I didn''t do my bouquet (because I love doing floral arrangements), is that it has to be done somewhat last-minute and I just did NOT want to have to deal with that the day or two before the wedding.

Ditto.

 

[Gypsy]

I used to be a florist. I could have made nearly everything I ordered with the right equipment. But I also wanted a lot of flowers at my wedding as they were very important to me, and the sheer scale of it was NOT going to happen.

Did NOT want to deal with it. And my GOD am I happy I outsourced everything I could. The couple of days before the wedding we had enough to do, we cut out some stuff cause we just didn't get to it. I can't imagine having had to do the flowers too.

I think it depends on your personality. I am a CONTROL FREAK. I buy a bouquet of flowers for my house every week. Every week I fuss with the things everytime I walk buy them. Tweak them, play with them. If I arrange them, I fuss with them. And I knew if I made my bouquet I would have been fixated on the stupid thing all day long and fiddling with it.

I did do a LOT of florist research. Found the right one for me, and loved, loved, loved my flowers and got them for 1/2 the price they would have cost me elsewhere.

If you want something simple... Safeway. They do nice bouquets. If you are flexible on what you want and colors, find out if the florist is having another wedding that day, or the day before and just ask them to use the same flowers for you... that way you get the buy in bulk savings the florist can pass onto you.


Mine cost 150, but I used a lot of expensive flowers.

FYI-- Innana mini callas are pricey little monsters, so if you had a high qoute... that's why.

 

[mintve]

Date: 3/10/2009 7:21:53 PM
Author: brooklyngirl

Date: 3/10/2009 7:15:52 PM
Author: musey

Date: 3/10/2009 6:42:57 PM

Author:LilyOfTheValley

I don''t even know how much a bridal bouquet costs, actually.

Depends on your area, the flowers you want and whether they''re in season, and the markup of the florist (which depends on how ''high-end'' it is). Mine was about $200, if I recall correctly.


I don''t think you have to have taken classes in order to make a bouquet. If you know what you think looks good, you probably just need a bit of guidance in wrapping it.


If you have access to a wholesale floral district like we have in LA, it could potentially save you a LOT of money, I''m sure.


The biggest issue for me, and the primary reason why I didn''t do my bouquet (because I love doing floral arrangements), is that it has to be done somewhat last-minute and I just did NOT want to have to deal with that the day or two before the wedding.

Ditto.

DITTO!!

I did the flowers my mom and my sister when they got married. It was fun, but not a very relaxing way to spend the day before your wedding. Its a lot of work. It you really want to do it, there are websites like www.fiftyflowers.com

 

[Clairitek]

I made all rose bouquets last winter for a friend of mine. It wasn''t hard at all. We used instructions printed from a website but to be honest I can imagine that I would have been able to do it without the instructions. We used floral tape, ribbon, straight pins with pearl beads on the end, and good flower shears. The bst piece of advice I can offer (and Gypsy, correct me if I am wrong) is to start arranging from the middle out. With each bouquet I made I did this and they turned out nicely arranged.

I plan on doing my own flowers. My potential venue will need little to no floral decor. I am seriously considering doing mostly candlelight. I do plan on making my own bouquet but I am really flexible on what flowers go in there. I plan on going to a wholesaler just before my wedding and picking stuff up.

 

[Lynnie]

I plan on doing my flowers the day before. I used to work at a florist throughout college, and my mom still works there, as the bookkeeper/office person. It also helps that the shop is 2 blocks away from my apartment!
I don''t think I''d wanna do my own without the shop at my disposal... the flowers must be kept cool in a fridge to prevent them from wilting. I don''t think I''d have enough space to store them. Plus, my kitchen would get really messy, and my cat would have a barf-fest... he loves leaves, but his belly doesn''t!
I am only planning on making my bouquet and the BM''s. And I''ll let them deal with the centerpieces, corsages and bouts. But I''ll be there to oversee it all. Like Gypsy, I can be a control freak too, especially when it comes to flowers.
I can''t wait though... I think it''ll be fun!

 

[elrohwen]

Umm ... probably not, actually. First, I'm not very DIY nor very creative, so that is probably part of it. But maybe if I took a class my creativity with flowers would be much better? Hard to say.

Mostly I wouldn't do it because I don't want to be doing anything leading up to the wedding. I just want everything to be in place so I can show up and have fun (I know this isn't 100% realistic, but I'm trying to make it a reality!) It's kind of my wedding gift to myself

 

[galvana]

"IF" it would save me money then yes, i would make my own

 

[aliceinwonderland]

I could definately do all my own flowers (I worked for 10 years in the industry) and there is no WAY that I would do my own. It''s way too much last minute stress. What happens if the flowers arrive and they are of poor quality (it happens) and to top it off your hands may end up stained and rough from handling roses and etc. I think honestly you are paying for a professional service it''s worth it for me. Yes you can likely do it but be prepared for last minute mishaps and if you are the type of person that can handle that then go ahead. I would be in the same boat as gypsy!

Alice

 

[Elmorton]

A friend of mine is DIYing her flowers - I just found out, because as a member of the bridal party, apparently, we''ve all been enlisted to help.

I hate to say this after Alice''s post, because I''m afraid of sounding cocky, but I''m not too worried about it. At both of my weddings (well, wedding and blessing), my flowers were a complete mess, and I ended up re-doing the bouquets (the first was about an hour before the wedding and was just some simple re-tying, and the second was about 10 minutes before - as in, the priest came into the kitchen to find me to let me know that it was time to process, and I was re-tying my bouquet, taking out filler, and pulling off the browned tips of the flowers).

If the bouquet is complicated (like lots of different types of delicate flowers) and the bride has a very certain shape or style in mind, then I''d say it''s really best to have a professional do it, but in my case, the first time I had wildflowers and the second I had long stemmed calla lilies, and both were absolutely manageable.

I''m not at all worried about helping my friend with her flowers - I think it will turn out fine (but then again, those might be famous last words, we''ll see..)

 

[LilyOfTheValley]

Date: 3/11/2009 5:02:45 PM
Author: Elmorton
A friend of mine is DIYing her flowers - I just found out, because as a member of the bridal party, apparently, we''ve all been enlisted to help.


I hate to say this after Alice''s post, because I''m afraid of sounding cocky, but I''m not too worried about it. At both of my weddings (well, wedding and blessing), my flowers were a complete mess, and I ended up re-doing the bouquets (the first was about an hour before the wedding and was just some simple re-tying, and the second was about 10 minutes before - as in, the priest came into the kitchen to find me to let me know that it was time to process, and I was re-tying my bouquet, taking out filler, and pulling off the browned tips of the flowers).


If the bouquet is complicated (like lots of different types of delicate flowers) and the bride has a very certain shape or style in mind, then I''d say it''s really best to have a professional do it, but in my case, the first time I had wildflowers and the second I had long stemmed calla lilies, and both were absolutely manageable.


I''m not at all worried about helping my friend with her flowers - I think it will turn out fine (but then again, those might be famous last words, we''ll see..)

Not cocky at all! It made me feel a little better, actually. Lol.

 

[Smurfysmiles]

never ever
i used to work in a floral shop and i know all that goes into that and i dont want to deal with up to a week before the wedding (i dont know why everyone is saying the day before, where i worked we just kept them in the floral fridge for a day or two before the wedding, then again i worked in a grocery floral)

id rather focus my attention elsewhere like my awesome fiance and our family

 

[redfaerythinker]

I''m all for DIY but I wouldn''t do the flowers purely because they have to be done last minute, and i''m a bit of a perfectionist. So i''m not going to borrow trouble. lol

 

[DMBFiredancer]

nope.

that would mean one more thing for me to worry about the day before the wedding.

i'm all about having as little to worry about as possible that close to gametime