flowers

[staceybelle]

Anyone do their own? If so, would you characterize that as a good idea or a bad one?

I''ve been looking at www.freshroses.com, and it seems that if I ordered flowers from them and arranged them myself (with some willing helpers), I could do everything (church, bouquets, bouts, corsages, reception) for around $750. Too good to be true? Is this going to be a much larger undertaking than I realize? Right now it seems like it would be fun, but I''m wondering if it''ll seem like an enormous chore the Thursday before my Saturday wedding.

If you have a Monday morning quarterback perspective on this, I''d love to hear about your experience.

 

[sarie_j]

Hopefully sparkel will chime in here - she''s a florist and gave me some really good information. The one thing I will say is that there are flower wholesalers with much lower prices, just search for wholesale flowers - some come with wedding packages where the bouquets and some of the arrangements are predone and everything.

Before you plan on doing this really try to read up on it -- There were tons of things that I never even thought of, also you have to take into consideration the type of flower you''ll be working with and how well it will hold up to handling. It''s definitely doable, and I still plan to, it''s just there is way more involved than I ever realized.

 

[neatfreak]

My parents are florists and there are a number of things to consider before you decide to DIY.

1. How many other DIY projects do you have for the days before the wedding? If you enjoy doing crafts and it is worth it to you, go for it. If you have many other DIY projects, are on a tight time crunch, or don't like crafts, don't do it.


2. Do you have a good place to store the flowers before? I ask because you generally need to get them a few days before in order to give time for the buds to open. They should be stored in a cool (but not cold) place for maximum freshness.


3. What kind of arrangements do you want? If you want low simple arrangements in a vase and are not too picky about perfection, DIY. If you want fancy or tall, it might be best to let a pro do it.

4. How big is your wedding and how many flower bouquets, centerpieces, etc. do you need to make? If it's a small wedding with few tables and easy flowers, it's much easier to handle than a big fancy wedding.

5. You also need to take into consideration that mistakes will be made. Thus, you should make sure to purchase quite a few more flowers than you will actually need. This is so that you can feel like it's ok to make mistakes and won't feel like you will run out of flowers if you do. Things happen, be prepared.

In addition, I also want to add that even online "wholesalers" (I use quotes here because anyone who sells to a consumer is NOT a wholesaler. To really purchase flowers at a wholesale price you need to have an appropriate tax ID) charge a significant markup.

If by chance you know of anyone with an appropriate Tax ID you can go to the local flower market and look around and you will see that even your "wholesalers" are charging a big markup. My mom thinks that all the flowers for my entire wedding (and that is one place I am not scrimping for obvious reasons) will cost no more than $300 and that is if I pick fancy flowers (it is a 75-100 person wedding). If I go cheap (i.e., gerbera daisies, etc.) she thinks it won't cost more than $100-150. So with a little looking, you might be able to do better on the "wholesaler" price.

Or at a minimum, knowing that even the wholesalers are marking up, you might be able to find a local florist to do your stuff for not too much more $$$ than the wholesaler. If you have Stop and Shop near you, they actually have done flowers for a few weddings I have been to and they have been gorgeous! And cheap.

Basically, it's only worth the savings if the savings compensate you for the headache of dealing with it. If not, get a pro.

I'll try and find some cheaper online places for you if I can...

 

[neatfreak]

I forgot about proflowers. They have some wedding packages that have some things already completed for you and their prices are certainly reasonable depending on what type of flowers you want.

Try this: http://home.proflowers.com/wedding/index.cfm

Flowerbud.com has decent prices on some flowers too...

I''ll keep looking for you!

 

[So_happy]

Sam''s club has the absolute best prices I''ve been able to find thus far on roses, tulips, hydrangeas, and even orchids. Have a look

 

[sarie_j]

Sorry about my post apparently being confusing -

I work, so my employer gave me the tax-id number to use for the wholesale pricing -- I assumed that most of the people on here work and therefore their company would also have a tax-id number they could use -- maybe not, although I can't imagine why as it's a government requirement for anyone who employs others; for legal purposes anyway -

It also goes without saying that most of us understand the term "wholesaler" as it is a relatively simple English word...

Now that I re-read my post, it doesn't really seem confusing... Hmm...

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 3/26/2007 6:30:14 AM
Author: sarie_j
Sorry about my post apparently being confusing -


I work, so my employer gave me the tax-id number to use for the wholesale pricing -- I assumed that most of the people on here work and therefore their company would also have a tax-id number they could use -- maybe not, although I can't imagine why as it's a government requirement for anyone who employs others; for legal purposes anyway -


It also goes without saying that most of us understand the term 'wholesaler' as it is a relatively simple English word...


Now that I re-read my post, it doesn't really seem confusing... Hmm...

I am not 100% sure, but fairly sure that to buy wholesale you need to have a retailers tax ID, not just a business tax ID. Unless you have a business that buys wholesale to sell retail, I don't think you can go to the flower markets and buy. But I might be mistaken.

My point was simply that she can get a much better price than many of the online companies that call themselves "wholesalers" who are not really. NOT that your post was confusing.

And many people are confused by the term wholesaler when so many diamond retailers are calling themselves wholesalers to their clients. There have been many threads on that here, so many people ARE confused about what it really means to be a wholesaler.

 

[qtiekiki]

In addition to some of the things mentioned, it will also depend on how crafty you and your helpers are. That will determine both the quality and the time involved. I was a floral designer and now I occasionally freelance for friends & family & their referrals. It takes me about 15-20 mins to make a centerpiece that ~ 8" - 9" in diameter (to give you an idea of time). I think it could be fun if you enjoy making things, otherwise it can be a drag and stressful. I did my own wedding flowers, but I skipped floral centerpieces because I feel like it''s too much work (for 25 tables and no help). You kind of have to weigh out the pro and con for yourself since every situation is different.

 

[sparkel]

I think that a lot of the posts that have been done address many of the things that I would have said. I think that the other thing I have to add is that if you do decide to DIY then you reallly should do a test run to make sure that your vision can be achieved. In addition I also think that you need to research the types of flowers that you want and their special care considerations.

The other very big downside is the wear and tear on your hands. If you have spent money doing manicures etc floral design will really wreck your hands. The process tends to leave dirt and green stains on your hands that can be hard to remove. Floral design is something that needs to happen last minute and therefore I think would be a source of stress. Personally I will not do my own wedding flowers when my turn comes because I just don''t want that kind of hassle that close to my wedding I think there will be other things I want to worry about.

If you do a search about some of my other posts I have given detailed instructions about how to DIY though if you are interested.

Rebecca

 

[staceybelle]

Oooh, I did not think at all about the work tearing up my hands. Good point.