Floristry

After seeing the prices quoted for someone else to create my wedding flowers I am refusing!!  And am going to night classes to learn how to do them myself!

Well, if I'm spending that much money on flowers I may as well get some personal benefit from it.

Anyone else into floristry, table decorations, bouquets etc?

I was a professional florist for about 5 years. Good for you for learning to make things yourself! It really is a useful skill if you're looking to save money on things like weddings, grad parties, anniversaries, etc. Heh, I totally understand where you're coming from with the wedding flower pricing - they charge ridiculous amounts and they almost all charge roughly the same thing. And more if you live in certain areas of the country. It's just insane.

But yeah! Good luck! My only advice to you for making your own wedding flowers is I would recommend going with silk flowers instead of real ones unless you have a giant cooler to keep them in. Not only is it cheaper, it's going to save you a TON of hassel with trying to keep them alive. You also don't want to be making a million centerpieces and handboquets the day before your wedding  - trust me, your fingernails/hands will thank you.

Good luck!

We recently had a vow renewal ceremony in celebration of our 25th wedding anniversary and we did it all over with the original bridal part (minus one unfortunately).  Anyway a couple of nights before the ceremony we cracked open a bottle of wind and had a couple of people over to help make all the bouquets and boutinniers for the bridal party.  We used silk flowers which all looked beautiful (and still do incidently), and made everything.  I didn't know a thing about it but the daughter of a friend of ours did and she organized it all so we had a great time and came up with beautiful bouquets.  Congrats and many years of happiness!

I got married in April, and the same thing for me.  When the florist told me it would cost $100 for 10 calla lilies tied with a satin ribbon (the ribbon I found at an antique store) I said to hell with it, I'll do it my self.  I ordered my flowers, lilies and roses, from a websites called rosesource.com and growersbox.com.  I was able to get 150 calla lilies for $100 from these sites.  They came Fedex three days before my wedding. 

We had to trim them and get them in water immediately because they are packed dry and in the very early stages of blooming.  We put them in front of our south facing (not direct sublight), large, bay window and they were perfect for the big day!

Before they came, I did a lot of google searches and watched a lot of YouTube tutorials on how to make a bouquet.  My groomsmen didn't wear flowers, they wore small wire sculptures I made months before the wedding.  Our moms, grandma's, and personal attendants wore beaded broaches I also made months in advance.  I can certainly get you pictures if you would like.  

Very doable.  I did all my own 17 years ago, silk, and completed at least a week before the wedding. 

There are a lot of really interesting things you can do for the table centerpieces. Depending what season your wedding is...For instance, I have seen pumpkins and gourds for Fall, small live and potted decorated Christmas trees for Christmas, large glass bowls filled with ... dried flowers, or seashells (for a beach wedding), Christmas balls, pine cones, etc. I have also seen huricane lanterns. Personally, I can't stand great big over the top flower arrangements where you can see over the table!! For my daughter's wedding we bought these iron candle things that have a glass "vase" thing in the middle on sale at Joanne's. We put a votive light in each of the six "holders" and fresh flowers in the middle that didn't have to be arranged. It was great. We have reused these for other parties and weddings! Weddings have become so OVER THE TOP--simple is better with good music and a fun time! Good luck.

I am a wedding planner in Cabo and know exactly where you are coming from. Flowers here have to be imported either from the mainland or from Holland, which sometimes means higher prices...

I have to be honest - I cringe whenever I hear 'silk flowers' or 'I'll make my own' just because I've seen really bad creations... and because most who choose this route do not know what they are doing.. So, good for you for taking a class and not winging it!!

An additional recommendation, try to have your mother, sister, MIL, MOH or one of your bridesmaids attend the classes with you. Come wedding week/day, you will have someone who 'knows' what needs to be done even if you are not there to tell them how! this is super important... delegate! it breaks my heart when I see brides trying to do everything themselves a few days before the wedding - it's just not worth the stress.

Are you taking any other projects on? let me know if you would like ideas for centerpieces and decorations.. =) I LOVE weddings and..

Original Post by alibsam:

I would recommend going with silk flowers instead of real ones

I think silk flowers look incredibly cheap. You can get a deal ordering real flowers in bulk.

Lol, I thought that too until I couldn't afford the real ones and saw what could be done with high quality silk flowers.  I've already had portraits done and they look absolutely real and are stunning...  Also, sunnybra, I'm not sure what your wedding plans are, (I'm getting married Oct. 11th) but I'm doing ALOT of stuff myself.  By the time I got to the flowers, I just couldn't fit them in.  I'm not sure what florists you talked with, but just a bit of advice: try talking to the florists who work in arts and crafts stores (Hobby Lobby, Fads and Frames, Michael's, etc.)  I found my florist at Fads and Frames and she's only charging cost of materials plus 50% for labor.  Since I found all of my flowers on sale, total cost for 6 boutineres (sp?) and 6 bouquets was under $100.  Good Luck!

GOOD FOR YOU!

I was actually going to do my wedding flowers until a family friend suggested we call her neighbor.  The woman ran a business out of her home and did everything VERY affordably.  When my grandmother-in-law fell ill the week before the wedding, she even overnighted a corsage to Grammy B so she could wear it in thought of us since she couldn't make the trip. 

My thoughts are, weddings are very expensive and anything you can do to make things less expensive, GO FOR IT.

Best wishes!

Original Post by caverlady:

We recently had a vow renewal ceremony in celebration of our 25th wedding anniversary and we did it all over with the original bridal part (minus one unfortunately).  Anyway a couple of nights before the ceremony we cracked open a bottle of wind and had a couple of people over to help make all the bouquets and boutinniers for the bridal party. 

Ha! I had all sorts of funny images running through my head with that typo. (Breaking the wind, etc...)

This is a great thread. I'm getting all sorts of good ideas for my July 25 wedding. I love just plain bunches of flowers arranged simply in vases. I may do a combination deal where I have a florist do the more complicated bits and we can do the centerpieces.

Hi Everyone, thanks for the replies, V_avila, please feel free to send me ideas for anything!!  Class starts next week and I am really looking forward to it.

My wedding is blue and my plan for the flowers is that they will be based around white roses and blue delphs and freesias, that might change the more I learn but they are the pictures that i like.

My bouquet is (hopefully) going to be a shower with the roses and trailing ivy and diamantes.

I actually did the same thing and took classes at a local community college so I could arrange flowers for my wedding. It wasn't too expensive and there were actually a couple other brides in the class doing the same.

I was able to put together some nifty arrangements for my wedding: centerpieces, bouquets, boutonnieres, and other floral decorations for the reception. I used roses, lilies, hydrangea, calla lilies, rose petals, greens, iris, and a whole lot of other flowers. I stopped at a local wholesaler but they didn't carry all the flowers I needed. So I ended up ordering from www.wholeblossoms.com which ended up working out better. I figured I saved about $2,000 than from having a florist put together everything and so since I had time, it was worth it. Good luck!

Hi Jenn,

Thanks for the post, this was a very old one of mine but strange timing as my wedding is this Friday!

So...  What did you end up doing with the flowers?

I employed a florist to do the table decorations because of time constraints and I didn't want to use silks.  I am amking tomorrow the top table, 3 bridesmaids bouquets and my shower bouquet from Calla Lillies, Roses and Lisanthus.