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does anyone have any real pics of Allure 8908

Destination/remote brides especially (but anyone can weigh in): DIY flowers?

posted 3 months ago in Destination Weddings
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    1.
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    Busy bee
    Over the Moon    December 31, 2012  

    We are eloping overseas, and I will be doing my own flowers. It just seems easier than trying to coordinate from stateside with a European vendor, not seeing anything ahead of time, language barrier, etc. My flowers will just be my bouquet (a pomander) and his boutonniere.

    I was thinking I would just take all the supplies with me--oasis form for the pomander, floral tape, wire, ribbon, etc.--and the day before the wedding go to a florist and buy whatever loose flowers look nice. Then put together the pomander/bout either the day before or the day of.

    Is this naive? Do I need to plan more ahead of time? And should I bring fake flower arrangements with me in case this doesn't work? I really want the flowers to be fresh...

     
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    Busy bee
    Over the Moon    December 31, 2012  

    Bump... anyone?

     
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    Busy bee
    zagora    May 5, 2012   Washington, DC

    @Over the Moon:  That has to be possible.  Are you getting married in a city?

     
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    Busy bee
    Over the Moon    December 31, 2012  

    @zagora:  Not really. We are flying into Reykjavik, which is a big city, but then going to our site which is fairly remote.

     
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    Bumble bee
    MadameTussaud    December 2, 2012   Las Vegas

    I'm assuming you've been to Iceland before, or have family there (or hopefully a friend or two)?  My FI and I were just there in November and don't remember seeing a single fresh flower there... Iceland isn't affluent in the foliage department in general, but we also stayed in a very touristy area with backpackers, so maybe that's why we didn't see any flower shops?  We didn't notice any flowers in the grocery stores, either, but again were in a more touristy area.  Sorry I can't help more, I just remember thinking the whole time that Iceland was nothing like any other European country I've been to!  

    Do you know where you'll be staying yet?  If so, maybe contact the front desk person of the hotel and ask if they know where a flower shop is near there?  

     
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    Busy bee
    Over the Moon    December 31, 2012  

    @MadameTussaud:  Thanks! No, we don't know anyone there and we haven't been there before. I guess we are pretty brave, or foolish, or a little of both. :) I heard that there are flower shops in Reykjavik, but the hotel we'll be at is fairly remote. I was thinking we would stop by a flower shop in Reykjavik the day we arrive before making our way to our wedding site.

    It's starting to sound like I definitely need a backup plan, fake flowers or a brooch bouquet or sumthin'.

     
    6.
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    Busy bee
    zagora    May 5, 2012   Washington, DC

    @Over the Moon:  I guess *that* would be my concern.  What about buying Real Touch flowers (I think their callas would travel best) in case you can't find flowers?

    They look pretty dang realistic and wouldn't break the bank...

    http://www.save-on-crafts.com/geretofl.html

     
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    Busy bee
    Over the Moon    December 31, 2012  

    @zagora:  Wow, thank you for that link--those are beautiful!

     
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    Bumble bee
    MadameTussaud    December 2, 2012   Las Vegas

    @Over the Moon:  Yeah, I'd highly recommend a backup plan.  The other thing to note is which day your wedding will be on... just about everything is closed on Sundays.  Everything.  Even the restaurants didn't open til at least 11am, most opened after noon.  Finding breakfast was a joy!  =op  Trees are pretty sparse in Iceland, so I'm going to guess that any flowers you do find will have been imported at a pretty high price (and everything there was pretty damn expensive anyway!)  

     
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    Busy bee
    Over the Moon    December 31, 2012  

    @MadameTussaud:  Wow, good to know. Yeah, the place we're staying for the first half of our trip, a buffet breakfast is something nutty like 17 euro extra per person. We're arriving on a Wednesday and getting married the day after, on a Thursday. I guess I will have to call a florist or two to make sure they'll be open on Wednesday. Thank you!

     
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    Bumble bee
    MadameTussaud    December 2, 2012   Las Vegas

    @Over the Moon:  A Thursday shouldn't be a problem with them being open, hopefully, but during the week we noticed that a lot of places opened around 9 or 10am and were closed by 6pm.  We quickly learned that we needed to eat dinner by 6pm to have more options!  There are some restaurants open later, so don't stress about that too much, but regular retail stores were definitely closed down by then.  Where are you going for the ceremony?  We did the golden circle tour and the south coast tour, both of which were very pretty and nice.  We never ended up staying outside of Reykjavik, so I can't speak for stores outside of that area (but if you need a hotel recommendation we stayed at the Fron Hotel and liked it!)  They did include a small breakfast... mostly yogurt and cereal with toast.

     
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    Busy bee
    zagora    May 5, 2012   Washington, DC

    Saving this thread for when I eventually travel to Iceland!

     
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    Busy bee
    Over the Moon    December 31, 2012  

    @MadameTussaud:  We are staying at Hotel Glymur about an hour or so outside of Reykjavik, for the first half of our trip. The other half, we don't know. We may make our way up north and return the car and fly back to Reykjavik. We definitely want to stay in Reykjavik for a night or two if we have time, thank you so much for the recommendation! I'm bookmarking that hotel.

     
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    Bumble bee
    MadameTussaud    December 2, 2012   Las Vegas

    No prob!  If you plan on doing that (flying from the north side) check into airfares well ahead of time.  They were advertising domestic flights as well as ones to Greenland, but they were crazy expensive!  I just don't want you to get there and have sticker shock like we did, lol.  Even the car rental, a tiny one for my poor 6'4" FI, was $65 per day.  We were gonna rent bicycles for around Reykjavik but those were $40 per day, so we walked around the city, needless to say.  Definitely go see Gullfoss and Geysir, they are amazing!!!  Of course, you have to go to the Blue Lagoon as well  =o)  

     
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    Helper bee
    Zouave    April 2013   VA

    As long as you scout out florists online that are nearby to your site, I think its totally do-able.  If you're not visiting during the planning, maybe call/email a few just to make sure they have loose flowers in stock at that time of year.

    I'm thinking of doing the same thing (although with DIYing more flowers and my wedding is only 11 hours from where I live), but am visiting the floral shop in a few months to check it out.

     
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    Busy bee
    zagora    May 5, 2012   Washington, DC

    @Zouave:  I think it gets a little trickier when the location is not just overseas, but very remote!  :)

     
    16.
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    Newbee
    Shell29    April 20, 2012  

    I am having a DW and decided to purchase "real touch" flowers for my wedding due to the extremely inflated prices of flowers offered through my wedding planner at the destination I am getting married (Carribean). I ordered them through afloral (just google it), received them in two days and was very impressed with the look and quality of the flowers. I think that it would be a lot of work for you to make floral arrangements the day before your wedding. I am going to bring my flowers with me and have them prearranged so I don't have to worry about that when I'm trying to relax the days before my wedding. Hope this helps!

     
    17.
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    Newbee
    Shell29    April 20, 2012  

    I am having a DW and decided to purchase "real touch" flowers for my wedding due to the extremely inflated prices of flowers offered through my wedding planner at the destination I am getting married (Carribean). I ordered them through afloral (just google it), received them in two days and was very impressed with the look and quality of the flowers. I think that it would be a lot of work for you to make floral arrangements the day before your wedding. I am going to bring my flowers with me and have them prearranged so I don't have to worry about that when I'm trying to relax the days before my wedding. Hope this helps!

     

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