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If your bouquets are more intricate than gathered wild flowers, and you are nervous about your capabilities and a time crunch, I would say go with a florist. I himmed and hawed between DIY and Florist, and I went with florist, because I couldn't imagine the pressure and frustration the day of my wedding.
Just get a florist and avoid all bunch of stress. It won't be a fortune ( it shouldn't be if you find a relatively decant florist) and you will be much happier with the final effect.
Just make sure you look at their actual work, get recommendation or read their reviews first. :)
it depends on your budget and your style. If you are going to only need two or three bouquets (small bridal party) then I think you can do it no problem. fresh bouquets will keep a bit longer in the fridge, but if you have a large wedding party and are short on time i think hiring someone would make it easier.
any chance you have a cousin or a sister or an aunt that happens to love flowers and might be willing to help you out?
I am not a big lover of flowers, so this is something I initially wanted to DIY. But with so many relatives and former brides discouraging me and saying how busy I'll be leading up to the day of, to just hire someone and not stress. Makes sense.So we hired someone. And then the florist dropped ME a week before the wedding. AHH! So now I have to DIY.
Luckily I was set on Red Roses and White Calla Lilies. Ordered from Costco . They arrived beautifully. Prepped them for 3 days (trimming, changing water, etc) and put them together the night before the wedding.
This was not stressful at all. And some great memories were made with some of my closest loves. And a GIANT thanks for YOUTUBE videos/tutorials! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WMR6mTFM_c (one I used)
We made Bridal Bouquet, 3 Bridesmaids, 1 Groom Bout, 3 G-Men Bouts, 1 Bouquet for the (older) Flower Girl, 2 Father Bouts and 1 Toss Bouquet and we had roses and calla lilies left over!
I purchased 70 Red Roses and 30 White Calla Lilies ($99 Costco Online)! I also bought 1 bushel ($4) of Ecalyptus as our filler and mom found some fake 'berries' ($3/stem) in the floral dept of Michaels. I personally did not want a large bouquet but feel it came out pretty nicely in size; Medium to Large. My Bmaids a little smaller than mine.
Satin ribbon was used for the stems to cover the floral tape. For the Bridal Bouquet I used some of the material from the Flower Girl Dresses.
If you do your research now, you can do it, with no frustration! Or grab a bouquet, and practice now, and see if your up for it! You have a lot of time to decide and your so smart to think of this NOW!
Seek out help from other Bees here! I got SO much help, support, encouragement and inspiration! So thankful!
Best of Luck and let me know if I can help with anything! XO
I would get the florist to do you bouquets but DIY the boutonieres yourself. Thats what i plan on doing. No way am I paying $9 for a rose with some floral tape!
I DIYd, I was so happy.
I did not buy flowers at all I just used flowers from my mums garden and had originally planned to have blue hydrangas but then on the day before the wedding I decided to use the bright pink roses.
I looked on youtube for tutorials they are really good.
The bouquets were easy, just rubber banded flowers together then taped them and covered in ribbon.
I put them in vases in the fridge overnight, to keep them fresh add a little vinegar, they stayed good the next day, and I got alot of compliments and dont imagine Ill ever regret doing it myself.
@globalmargaret: Sadly, I have a small family and none of us are very craft savvy. I can make a mean scrapbook, but we are all out of element with flowers. :)
@CupCakeMeg: WOW. Great reply. Thanks so much for the encouragement!!! :)
Thank you everyone for the replies! I went to a florist today and got a quote. So now we are deciding to use her, use someone else or DIY. I am glad to hear some brides DIY-ed and it wasn't a disaster!
Thanks!!! :D
@peachyqueen: I DIY'd my flowers and I don't regret it. I saved thousands of dollars by doing it, and it turned out to be a fun group activity for all of my girls.
However, I would recommend the DIY route ONLY if:
1 - You're not extra-fussy about how they will look (especially in photos). Unless you recruit someone who really knows what they're doing, they won't look as "perfect" as a florist would make them. To me that's part of the charm, but some brides would have been horrified by my arrangements, I'm sure. :)
2 - You're willing to devote a good amount of time/effort to this one task to save the money. Keep in mind you have to cut/prep the flowers a couple of days beforehand, assemble all the supplies, store them, arrange transportation once they're done, etc. Your list is small though, so I think it's very manageable!!
3 - You have some help. The more, the merrier.
4 - You do it at least one day in advance. (Trust me, you do NOT want to be making floral arrangements the morning of your wedding! Don't do it!) My wedding was at 5 p.m. and we made all the bouquets, arrangements, etc. the night before. (We didn't have a formal rehearsal or dinner the night before - it would have been a lot to squeeze in.) Bouquets/bouts were stored in the fridge overnight and were fine the next day. Table arrangements were left out on tables and looked even better the next day. (If you time it right, the flowers will actually look fresher the day of...).
5 - You do your research and choose flowers that are not overly delicate. Some flowers (like calla lillies) need careful handling or they will wilt quickly. I used gerber daisies, football mums, spider mums and bells of Ireland, and all were very hearty. Most of the arrangements looked great for at least week AFTER the wedding.
If you're not up for it, I second the idea of ordering pre-made arrangements from Costco, Sam's or an online floral company (FiftyFlowers.com is one).
Good luck, whatever you decide!
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Help please!
My wedding is at 1 in the afternoon and I am wrestling with the desicion about hiring a florist or doing things myself. I am somewhat crafty but I have never really worked with flowers before. I read somewhere that if you are planning on making bouquets yourself, you really should do them the day of. That is pretty much impossible for me because I think enough things will be going on that morning. Haha and I would like to keep the crazy to a minimum. I would need my bouquet, 3 for bridesmaids, 3 corsages and 3 boutonnieres.
I would REALLY appreciate some advice on whether or not to attempt to make them myself the night before (I am not sure if they will wilt before the next day at 1) or just bite the bullet and hire a florist.
I would appreicate any advice, whether you did your own or hired a florist.
Thank you!!!