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Ok so I see all the SP errors I made, still irritated and dont care and not going back to fix them! LOL sorry! Still venting! Hahaha! grrr!
You could look at saveoncrafts.com and they have preserved flowers that look quite nice and are a bit different if you are not ready to do fake flowers.
I was happy with my DIY bouquets after hearing how much flowers cost. But a lot of girls on here have done the real touch or other kind and really liked the results.
Yeah, I recommend the real touch! also, my mom got carnations and tulips from michaels and they looked fairly real!
Good luck! I agree about prices being way too high, but after trying to grow my own flowers, I understand why!
I am going to be using artificial flowers due to my severe allergies - I found www.somethingspectacular.com They are out of Michigan but ship everywhere. I look at their site alll the time lol. And the prices are good. Plus, you can choose what level of flower you want and that helps your price. I didn't see an email address on their site, I think you just have to call. I showed my mom and she was really surprised at how good their flowers look
I understand some people are trying to cut cost and actually like the look of artificial flowers but I would never recommend them for the wedding. You would have to bribe me for me to use them. There is nothing more romantic that fresh floral.
In my opinion, go smaller, go simpler and go fresh. :)
you can always look up more florist online, weddingwire has listings for all regions, try to find somebody that will be able to give you what you need.
good luck!
I ditto the comment of fresh flowers, but absolutely agree that they can be SUPER expensive from a floral shop. Try a farmer's market or even Sam's Club/Costco
I am horrified at the price of wedding flowers as well. I understand that there will be extra expense going to a florist because of their work and time. But for the most part I think many mark prices up too high because they feel that they can. It's all part of the evil WIC.
That is obviously evidenced by the high number of people opting to buy flowers from the market and make their own bouquets and those using silk or real touch flowers.
Two years ago, I was a BM in my dad's wedding. The BM bouquets were fake, but the bride's was real. Our bouquets looked gorgeous, and no one really knew the difference, much less cared. I think I'd be more concerned about centerpieces that people will be right in front of for a good length of time, than a bouquet that most will not look at closely.
I'm having real flower bouquets, at FMIL's insistence and which I haven't been able to get out of, but am using silk flowers in our centerpieces. I'll put effort into them, and they'll be beautiful. I don't think anyone can find fault with trying not to spend a fortune on something that will die in 3-4 days, just because WIC says you should have real flowers. Especially not in this economy. IMHO there are much better things worth prioritizing.
These are the bouquets used in my dad's fall wedding.
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I'm totally doing my own with silk flowers. It's not even really to cut costs (though that's a sweet incentive!)- it's more so that my bridesmaids, flower girl, and myself all have a keepsake bouquet. It'll maintain its color forever without worrying about treating it with tender care to prevent petals and leaves from crisping off (i.e. a dried real flower bouqet). I also plan on giving each BM a vase so that they can place the bouquet in there and use it as decor.
There are challenges to this, though! I'm being a diva about my flowers. I want ranunculus, ranunculus, ranunculus. I also figured I could toss some gerbera or zinnia in there, too. However, I am having THE WORST time finding these flowers in my colors. I'm using brighter pinks, watermelon, corals, and yellows... a very citrusy palette. I've been able to find yellow ranunculus online and ordered them. I also found some pink ones. But the coral colors are impossible to locate. Don't even get me started on the zinnia's- you can't find them in ANY color online. Ugh. Once I do collect all my silk flowers, I'll have the challenge of creating a bouquet for the first time. I've gone through some tutorials and it doesn't look difficult at all. But being the perfectionist I am, it could prove to be quite frustrating. :)
Frustration aside, the idea that a silk bouquet will always provide a great memory (since it can't die) should make the effort worth it!
Good luck!!
We had silk bouquets and corsages for my wedding. I went with viennasflowers.com and was SO pleased with how they turned out, and no one could believe they were silk! I'm so glad we made the choice to go with silk, my bouquet is displayed in our living room and I get to see it every day. You can see a photo of my bouquet below.
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I did all real flowers for my wedding except my bouquet. I wanted peonies, my florist couldnt get great ones (we ordered them, they were really sub par...) so I had my backup silks; They looked amazing, and nobody knew they were fake; Plus we did pics for 3 hours before the ceremony and I didnt have to be careful =o; Here is a pic of my silks in my ring bearers mouth ;o) These were still a bit pricey though, my bouq cost about $100 after ordering, shipping, and florist's assembly.
As a hint, use larger flwoers if you can - hydrangeas, for instance, take up a lot of room and so require less blooms to make an arrangement.
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... I loved having real flowers... but I'm a flower type of girl. I *loved* my bouquet and didn't put it down all day.
KellyV, that pic is adorable! ^_^
We're going for paper flowers for the bouquets because one of my bridesmaids is very allergic and hydrangeas bought in bulk for the reception from Sam's Club (hydrangeas are low pollen, I hear, and in the bigger space it won't be as big of a deal for my friend).
If you are totally against silk (though they can be lovely!) check out prices for fresh flowers online or at local flower markets. Some florists, even, will buy flowers in bulk for you to DIY.
I've decided to make all of the bouquets myself for our wedding. I've done two trial runs so far. I went to Costco and spent $15 for ~25 roses each time. It was pretty simple (I followed a tutorial on youtube for a hand tied bouquet) and I still get fresh flowers for an affordable price. You can also order roses and other flowers online from Costco, but I will still probably just go to my local store to pick them up.
We had silk flowers of cream cymbidium orchids with burgundy centers and cream day lilies. They were so real looking that my MIL put her corsage in the fridge cos she thought it was real! Didn't have to worry about wilting on an August day either! Plus I can keep the bouquet and hair clips and have them stored in hat boxes so they stay nice. Got everything from Bloomed to Last and the designer was wonderful to work with!
we did fake altar flowers & real bouquets...no flowers on the tables or pews...if you make your own, I think it's a lot easier if you do single blooms -- for real flowers, there are some gorgeous mums that are large and cheap -- hydrangeas are also big, but they can cost a lot of $, esp. certain times of year
@budgetbeautiful, thanks for the link! I am hoping to get/make a silk bouquet because my bridals are going to be taken in two settings not in the same town as my wedding florist, and we'll be taking photos in a few locations on our honeymoon as well... Does anyone know of a good store/site to get silk mini calla lilies, spider mums or lisanthius? :-) In purple?
I am ordering fabris bouquets/bouts, and corsages from a seller (hairbowswonderworld) off of etsy. I am excited to have a keepsake that will last forever!
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Thanks so much Bee's! Went to a big Craft store back home and saw some really beautiful boquets from sil flowers. I feel better about it. I would really like real but the price is more then I want to spend especially for something that will die in a few days. Fake look real enough for me, and it really does not bother me anymore. I saw a AWESOME boquet and am trying to re-create it. I am pretty excited! Thanks so much for the links and Ideas. Was of much help!
I am using silk flowers, and I have gotten a lot of complaints about it from my mother, my fmil, aunts...just about everyone! But I am sticking to my decision. For one, I have awful allergies and I don't even want to chance that on my wedding day. Also, we are on a budget, a tight budget. I considered DIY, but it is going to cost me $300 for all of my flowers (7 bouquets, 12 bouts, 6 corsages, and cake topper)...I would spend the same amount to DIY them myself, and this way I don't have to worry about it.
I see that you went to a craft store, this place: www.wedideas.com
Has awesome prices and they carry real touch. You can't even tell they're not real! This is not my bouquet, but it is one of theirs and it just shows a closeup and how real they look.
@ KellyV can I ask where'd you get your large silk peonies from? They're awesome!
I plan on having some fake flowers and some real ones as well. I will be doing a rose ceremony, and I want those roses to keep forever, so I plan on getting silk ones for that.
Girl!!! I know what you mean....I have sworn off "real flowers" because I refuse to pay that much for something thats just going to die. I am using velvet roses from www.efavormart.com you get 168 for like $35.
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Mattel thanks for the link! We are definitely doing silk real touch flowers. First, I'm not a flower girl at all and secondly were doing a destination wedding and I do not want to leave my flowers to chance :)
There are so many high quality true touch flowers on the market today that you make your bouquets, not tell anyone and many will never know. I often scent my true touch bouquets if bride's requeust it. One bride had a grouchy grandma that wasn't going to wear a "fake flower". She had me do her corsage in true touch, scent it, bag it in clear cello. Grandma never figured it out until about 5 days after the wedding when it wouldn't die so she could press it. She was used to the fake cemetery, dollar store flowers and didn't notice there was a difference. She was happy she didn't have to press it to preserve it.
I ended up making my bouquet of clay...still love it. : )
It doesn't feel (very light) or smell like a real bouquet...but it fooled some people, including my photographer. Grin.
(I got some help with the filer flowers...hoping to learn to make those soon. : )
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Fisrs off I am having a *beeb* of a time making a decision of how I want my boquet. Second, went to the ony decent floral place in my town today and it made me so irritated how $$$ freakin flowers add up to. I mean I truley know I was going fairly simple and of course stuff that was in season.
So has anyone opted to do the "nice" satin fake flowers for there wedding? I to be honest have seen some very beautiful ones that I could not tell were fake until I was all up in them looking hard! I dont know, they look nice but still I dont know if thats tacky. I know more people are doing them now days, and I guess it is kind of cool you dont have to worry about bruising floowers the day of or them breaking etc.. Let me know what you think bee's! PlEaSe!