Mrs. Flamingo, Montreal, Canada
Age and Occupation: 25, Graphic Designer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Nursing Student
Engagement Date: December 2004
Wedding Date: June 21, 2008
Venue: Imperia Hotel (modern chic hotel)
About Me: I am a passionate designer who loves anything pretty. I heart all paper products (eco-friendly of course). My passion revolves around anything considered glamour; vintage and modern. In my free time, I love reading Martha mags, designing jewelry and making a pit-stop at Starbucks for a chai latte. I'm also a chocoholic at heart and my family drools over my homemade truffles.
Des Fleurs SVP…
March 31st, 2008 @ 5:09 pm by Mrs. Flamingo
I’ve always had a passion for flowers. I’ve never taken a course or anything, but I love making flower arrangements so I wanted to try making my own fresh flower bouquets, corsages and boutonnieres for the wedding. I even purchased Martha’s Complete Weddings dvd collection to prepare myself. (Well it was just an excuse to buy it. I wanted it, wedding or no wedding. I’m a Martha freak and I’m not ashamed to say it. 
)
When I announced to my family that I wanted to do my own flowers, they all looked at me as if I were nuts. I’m sure I won’t be as stressed as everyone says I will be… but my stepmom sat me down because she was concerned. So I’ve been visiting florists left and right to compare prices, and I think it’s definitely worth it to diy, but there are so many other factors to consider: delivery, quality of the flowers, etc. This experience could be a beautful one but on the other end of the spectrum, it could result in a horror story. I don’t want my wedding to be a horror story… so I’m going to be hiring someone.
Will you be doing your own flowers? Or did you have someone talk you out of it, and if so was it a blessing in disguise?
(April is here and I haven’t hired my florist yet. I’m getting married in June. I’m not stressed, not stressed at all, I’m only getting married in 85 days! Oh my!)
16 Responses to “Des Fleurs SVP…”
I’m not doing the bouquest, bouts, etc but I thought I’d tackle the centerpiece arrangements. Now I’m getting scared, and I’m concerned about how much it will cost to be the vases, flowers, etc. I’m meeting with my florist to see what his price might be for my centerpieces. Then, I’ll decide if it’s worth it to DIY or not.
You are so brave! I am only DIY-ing things that can be done way in advance and boxed up until the day. We have a number of OOT guests that I hardly ever see, and they are all coming in a few days before the wedding, so I am definately going to be hanging out with them rather than going crazy over last minute projects. And flowers scare me the most, as by definition they have to be done at the last minute!
I have considered doing my own wedding flowers too. I looked at wholesale locations in my area that also sold to the public and went to their warehouse to inquire about what flowers are available during my wedding timeframe.
Since I will be taking my prewedding pictures in my wedding dress, I decided to DIY a fresh bouquet of my wedding flowers for the pictures. That will also give me a good idea of how long it would take me to do the bouquet on my own. Remember to choose flowers that are sturdy and not prone to wilt quickly.
You can always do these one days ahead as long as you have everthing ready to go. For inexpesive vases, go to dollartreedirect.com and they have a large selection that you can choose form all for $1. If you don’t want to pay for the shipping, you can have them deliver to the nearest dollar store and you can come and pick it up yourself.
Good luck!
I was just going to go to the local farmer’s market and pick up a bunch of flowers, but the timing didn’t work. I would have had to hold onto them for six days, and I didn’t want to risk any dead flowers.
i am helping my sister with her wedding flowers this june along with my aunt who has some experience. there’s actually a ton of youtube videos and online instructions for making your own bouquets/centerpieces etc that are surprisingly easy! good luck!
I actually had my MOH of doing my flowers, and it worked out well. We used artificial flowers (everyone said that they looked very real) and I could not have been happier….I still have my bouquet, and that was my major concern. She actually went to school to be a floral designer, so I guess I lucked out!!!
I did not have floral centerpiece, I used lanterns but I did make my own bouquets and it was not stressful at all. I think the trick is to be realistic. I knew my bouquet would not look like the bouquets I had been seeing on wedding sites, and I was okay with that. I went to a floral store the day before our wedding and my MOH and I picked out 3 or 4 types of flowers each which we stored in the fridge overnight. I had bought ribbon previously and the morning of the wedding my girlfriend and I spent about 45 minutes making bouquets, I thought they came out fine, and it was def. worth the savings! GL!
I ordered a bunch of flowers from OrganicBouquet.com, because I wanted the flowers to be organic, and I used those along with a bunch of hydrangeas from a friend’s yard. A couple of dear friends of mine and my aunt (who used to be a florist!) helped me and my ‘maids put together our bouquets, and then arranged the altar arrangements, centerpieces and bouts. (The moms decided they’d rather carry flowers, so they each got two long stems - they just picked them out from the inventory!)
I was so pleased with all of it - organic, elegant, and homemade. If a non-artist like me can DIY flowers, anyone can do it! If you do it, you’ll want to delegate two or three people who have a good eye and are willing to help out… it’s a really fun way to include a couple of close friends.
We did all of the flowers for my sister’s wedding (except her bouquet). The bridesmaid bouquets came out simple and beautiful. For the tables, she used a candle centerpiece and we put together smaller vases of flowers to surround it. There were lots of compliments. As long as you keep it simple, it’s not so hard. We used a local large flower shop and their quality was excellent. They also provided excellent direction on flower storage, etc. Get reviews/referrals for the flower dealer and go for it!!!
We are not having floral centerpieces and the bouts for the guys aren’t going to be floral but I am doing all other flowers. My BMs and I will get together the morning of the wedding and spend a 1/2 hour making our bougets and I will make a few small poseys for the mothers, my grandmother and any other women we want to honor. I did all of the flowers for bm’s wedding and it went really well. What took the most time was the bouts and they kept coming back for more. So our bouts will be a non floral item that I can create ahead of time and make plenty of extra. Plus they are more manly than the flowers and will hold up better.
My BM’s Bouquet took me about 5 minutes to make, 10 including running out to my garden and finding that something extra to make it stand out. She loved it and ait was big and full with a pearl detail down the center of the stems.
I did all my flowers and it turned out really great. The place where I got my flowers done specializes in diy flowers so they were able to store the flowers there. I had two of my bridesmaids to help me and my mom and mother in law. It’s a great way to save money and they looked really well. hth
Just for everyone’s information, a lot of floral shops will let you rent centerpieces. That way, if you don’t want to DIY them (my situation - I’m totally un-crafty), you still have an option that is a lot less expensive than paying full price for centerpieces, and doesn’t involve having all the leftover vases or whatever laying around.
I also like the suggestions of candle centerpieces and stuff other than flowers!
I watched those DVDs (they have them at our local library), and Martha made it look SO EASY! But we went with silk, because I was worried about putting things together at the last minute. Good luck!
Thanks everyone for the advice. Though I am sad that I cant do my own flowers, I will hire someone. I am such a perfectionist and to top things off I can get a mock up bouquet for no extra costs.
Just feels like the best option, especially since the types of bouquets I want are not necessarily accesible flowers. (If I buy in bulk)
But I envy those who made their flowers for their wedding. Must be such an accomplishement.
[…] though I wish I could take the risk of making my own fresh flower bouquet for the wedding, I thought it would be best to hire a professional. That way I […]
Un bon article sur la façon d’obtenir ou de faire livrer des fleurs pas chers se trouve à cette adresse:
http://www.qctop.com/articles/fleurs-pas-cher.htm
