DIY Florals - Good Idea or Kiss of Death?

DIY Florals - Good Idea or Kiss of Death?

September 14th, 2010 @ 11:34 am by Ms. Sloth
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From the beginning, I’ve had it in my head that I’ll just order some wholesale flowers and do the arrangements myself the day before the wedding, with the help of the bridesmaids, my sister, my mom and Mr. S’s mom. I just imagine that we’ll set up somewhere with some champagne and snacks and have a neat little assembly line. We’ll only have 8-10 tables or so, so there’ll be that many centerpieces, my bouquet, the bridesmaids’ bouquets, and maybe a few other arrangements for the cake table, etc. And I want to keep them simple and small, AND, I’m considering alternate options for bouquets so there might be even less flowers to take care of. It can’t be that hard, right? Right?

And yet.

I don’t know the first thing about flowers. I know that they’re pretty and that I want to have them at my wedding, but with the exception of the easy ones (roses, carnations, tulips, daisies, etc.), I don’t even know what any of them are called!

I don’t know how to take care of them, I don’t know how to arrange them, I don’t know how not to kill them. And I feel like my little champagne assembly line will quickly turn into something messy. With tears. And maybe some shattered glass. And then I’ll have a little tantrum.

DIY Florals - Good Idea or Kiss of Death? : wedding flowers philadelphia Tantrum Tantrum

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I’ve looked for some local flower arranging classes but there are none around here! This is amazing; Philly is a major city, after all. I’ve seen a few DIY tutorials online but most of them involve florists’ foam, which I have no intention of using.

So tell me: considering my complete ignorance of flowers, am I crazy for wanting to take this on? Does anyone have any advice for DIY flowers?

Tags: flowers, philadelphia |

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56 Responses to “DIY Florals - Good Idea or Kiss of Death?”

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Bee

Miss Barrettes (message) 883 posts, Busy bee

I started sweating just reading this. Kiss of Death, sister!!!! Esp. if u know 0 about flowers!

9/14/10 @ 11:46 am (reply)

Member

chicagowife (message) 844 posts, Busy bee

I had a florist do a couple “big” arrangements for my wedding, but I did all of the centerpieces and smaller arrangements myself. But I would advise keeping it simple. I used Costco cream-colored roses and bought small vases from the dollar store, and tied a ribbon around each vase. Instant floral. And saved myself about $1000 dollars.

I really liked doing this myself, but make sure you keep it simple and have enough help the day before to assemble it all. Good luck!!!

9/14/10 @ 11:47 am (reply)

Member

chicagowife (message) 844 posts, Busy bee

PS I didn’t know anything about flowers either, and certainly didn’t take any classes. To me that sounds like a huge hassle. Just pick up the flowers the day before, keep them cool, and keep it simple!

9/14/10 @ 11:49 am (reply)

Member

Violet Violet (message) 985 posts, Busy bee

It’s not nuts to want to do them yourself. I am going to take a flower arranging class and then decide how much I want to take on by myself. I have a big family, and things can get hectic–I’m a little nervous that getting them together to help will be a little like herding cats, so I’m visiting a florist for prices too.

9/14/10 @ 11:50 am (reply)

Member

absolutbettie (message) 261 posts, Helper bee

I hate sounding negative but I gotta go with ‘Kiss of Death’ if you and your assembly line team don’t know anything about flowers! Florists are professionals for a reason! If you don’t have any other DIY projects to take care of and aren’t that picky about how they turn out, go for it. Otherwise, just relaxing and chilling with the bridal party with some champagne the day of sounds like a much better option!!

9/14/10 @ 11:52 am (reply)

Guest

Kelly

because the flowers are an important part of our day, I am leaving it to a professional but saving money elsewhere.

9/14/10 @ 11:54 am (reply)

Member

icelara (message) 272 posts, Helper bee

I think as long as you keep it simple and small and have lots of help, its not necessarily a crazy thing to take on. My aunt is doing all the flowers for my wedding, but she has had a lot of practice and has done about 3-4 weddings for other relatives already. She does a bit more complicated stuff, but my mom has arranged flowers for parties, and has kept it simple, so its not impossible.

9/14/10 @ 11:56 am (reply)

Bee

Miss Ostrich (message) 1,948 posts, Buzzing bee

this is definitely an idea that sounds easy breezy in theory but can end up being more stressful than necessary. the key thing to remember is this “champagne assembly line” can only happen the day or two before your big day. and for these last two days, you will have everything coming together and deserve to be as stress free as possible. you deserve that! so i would recommend the route we are going with {as one diy bride to another!} - have the bouquets and more grand floral designs done by someone else, and opt for 2 kinds of blooms your loved ones can easily execute the day before…preferably without you!

best of luck, miss sloth!

9/14/10 @ 11:56 am (reply)

Member

Goldilocks1107 (message) 2,504 posts, Sugar bee

I just finished my centerpieces and took DIY to the easiest level possible:
1. Go to local home improvement store
2. Buy some potted plants from the garden center
3. Wrap the ugly pots with cute paper and ribbon (make sure to get plastic water catcher for pots with holes for drainage)
4. Have an adult beverage and congratulate yourself on a job well done.

9/14/10 @ 12:04 pm (reply)

10.

Bee

Miss Brooch (message) 1,721 posts, Bumble bee

I’ve heard good and bad reviews from other brides that went the DIY route with flowers. Check out this blog for first-hand experience: http://missfancypantsthebride.blogspot.com/search/label/flowers. Hope that helps!

9/14/10 @ 12:07 pm (reply)

11.

Member

artsyali (message) 66 posts, Worker bee

Hello,
I usually don’t respond on these things, but had to for this one. I just got married last weekend in Maryland (ALL of my family lives in Philly though!).

I am an art teacher, control freak, know-it-all. I did EVERYTHING for my wedding. My reasoning was, if I can do it, I’m not paying someone to do it

So, here I am taking off the very first week back to school (my principal was not pleased) to tackle the dreaded flowers.

I needed to make 6 bouquets, 15 boutennieres (sp?), 5 corsages (mom’s help), and 18 large centerpieces!!!

The flowers came on Wednesday. I decided to go with all carnations and green pom-pom mums to go with my modern/artsy wedding. We put them right in water and went at it. Let me tell you, half the work was spent trimming and cleaning up the stems.

The centerpieces took us from noon-2am on Wednesday… no eat or sleep during.

On Thursday, we tackled the rest… which I found to be more fun…. I had a great time playing around with the ribbon on the bouquets and making the little boutiennieres.

Friday was left for other DIY projects. The flowers were fine lasting until Saturday (carnations are hardy)… I actually still have one of the centerpieces on my coffee table (almost 13 days later).

All in all, no one cried, even though my allergies were ridiculous! I did think we were crazy mid-way through it … but, the second I finished them… I felt such accomplishment. And, I was able to tell everyone that I made them… which is typical of me. Check out the pictures gallery… let me know what you think! And, of course, if you need any help!

http://www.mywedding.com/marylandweddingitemsforsale/photo_382086_17049642.html

9/14/10 @ 12:14 pm (reply)

12.

Member

bRooklynRocks (message) 3,767 posts, Honey bee

Well, I remember reading an article in the NYTimes about ladies who take flower arrangement classes. There is one around Philly… it says about 30minutes out but still, something to look into: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/05/garden/05flower.html?pagewanted=all

9/14/10 @ 12:16 pm (reply)

13.

Bee

Miss Meerkat (message) 3,216 posts, Sugar bee

Its really all about how complex you get. We are going to DIY the flowers for our at home reception but we are doing submerged flowers which are hard to mess up. And then simple flower arrangements with just one type of flower in it. (Way easier when you don’t have to worry about different heights and fullness.)

Do you have any inspiration pictures of what your trying to copy??

9/14/10 @ 12:16 pm (reply)

14.

Member

emma5w (message) 547 posts, Busy bee

I was in a friend’s wedding a couple of years ago, and we kind of DIY’d our bouquets, which was really fun. The day before the wedding, we all went over to the florist and they had big tubs of the flowers that my friend had chosen. They gave us a quick tutorial about how to make bouquets and then left us to our own devices. It was super fun, the bouquets were all slightly different, and it looked awesome at the wedding. Maybe you can find a florist that would allow you to do this - semi-DIY!

9/14/10 @ 12:20 pm (reply)

15.

Member

Ms. E (message) 132 posts, Blushing bee

I’ve done DIY flowers at 2 weddings now, and they were drastically different experiences. DIY flowers will be the Kiss of Death unless you 1) keep it ultra simple; 2) have tons of people to help, and 3) have low or no expectations for the quality of the end product.

The first wedding where I DIY’d flowers wasn’t that bad because all we had to do was clean & trim of $300 worth of tulips and throw them into vases, and there were at least 8 people helping. IMO, the end product was mediocre at best, but the bride didn’t really care so it was all good.

The second wedding involved cleaning, trimming AND wiring (wiring adds a lot of time) $1100 worth of flowers for very elaborate arrangements, and there were only 3 people working. It was a nightmare. The end product was a better than the first wedding, but there were some arrangements where our lack of experience showed, and flowers were wilting. Even though most of the arrangements came out looking great, IMO the hell we went through the day before was not worth it.

9/14/10 @ 12:23 pm (reply)

16.

Member

October4040 (message) 118 posts, Blushing bee

I went with faux bouquets and bouts so I wouldn’t have to worry about those (and they look great), but I do plan to do all the table centerpieces myself. (Actually I had just ordered 80 sunflowers from Sam’s Club about two minutes before I read this post.) I’m not planning to do anything fancy or super complicated, more like what chicagowife did for hers. I will probably tape off the top of the vase or buy a few Easy Arrangers to make it more simple too.

9/14/10 @ 12:24 pm (reply)

17.

Member

flamingred (message) 1,921 posts, Buzzing bee

I would have jumped off a bridge if I had to worry about flowers the day before/day of. My MIL wanted to do them and I was pretty stern that I did not want to be putting together centerpieces after the rehearsal dinner or worrying about transporting, refridgeration,if they got droopy by 4PM. One of my friends had Wegmans do her flowers-I could check on that for you-I think they were pretty simple and not too expensive.

9/14/10 @ 12:27 pm (reply)

18.

Member

Miss Sayrah (message) 112 posts, Blushing bee

We DIYed our flowers from Sam’s Club and they turned out great! I’d say, as long as you aren’t going to do anything too elaborate- go for it!

9/14/10 @ 12:38 pm (reply)

19.

Bee

Mrs. Moonbeam (message) 1,732 posts, Bumble bee

I, with the help of bridesmaids, and female friends and relatives did this for our wedding and I loved it. Don’t worry about taking classes, just go buy some bouquets and start playing. We spent $230 for 15-20 centerpieces, 4 bouquets, about 15 corsages/bouts and petals for the flower girls. Good luck.

9/14/10 @ 12:38 pm (reply)

20.

Guest

Joyce

I think if you have no experience with flowers, it is better to visit a florist to get some quotes.

I have been helping my brides to get quotes from florists and I found them to be very reasonable, especially if you are only looking to have something simple done.

Most florists I work with can work within a budget. They also have the experience to know what flowers to substitute and can make recommendations as needed to stay within the budget.

I don’t think the stress of DIY your flowers is worth it just the day before your wedding if you are not experienced.

9/14/10 @ 12:54 pm (reply)

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