Flowers- who is supposed to have what?

[ky6]

Okay, we just got an estimate from a florist and we are definitely going to have to figure out how to cut some costs. I am wondering, who exactly is supposed to have flowers- minimally speaking.

We have:

My bouquet,
Bridesmaid''s bouquets,
Groom''s bouts,
Groomsmen''s bouts,
Bout for dads,
Corsage for moms,
Flowergirl bouquet ?
Ringerbearers bouts ?

She also quoted us centerpieces- which we may cut out to cut costs. But I am wondering, is it customary for the Ringbearers to have boutonnieres? Also, would it be cheaper if we did a basket off ebay for the flower girl and just purchased petals for her to throw. How much do real rose petals cost approx- I would like to scatter them on some tables too.

I have posted my dress on here before and will post my bridesmaid dress to give you all a feel for the style. Also, the wedding will be in a garden (weather permitting). My flowergirl is 8 and my RBs are 10 and 2. The 10 year old will pull the 2 year old in a wagon and we are thinking for them of just doing nice slacks and a button up shirt rather than a tux (same price to rent for the kids as for adults). Do you all think it would be okay to not have them in a jacket or tux? Also, do you think it would be okay to not have flowers for the kiddos?

I really have to cut this down somehow.

 

[ky6]

bridesmaids dress

 

[ky6]

okay, do over

 

[Jelly]

I think the boys in a nice shirt and slacks is perfectly fine. Perhaps they can get a bowtie or something...sounds very cute! Flower petals are inexpensive...ask if your florist throws them in for free. It should really be no cost to them to give you petals.

Be honest to your florist about your budget. If they aren''t willing to work with, continue to shop around. I''ve been told to get a minimum of 3 quotes from different florists.

Perhaps someone you know can make the bouts themselves? I''ve heard they aren''t too hard.

 

[pebbles]

I say you can start cutting costs by cutting out the ringbearer''s bout and get the flowergirls'' baskets off of e-bay. I am trying to remember the website, but there is one where you can order bags of rose petals (you can also get them from the floral department at the supermarket too).

I think it is fine to have the little guy in a nice shirt and slacks. That''s what I wanted to do with my ringbearer (who was 6 at the time) but his mom wanted him to have a tux. You could tell he was uncomfortable all night. Plus, it would be great for him since your wedding has a little more casual feel to it.

What kind of flowers are you using in general? Some cost a lot more than others. If you can''t cut anyone else out, can you use a less expensive flower?

I did my own centerpieces for about 1/3 the cost of what the florist wanted. I bought these "sunshine bouquets" from the supermarket for like $6 each and vases from Crate and Barrell Outlet for $1 each. I then put a really pretty ribbon around each vase. We got a ton of compliments on them and everyone was surprised we did them ourselves.

 

[njc]

If you wanted to cut out someone having flowers, i think it could be the RBs and flowergirl (all she needs is whatever to throw). I dont know what you had in mind for BM bouquets, but maybe something like 3 long stemmed flowers with a nice ribbon would be cheaper? Once when i was a BM, we 3 long stemmed Gerber Daisys tied together as our bouquets.

The boys in slacks and a nice button up shirt will look great and lend to the look of not having flowers. Little boys are hard to keep in tuxes anyways... they usually strip down to just the pants and shirt, so why not just start out that way!

As for rose petals... call your local grocery store florist and ask if you could buy petals from them. Sometimes they will sell you the ones they pick off when they make arrangements, not that they are wilted, but they are starting to, and you are just going to step on them anyways! Another thing... you can always find a place (Wal-mart, grocery store) selling a dozen roses for like $10 and they really dont take that long to rip up yourself. Ask someone to be in charge of buying and ripping them up!

For the FGs basket, it may be cheaper to buy one off of ebay. You might even be able to make one. A nice little basket with ribbon on the handle and a bow on either side would look very cute.

Can you make the centerpieces yourself? We made ours and got the flowers from a grocery florist and it was a good deal cheaper than the florist that did everything else.

HTH!!!

 

[ky6]

I am glad to hear that it is not essential to have flowers for the kiddos! And I was a little concerned about them not being in a jacket, but I just don''t think our wedding is that formal!

We are definitely open to the idea of diy on the centerpieces, I guess we will just have to start doing some research. We went to a wedding at our venue recently and the girl just put several small votives on each table and it looked fine. It is in a historic mansion, so the place really needs very little decoration. We found those mirrored squares and circles at Garden Ridge and thought that if we used those and some small white votives that may be enough. But I really would like some flowers inside somewhere- has anyone used their Bridesmaids flowers as centerpieces?

Thank you for your ideas. Please keep them coming.

 

[eks6426]

Can you describe the bouquets for yourself and the BMs? Pictures would be better? A lot of times you can substitute cheaper flowers but still maintain the same basic over all "look." I''d ask your florist about cheaper flower substitutions.

Definitely get at least 3 quotes for the flowers.

Boys in just shirts and slacks sounds great. You could do dark pants, white shirts & maybe a little bow-tie. They definitely don''t need flowers.

Making your own flowergirl basket ought to be very easy.

On centerpieces, you might want to consider thinking beyond flowers. You can make really nice centerpieces involving candles. One idea--get large simple vases, fill the vase part of the way up with your choice of item...sand, sea shells, little crystals, rocks, nuts, etc. then nestle a candle near the top. Looks great, can be made ahead of time and is often cheaper.

 

[gingerBcookie]

FG- MUCH cheaper to do basket with petals. I think silk petals are cheaper, but real petals are relatively inexpensive. If you don''t care what color too much, go to a local flower mart and you can buy gallon bags for not too much. If you o care, you can order them for relativley ok price, or you can buy the roses and be-head them yourselves. That''s what we did for my friends wedding the night before. IT was tons of fun! Around here, the roses will go on sale for $4.95 a dozen...pretty cheap.

RB - I think shirst and slacks witha bowtie sound adorable! And a bout might look off if they aren''t wearing a jacket so that a money saver.

BMS - I''ve seen bms carrying a single calla or single rose or single gerber daisy tied with a ribon and it looked great. Very simple and very dramatic.

centerpieces - DIY with grocery store bouq sound great! Centerpieces do not have to be $$$. Candles give everything a romantic glow and are a nice less expensive alternative to flowers. YOu can float some candles in large vases and sprinkle petals. Or if you want flowers, the single submerged flower is always a great look. Cut back on th eflorist fee by proviing the vases yourself ( a few buch each a t garden ridge or michaels).

 

[njc]

JCJD used her BM bouquets as part of her centerpieces (pic in thread link). We used the BM bouquets and mine to decorate the head table. You can check out this thread for some more ideas.

Love the votive idea. My mom was able to find the candles in holders for really cheap at Wal-Mart. Like $5-10 for a box of 20? We placed them on mirror tiles and had a single hydrangea in a vase. We got the flowers and vases from a grocery florist and they gave us the vases at cost since we were also getting flowers and agreed to come pick it all up. Here is a picture, although not the best... we had long tables.

 

[njc]

And from a friends wedding... she had different flowers on each table... whatever was cheap. Tulips, daisys, roses, etc. she also used pilar candles.

 

[ky6]

I really like that last one! Thanks for the ideas. I think FI and I are going to go to Garden Ridge this weekend and see what we can find

 

[JKohio]

Check out my knot bio (cut ''n paste from my sig below) for pics of our 2 inexpensive centerpiece ideas. They cost less than $10 each. One involved a potted mum surrounded by votives. The other was floating candles in a bowl. Potted plants are pretty inexpensive -- $5 per mum pot!

 

[JCJD]

Well, the idea of a 2-year old with flowers PINNED to his shirt sort of scares me, so I''d forgo the RB bouts.

The FG doesn''t need to carry a bouquet, a basket would be way cuter and cheaper. Pomanders are also really cute for FGs, and you could make one cheap from silks and a styrofoam ball.

How large are your bouquets going to be? What kind of flowers? Are they in season or not? I''ve seen very simple "small" but elegant bouquets made of a couple calla lillies or tulips with long stems that could be very cost effective. I once saw BMs carrying 2 long-stem roses tied with wide ribbon, and it looked so elegant, not cheap at all.

Since we did a berry theme for our wedding, all the bout''s except for DH''s were fake berries and greenery. DH had roses too.

njc mentioned our centerpieces already, but if you''re doing engagement photos, you can do what we did and have a framed photo of you two as the centerpiece. If your church/ceremony site doesn''t let the FG scatter petals on the floor, then the petals can double on the centerpieces! Flower petals and candles on a mirror - Yum! I don''t know if you''ve decided what to do for dessert/cake, but have you considered table cakes as centerpieces? MelissaSue has posted some pictures of table cakes before and they are so CUTE!!

HTH!