Is it cheaper...

[cindygenit]

... to order flowers for the day of the wedding, put it in a clear vase of water and using it and a centrepiece???

I''m exploring the idea of getting fresh flowers from the market and DIY flower centrepieces...

I''ve been browsing the net for florists in Perth, and their prices are ridiculous!!!!! Seriously, If i have a pic of what I want it to look like, I''m sure I can do it myself without the hefty price tag!

 

[hawaiianorangetree]

Hmm... i have been wondering the same thing myself Cindy.

I haven''t actually looked at any florists yet, partly because i wasn''t really planning on using one (not sure if i even need a boquet), partly because I know some local people who are flower growers and whenever i want to buy a bunch of flowers i go to them (thought i could buy the flowers and put them together myself) and then partly because my FSIL used a ''very cheap'' florist for her wedding last year, she had roses and apparently each table centre piece was ''only'' $50 (they were beautiful) and my FMIL just assumes i will be going through her.

My thought is, if you keep it simple, there''s no reason you shouldn''t be able to put them together yourself, there was even a step by step ''how to'' on better homes and gardens not that long ago, but.. will you have time to do it on the day?

I am thinking that i have already planned enough for that day without having to put flower arangements together as well.
(I''m not getting married until 6pm, and apparently the makeup artist has to start at 12.30 wt?)
So i probably will try and keep it as simple as possible and go with the florist the FIL''s used or, choose table arrangements that don''t include flowers.

 

[Lanie]

I HIGHLY caution you against doing your own flowers for your wedding. some girls do it and it turns out great, but most regret it. You have to do it the morning of the wedding or they won''t look good. Trust me...this is something you won''t want to mess with. If someone in your family can do it that doesn''t need to be with you on the wedding day, assign it to them. Florists charge a lot because they work hard. They have to arrange, deliver (can you imagine what a nightmare this would be?), pick up at the end...they earn their money in my opinion.

 

[purselover]

Date: 8/13/2009 8:59:00 AM
Author: Lanie
I HIGHLY caution you against doing your own flowers for your wedding. some girls do it and it turns out great, but most regret it. You have to do it the morning of the wedding or they won''t look good. Trust me...this is something you won''t want to mess with. If someone in your family can do it that doesn''t need to be with you on the wedding day, assign it to them. Florists charge a lot because they work hard. They have to arrange, deliver (can you imagine what a nightmare this would be?), pick up at the end...they earn their money in my opinion.

I agree I doubt it''d be worth the hassle for the money you''ll save, have you looked at non-floral centerpieces? That might be a better option

 

[Diva0413]

Date: 8/13/2009 8:59:00 AM
Author: Lanie
I HIGHLY caution you against doing your own flowers for your wedding. some girls do it and it turns out great, but most regret it. You have to do it the morning of the wedding or they won''t look good. Trust me...this is something you won''t want to mess with. If someone in your family can do it that doesn''t need to be with you on the wedding day, assign it to them. Florists charge a lot because they work hard. They have to arrange, deliver (can you imagine what a nightmare this would be?), pick up at the end...they earn their money in my opinion.

I would agree, unless you''re planning a really small wedding with only a few tables. Also, are you thinking about just DIY-ing the centerpieces or all floral arrangements (bouquets, boutonniere, corsages, etc)?

 

[musincy]

Do you have a friend that would be willing to do your flower arranging? I would love to do this for a friend... but I never would have done it for my own wedding. The day of the wedding is just too busy.

 

[House Cat]

What flowers do you want to use? If you plan on using a hearty type of bloom, there is a possibility that you can do your arrangements the night before and keep them refrigerated.

I would look this up though or find a book that gives expert advice on the subject. The question still remains, do you want to spend the night before your wedding arranging flowers? Depending on the size of your wedding, this venture could potentially take hours and hours. Also, you will have to invest in florist supplies, so keep that in mind. For example, normal scissors won''t do when cutting flower stems.

 

[tlh]

My florist was able to turn the flowers at the ceremony to centerpieces at the reception. This did save some money, and ended up working beautifully.

Our florist also provided flower holders that perched at the head table, so that the bridesmaid''s flowers and my bouquet were not in the way, and provided a nice center piece, since most bridesmaids don''t know what to do with their flowers anyway. We had the boy-girl seating at the head table, and it worked out well. Plus the girls could take their pretty flowers home with them if they wanted. I think a couple girls did.

Just a thought!

 

[honey22]

There are a few threads here on DIY flowers. I am in the boat of ''don''t want to be doing sharp flowers, getting stained hands etc the morning of my wedding when I should be getting pampered''.

But anyhoo, depending on how simple a look you are going for and the type of flowers, it could be quite easy. Or near impossible.

Each flower needs to be stripped, some need to be wired, placed into foam, etc. It''s not always just a case of throwing them into a vase.

If you pick blooms that need little preparation and can be just thrown in, then I would say, enlist the help of a trustworth friend and have a practise run. If not, it may be more trouble that it''s worth.

 

[Yimmers]

You simply won''t have time to do it yourself on the morning of the wedding. My BM did all the flowers, and she started mid-week and had other bridal party members come by and help out at various times during the week.

The only way you might be able to get around it is by doing centerpieces that are extremely simple, like a vase with an orchid stem or two floating in it. And, you''d still need to do a test run before hand to see if you really like that idea. Still, you could DYI that yourself the day before the wedding. If you really want to go that route, browse the knot or some website with lots of flower pics to get ideas of simple arrangements.

Remember, you still need to also obtain all of the vases and other needed accessories for said centerpieces.

 

[cindygenit]

Good afternoon ladies!!! (or night in the states)

I don''t want to have an elaborate or high centrepiece... it would either be a simple vase (see pic below) or the drowned orchid with candle floating on top idea...(which can be recreated rather cheaply)

Do you think its possible to do this flower arrangement myself then? Actually, i will probably get some family members to help out

 

[neatfreak]

Cindy-do a dry run with just one arrangement. I think you''ll find that an arrangement like that is much harder than it looks.

 

[NakedFinger]

I am a wedding planner, and if there is one piece of advise I could force on all of my brides it would be...

"PLEASE DONT DO YOUR OWN FLOWERS!!!!!!"

Florists are professionals, they are in the business for a reason, dont try to do it...for many reasons:

1) It will never look as good as if a florist does it
2) Even if you have a knack for it, you cant do flowers that far in advance. So you will either be up all hours of the night trying to finish them the night before (mind you after your rehearsal dinner is over) or you will be trying to do them the morning of your wedding. You should have NOTHING left to do the morning of your wedding. No seating charts, not finishing the menu cards, and especially not putting together centerpieces. You will either run out of time and not finish them, or stress yourself out. Not. Worth. It.
3) If you assemble them at home before the wedding, keep in mind they have to make it to the reception site in one piece. Do you have a truck to fit them all? If time allows, many florists will put them together at the venue, and if they are smaller ones, they have special racks that hold the arrangements in place.
4) Depending on your venue, and what they have going on the night before and/or the morning of, they may not have the tables out and linens out early in the morning. Some even set them about an hour before the event. So if you, a BM or family member cant get there early to do it, then you have a guest missing out on the party while they are trying to set up your flowers.

Sorry to be blunt, but I have seen way to many people think this is a good idea, and it always ends in tears.

 

[adak]

As an alternative, I have seen people use potted flowers for centerpieces that look really cute! I''m pretty sure you could do that in advance, so you don''t have to worry about arranging everything the day of.