DIY Project: Wedding Flowers

Practice Bouquet

The bills can really add up when it comes to planning a wedding, so as a bride you've got to decide what you're willing to spend big money on, and what you'd like to save on. In my case, flowers weren't at all important to me. Especially after I visited a florist and was told it would cost me OVER ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS to RENT two giant urns for the ceremony. I had to stop myself from laughing in her face! I figured since I wanted super simple bouquets for my wedding, that it couldn't be all that hard. I had taken a "life-skills" class in high school where I was taught a little about flowers and I thought maybe I would just do it on my own. Turns out, with a little help from my MIL and a friend, it is not only doable, but adviseable!

You will need: a couple dozen flowers (depending upon how big you want your bouquet), some floral tape (found at walmart), some ribbon and a few pins. 

Step one: De-thorn your roses. Take off any wilting petals. I took off all the greenery too. 

Step two: Start with three roses. Put them together, and start wrapping the floral tape from the top of the stem down. Add and fourth and fifth rose. Wrap the tape. Repeat until you've used all the flowers. Be sure to wrap the tape very tight. Don't be afraid to move the stems around- they are much more plyable than you might think!

Step three: Wrap the ribbon tightly from the bottom of the stem to the top. Secure with a few pins.

Practice Bouquet.

Here are my wedding flowers before I de-thorned them and took off all the greenery.

For the actual wedding, I bought flowers from the Grower's Box. They were shipped in from Colombia. I bought 250 white and cream roses and used them for my bouquet, five wedding party bouquets and decor for the memory table. In addition, I bought 4 dozen yellow/orange roses from the little mom and pop shop down the street, and used them for aisle petals, bouttonieres and a flower girl bouquet. 

They always come a few days before they bloom, so take that into consideration when ordering. Once you get them, you need to keep them in a cool place. For this reason, we had the air conditioning blasting in our apartment for three days before the wedding! Ha! In all honesty, it was probably too cold because on the day of the wedding we had to pry the flowers to open more. 

And here they are on the big day. See those yellow/orange petals in the aisle? I was quoted $200 by the florist and we did them ourselves for $40.00.

Oh, and those two urns that I was quoted over a thousand bucks to rent? We made four of them for about $500 including the (faux) flowers!

10 Ways To Save Money on Your Wedding

(Source)

1. Consider the date. Saturdays are the most popular wedding day. For this reason, Saturdays are also more expensive than, say, a Friday or Sunday. Inquire about the price difference. You may be surprised.

2. Email your Save-the-dates. In this day and age, almost everyone has email (except for maybe great aunt Geraldine, but you can call her yourself), so why not send out a save-the-date via email? Depending on how many people you're inviting, you'll save cash by not having to pay postage and the cost of purchasing or making your save-the-dates.

3. Shop the sales for your wedding dress. Many bridal stores have semi-annual sales during the year, as well as trunk shows where you can score your dream dress for a fraction of the price. 

4. Skip the full bar. Consider serving beer, wine, and a signature cocktail at your wedding instead of a full bar. If you must have a full bar, skip the premium brand liquors. 

5. Do your own make up. Schedule a session with a make up artist before your wedding to learn how to properly apply make up, and do it yourself on the big day! 

6. Consult the artisans at Etsy. When you see something you love in store that is way over budget, check out Etsy for a less expensive option. I used Etsy for my bridesmaids' earrings and wedding card box.

7. Cut the guest list. Narrowing your guest list a sure way to cut your wedding costs. You could also make this an "adults only" wedding, thus eliminating the cost of kids' meals.

8. Skip the flowers where you can. Candles are a great substitute for flowers in places like the centerpieces and the aisle.

9. Seat guests at larger tables. This will cut down on the number of centerpieces you have to use (and pay for).

10. Narrow down your vendors, and use one against the other in competitive pricing for the best deal. It sounds shady, but it's just negotiation. Quick story: When I was planning my wedding, I considered two potential DJ's. DJ A was much more experienced, owned a huge DJ and lighting company and had access to specialty DJ's (I wanted someone who could do mash ups), had better references, and an overall better personality than DJ B, who was younger, inexperienced, and a one-man business. DJ A was almost $9,000 more than DJ B. We simply told DJ A that DJ B would do it for less, and DJ A matched the price! We were shocked!