Wedding flowers are big business for floral designers. I get it. You believe you can do it cheaper and maybe even better. Maybe you can. But if you're planning to do your own fresh flowers, I 'd like you to keep these 10 things in mind:
10 Hints Your DIY Wedding Flower Plan Might Be In Trouble
1) No one planning to assemble the flowers has ever done it before. Bridal flowers must be perfect. They can look like they were just picked from a field, but you will regret it if they look amateur. Get someone who knows how to do it to help.
2) No one knows how long the selected flowers will last. Hydrangeas are one of my favorite flowers. But if you make a bouquet of them for an outdoor wedding on the hottest day of the year you will be holding a wilted bunch of stems and ribbon.
3) You have specific colors you want to use to match the bridal party dresses. If you're planning to buy your flowers from a wholesale flower market try to order them beforehand. So you know they will have what you want. Better still, pick the flowers before you select the dresses.
4) You don't have a cool place to store the flowers. See if you can find someone who does. Or pick up the flowers the day before from the wholesaler.
5) You have not attended a class or done extensive research on DIY wedding flowers. It's really not as easy as it seems. You want the flowers to look beautiful for the pictures. There's a reason people hire professionals. Don't let the stress of trying to get the flowers just right steal your joy on the days leading up to your wedding. Take a course.
6) You haven't practiced making the flower arrangements before the wedding. Step away from this computer screen and start practicing right now.
7) You've selected a complex bridal bouquet, because it's the one you've been dreaming of. Either choose another bouquet style or consider having a florist just make your bouquet. It will take the pressure off. A round bouquet may be easy to do, but a cascading one is a lot of work and technique. You can make a simple bouquet if you use one type of flower in one color.
8) You don't know how to take care of flowers. You can read up on this online.
9) You plan to dye your flowers to get the color just right. Don't even think about it. Nuff said.
10) You're planning to make an extremely unusual bridal bouquet with fish heads and purple sequins. That might be your style now. But in 20 years you will live to regret it when you look at those wedding pictures. Need proof? Check out the wedding pictures of people married in the '80s. They weren't even trying to be avant garde.
Here are a few websites to help you be successful with your DIY flowers. There are loads of them. Find one that meets your needs.
DIY Wedding Resources:
If you take these hints into consideration, your DIY flowers should turn out fine.
Have a story about someone who did their own wedding flowers? I'd love to hear about it.
Mimi
I had my bouquet done by a professional. I'd seen pics of her cascading bouquets and they were gorgeous. Asked if it could be done with roses and she said "Sure!" Well, it shows up on my wedding day and looks like a toucan nose. And the flower girl wreaths were too big for even my head! I think she could have used some of these tips!
Posted by: Jenny@vegetarianhatesvegetables | 02/20/2012 at 12:41 PM
Sounds like you're right. It's always a good idea to either recommendations or see the floral designer's work before hiring them.
Posted by: Mimi | 02/20/2012 at 01:14 PM
This is wonderful! Thanks for sharing some steps. This is a wonderful tip.
Posted by: Flowers Melbourne | 04/18/2012 at 06:25 PM
I love how you illustrate these ideas in this article. Your article is pretty interesting, and I really enjoyed reading it
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