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Flowers on a Budget - any tips? (Silk vs Dried vs DIY)

mollyliz91mollyliz91 member
First Anniversary First Comment
in Flowers
I've been trying to save as much as I can, while also not over working myself too much, when it comes to cutting cost on wedding flowers. I've come down to three ideas.


1)Silk Flowers

 


2)Dried Flowers




3)Bloominous.com DIY kits


I have pros and cons for each option.
 1)Some people think silk flowers are tacky, while others think they're a good way to do flowers on a budget.
2) Dried flowers are unique and non-traditional. Some may think they're too outside the box or even depressing/grotesque. But I feel these would compliment my vintage farmers market theme in a cool way.
3)These are beautiful, can be customized, and are a fraction of what any of my local vendors would charge, but are they worth the extra DIY effort? Does anyone have good/bad stories using Bloominous? 
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Re: Flowers on a Budget - any tips? (Silk vs Dried vs DIY)

  • missJeanLouisemissJeanLouise member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    Didn't use bloominous but DIYed my flowers. It was one of my favorite parts of the weekend. I am not a fan of silk flowers because to get the good ones they can be as expensive as real but honestly, no one is going to be looking that closely.
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  • CMGragainCMGragain member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    Silk flowers can be very expensive.  DIY is not always the way to go.  You will be having stress on your wedding day.  Take it easy on yourself.  My daughter DIYed some church aisle flowers, and they didn't work.  This was the only thing she stressed about on her wedding day.  So not worth it!

    Try places like Costco or Sam's Club.  They have wedding packages.   Many grocery stores also have floral services, and they can save you a lot of money if you aren't dead set on certain flowers.
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  • ahoyweddingahoywedding member
    First Comment First Anniversary First Answer 5 Love Its
    Those dried flowers are lovely, and would look great in a rustic wedding! Ditto PPs on silk; I looked into those and for ones that weren't obviously fake were super expensive. My mom & I DIY'ed our flowers from Kroger & Trader Joe's. We did practice a little bit before, to see how many flowers we'd need, practice wrapping them etc. We made them the day before and kept them in her fridge overnight. Both Trader Joe's & Kroger (and Whole Foods) told us they would have been able to order specific flowers if we'd given a week-ish notice, but I was okay just using whatever they had that day. It's doable, but definitely practice & give yourself enough time! My mom and I are also both pretty crafty, so it may have been a tiny bit easier for us. 
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  • southernbelle0915southernbelle0915 mod
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    Silk won't necessarily save you money. And IMHO, dried just look like dead flowers. DIY can take a ton of time and effort and may not save you as much money as you might think.

    If I were you, I'd meet with 3 local florists. Tell them your budget for flowers and ask them what they can do within it. Tell them you don't necessarily care about flower type or color and that you can supply your own vases. 

    Other ways to save:
    - have your BMs carry single roses/calla lilies/hydrangeas
    - do half your centerpieces as something other than flowers - often, event venues have centerpieces (usually candles with hurricane shields) you can use that come with the price of the venue.
    - If the venue doesn't have anything you can use, buy your own pillar candles and get mix'n'matched glass containers at Salvation Army. Call and ask Salvation Army what day housewares will be on sale to get them even cheaper.
    - don't have centerpieces at all - just do table numbers, maybe spray paint them with metallic or glitter paint for some flair
    - ask a floral shop for any silk flower scraps for free or at a discount and make your own boutonnieres and corsages. 
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  • MesmrEweMesmrEwe member
    First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    1) Come up with an actual dollar figure you're comfortable spending after all nickels and dimes.  DIY =/= saving money for ANY of these options!  Silks and dried are going to add up in cost.  

    2) There are tons of places that offer pre-arranged flowers such that all you do is cut the bottom of the stems off the AM of and put them in to water...  Sam's, FTD, BJ's for example...

    3) Price it out!  Once you have your real world dollar figure (remember, each ribbon, pin, cutter, wire, snippers, etc. you purchase for a DIY has a cost associated with it, as does each minute of your time in the days leading up to your wedding (Think triple overtime value), which is money out of your pocket.  Take this figure to several local florists and ask "This is what I NEED, what can I get for the money?" using your budget.  It may come down to the cost of delivery vs. having someone pick the flowers up for a deciding factor (we had a florist want to charge us a $10 delivery on each centerpiece for our reception which would have been roughly $500, for a 10 minute drive from her shop - we said NOPE!)  There is a florist out there who will be happy to work with your budget as long as you keep your expectations in check.  

    4) Ask yourself if the stress is worth it or not?  If you already arrange flowers or are pretty skilled it's one thing, but are you really going to want to be doing this (OR ANY) DIY project when you should be relaxing and preparing for the major change your life is going to have.  Plan that you are going to have ZERO help for any of these projects, and ask that again.  
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