DIY Flowers... Help!

evabo31

Ok, so I almost passed out when I was given a quote for flowers. I've seen on here a time or two of people suggesting to others to DIY. Does anyone have any suggestions as to where I'd find flowers in bulk? Someone suggested "Online wholesaler" or "Farmer's Market" but can anyone be more specific? Like an actual website that was used? Or a specific farmer's market that would have flowers in bulk? I'm located in the heart of Willamette Valley, but I'm willing to travel to Portland or Salem if need be. Thanks ladies!

Gingery1

Local bulk flowers in October might be limited but Dahlias are still going strong.  The best selection would be from Swan Island Dahlias WWW.DAHLIAS.COM I have been to the festival and it is amazing to see the same flower in so many shapes, petals, colors and sizes. 

I live in Salem and have several flower venders at our Saturday market.  Arrangements are nearly all dahlias and sunflowers by mid September with some of those redish/green berry things.  I am in love with the vender Buena VIsta Flowers  at our market and will probably have her do my flowers.  She does not have her own website but I found this blog post by someone else that has pictures and a mini video of her stall http://afreshbouquet.com/2010/08/18/flower-whisperers/ . As you can tell she has more of that wildflower look. I think she is in the south of Independence area..? No idea if she has anything late in the year but you can always call her up or visit at the market.

mustanggoonie

I am so surprised by all the brides wanting to do flowers themselves!  The headache that causes is not worth the small amount of $ saved.  Find a smaller, local florist who will give you more bang for your buck.  (The larger floral businesses can be less personable and tend to charge more )

mayflymanitou

Ditto the recommendation for Swan Island Dahlias.  I use them several times each season, and have always been pleased with the results.

Other online wholesalers I've used in the past include:
www.theflowerexchange.com
www.americanfloraldistributors.com
www.fiftyflowers.com
www.bloomsbythebox.com
www.wholeblossoms.com

DIY-ing your flowers isn't difficult, provided you have confidence in your skills and have an organized timeline (and helpers!).  However, if you don't have previous experience you can still save a ton of money by buying the flowers yourself and then paying someone to put it all together for you.  Like the pp said, it just depends on how much stress it's likely to put on your shoulders the week of the wedding, and if that's worth it to you or not.

Hope that helps!

[Deleted User]

this is a site of all you-picks in Oregon, you need to scroll through to see which are flowers vs. fruit, etc.

http://www.pickyourown.org/ORporteast.htm

I know there's a wonderful stand at the Portland Farmers Market @ PSU that does gorgeous flower displays. If I were using fresh flowers, I would go the morning of my wedding and buy some of the bouquets... Seems they cost about $10 for a nice white arrangement this past summer.
Have you considered silk flowers? They were out of the question for me, but I saw some at Michaels that looked REAL. I bought them on clearance (found them after the fall seasonals were put on clearance) for $15- that is for ALL flowers needed.

evabo31

Thank you so much for all the input. I'll definitely be looking into all of these suggestions.