DYI flowers for small event time to prep

Lizdc

I am considering doing my own flowers for my ceremony / lunch reception on the beach. I am a costo member and am thinking of ordering 100 red roses. And making 1 bridal, 4 bouts, and 6 center pieces. ll of these would be very basic just ribbon tied all roses. The thing I am trying to figure out is how much time to dedicate and when to do them. Also I assume that 100 roses will be enough for the bridal, bouts, and centerpieces.
From what I can see I will need 1. The flowers, wire, ribbon, pins, a pair of pruning shears, flower tape, and vases for the centerpieces. I am thinking of doing the flowers on the morning before. Is that too early.
THe other option I thought about was just getting the bridal and bouts done then making the center pieces.

Magdala9

Time frames are hard to estimate.  The time needed by one bride may be different than the time needed for another. The best method is to buy a bunch of flowers and test out your ideas in a timed situation.  Then double that amount of time to handle the interruptions.

midgemoto

If your wedding is on saturday do the flowers on thursday and just change the water on friday night.... arrange them into lukewarm water so they will drink and open a bit more.   

be sure to get some greens too because you will need them in the centerpieces at least.  Count on about 10 broken roses... just in case. 

When you get the roses they will be tight buds...If you want them to open again... deep warm water and a freshly cut stem is very key.  

change the water to cool water morning of the wedding so its clear and clean... 

You wont have any problems...its really pretty fun! 

Sue-n-Kevin

Costco also sells bridal packages with everything you need. They have a video online to show how it works.

I'm getting my wedding flowers from Costco as well. FYI, our local Costco (not sure how others work) have an actual florist that puts the floral packages in the kiosk at the store. The customer service desk gave me her name & number. I called her a week or so ago, and she told me she can order as many of whatever type of flower I want and actually pick them up at the store. She said to call about 3-4 weeks ahead of the day I want to pick them up, and the pick up date should be 3-4 days before the wedding, allowing them time to get "conditioned" and open up. I will probably go this route, 2 dozen roses are $14.99, there are different prices for baby's breath, calla lillies, greens, oriental lillies, etc. I'd prefer to see what I'm getting at the store instead of having them delivered and being stuck with what I got, LOL.

Catwoman708

As long as you can keep them cool and in water, you can do most of the arranging a couple days in advance.  It depends on how opened they are. 

I would pick them up 2 days prior, let them "rest" a while in buckets of water, prep the stems, and divide them into bunches.  If the blooms are tighly wrapped, and you don't want them to open up too full before the wedding, leave the wrapping on them as long as possible, just prep the stems).  Then the day before, do most of the arranging.

If you keep them refrigerated, or in a very cool room, a simple hand tied bouquet can easily be done the day or two before the wedding if you keep the stems in water.  A bout can last 2-3 days in the refrigerator, if kept covered, like in a corsage/bout box, or a Glad-ware type container.

**If refrigerating the flowers, don't put fresh fruits/veggies and flowers in the same refrigerator.  The gasses released by the fresh produce can wilt flowers or turn them brown.

A bridal bouquet usually takes roughly 2 dozen stems, bouts one stem each, and a vase arrangement about a dozen each .  It's a good idea to order a few extra, in case of breakage or quality issues. 

If you use lots of greenery in the centerpieces, or accent/filler flowers, you can use less than a dozen roses, and have extras on hand.