Flowers

I need flowers and I don't know where to start.

I live in the Bay Area and am getting married at the end of March. I don't know anything about flowers or types of flowers or how many I need for anything. My wedding colors are staying pretty traidional; blush pink, lavender, white/creme.

Does anyone know any reasonably priced florists or places to get wholesale flowers or maybe even flower markets?

Is it really that hard to make your own bouquets/centerpieces? A lot of people have offered to help me so if DIY is my cheaper option I'll totally go for it.

What are flowers that are in season/cheaper for the month of March/April?

The only thing I do know is that I like more natural/organic looking garden bouqets like the ones that dangle and arent so perfectly structured.
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Re: I need flowers and I don't know where to start.

  • Start looking at all The Knot's pictures of bouquets and centerpieces to get an idea of what you want and what would look nice at your venue. I think they have many beautiful ideas. Ask your venue to recommend florists. Make an appointment to visit one of the florists, show them pictures, and ask for their ideas. Most flowers are imported from Central America so seasonality isn't a factor these days.
  • Also check out/post on your your local board to get some recommendations or florists. Sometimes DIY can be cheaper and sometimes it isn't; it all depends what you're going for. I had no idea what I wanted for bouquets, soI told my florist what colors I was using and pretty much let her design them. I knew exactly what I wanted for centerpieces from doing a Google search, and I gave her a pic to copy.
    What did you think would happen if you walked up to a group of internet strangers and told them to get shoehorned by their lady doc?~StageManager14
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  • Your bouquets are beautiful, Addie.
  • I am searching for flowers too... and right now I'm looking at wholesale flowers on the Costco website...YES Costco! The timing and arranging might be tricky, but that's one option!
  • Your local board will be the best place to get ideas of what things cost in your area. As the prior poster says, most flowers today are grown in Central or South America........I know this because I've ordered from Costco. I was pleased both times I did.

    DIY is not that hard if you allow enough time. To find the exact flowers you want, I'd recommend googling "bulk tulips", or "bulk baby's breath", or whatever flower you think you want.

    I ordered the 20 piece wedding white rose wedding package from Costco for our wedding, at the time it was $399. I also ordered bulk flowers for our centerpieces from the local florist who arranges flowers for the Costco kiosk (get the number from the customer service desk). I received 96 stems of white vendella roses, 80 stems of white asiatic lillies, and 2 large bunches of baby's breath for $173. I picked them up at Costco 3 days before the wedding, the florist had them in large black buckets I could take, brought them home, handled them according to her directions, made my centerpieces the morning before the wedding, delivered them before our rehearsal, and they were lovely for several days afterward (I let people take them home).

    I have had gardens for over 20 years, and I wouldn't be bothered with the bouquets, bouts, corsages, but other brides have done it. Centerpieces were easier for me.

    Good luck.

  • We ordered flowers from Sam's Club for both my daughter's and son's weddings.  We had bulk bouquets for one and bulk baby's breath for the other.  The flowers arrived on Thursday and we made the bouquets on Thursday night.  Everything looked beautiful for the weddings which were on Saturdays. 

         My daughter-in-law used one order of bulk bouquets and made her bouquet and 5 bridesmaids' bouquets.  For my daughter's wedding we made all the bridesmaid's bouquets (5), bouts(12), and centerpieces(10) from 2 orders of baby's breath. She only used baby's breath in the arrangements.  We spent a little over $100 dollars for each wedding for the flowers from Sam's.  
    I placed the orders as soon as we decided what we wanted, but I believe the website gives suggested time frames.  I didn't help with my daughter-in-law's floweres so I don't know how she stored them, but we put the baby's breath in water in an ice chest (with the lid open).  It was the only thing I could think of that was big enough to hold them all.  I just kept them in the kitchen and once we made the bouquets we put them in vases, pitchers and glasses with water until the last minute when we wrapped the stems with ribbon.  If it's hot, I would suggest storing them in the coolest area of the house.  We did store the bouts in the refrigerator.
    If you are doing a lot of arrangements be sure and allow plenty of time or have lots of help.  The bridesmaids all wrapped their own bouquets the day of the wedding......

    They also have pre-made wedding packages.   
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