How far do flowers go?

GardeniaLily

I've tried finding the answer to this without any luck.

Does anybody have any experience doing their own flower arrangements? We are thinking about giving it a shot, but we have no idea how many flowers to actually buy. Like at Sam's (or wherever)--you can buy 100 or 200 or 80 or 40 of one kind of flower, but we have no idea how far this will go. Do they not go as far as you think? All we really want are a bouquet for me, smaller bouquets for my 3 BM's, a big floral arrangment for the church at the base of the altar, a small one for a memorial, and an extra bouquet for our Marian Devotion.

Is 400 flowers for all this too much, or do you think the large arrangement for the church will need a lot more than I'm thinking it will?

Any hints are appreciated!

GardeniaLily

Thanks for the advice. We are thinking about--at minimum--gerber daisies, irises, siberia white oriental lilies, sunflowers, and hypericum for some green in there. I was toying with the idea of Alstroemeria/Peruvian Lilies too because I really love those, but I wasn't sure they'd really "go" with the rest of the flowers. Tulips and roses are also on the "possible" list.
The numbers of stems we were considering were:
Gerber: 80
Irises: 50
White Oriental Lily: 40
Sunflowers: 40
Hypericum: 100
Total: 310

And the possible list:
Alstroemeria: 80 (with 4 blooms per stem)
Tulips: 100
Roses: 100 or 200 (50 mm)

Ideas?

Maggie0829

Why don't you do a mock up before placing your large order?  You should go to a local florist/groccery store/sam's club/etc. and buy what you think you may need for your bouquet, one BM bouquet, and one floral piece (probably the largest one and then you can get an idea of what you might need for the smaller ones).  This way you can see what you might need for each item and how many flowers you would need to order total.

Alstromeria would definitely go with the rest of the flowers.  You seem to have a very nice mix of flowers that would be very pretty together.

Also, I would buy just a few extra stems of each, if possible, so just in case any of the heads break off or are not as pretty as you would like them to be.

Catwoman708

Just to note, for a beginner doing DIY flowers, you should probably stick with fewer types of flowers, and do a practice bouquet well in advance.  Then you will have a better idea how many stems of each flower per bouquet/arrangement, and how well the flowers hold up.

Just to note, irises and tulips might be hard for a beginner to work with.  Gerbers, roses, Oriental lilies, alstromerias (peruvian lilies), hypericum, daisies, and sunflowers are all fairly easy to work with.

For a bouquet or arrangment if you are using all one kind of flower, you will probably use about 18 to 30 stems, depending on the size.  If you are mixing in other flowers, you will use less.

Example:  a typical mixed bridal bouquet of the flowers you mentioned would probably use about 1 dozen gerbers, about 2-3 stems each of sunflowers and Oriental lilies, 3-5 stems of hypericum. 

BM bouquets and small arrangements will use slightly less, large arrangements will use more.  I would add up how many stems you need of each type of flower, and order extra of each, to allow for damage, or in case you underestimated.  you can always use any extra flowers for other arrangements.

You might check into seeing if local craft store or flower markets offer classes in floral design.  You might also go to the library or half price book store for some how-to books of floral arrangements and wedding flowers.

Catwoman708

You  might also check with the church about flowers.  they might have special requirements, restrictions, or they might have someone who can help you.  Some churches have volunteers or a flower guild that does the church flowers, others might could recommend a good florist or resources for flowers..

Our church has a flower guild of volunteers that can make the arrangements, and even sometimes help with wedding party flowers, and centerpieces.  We can order the flowers at a discount and tax free, and brides make a "donation" to cover the cost of the flowers.  Any donations paid to the church are also a tax deductible donation.