Fake or Real?

SeptemberFall2011

My mother is driving me nuts.  I want real flowers at my wedding and all the flowers well have are bouquets for me and the bridesmaids, the groom and his men, and boutinaires for parents, grandparents, hosts, and ushers.  We will do something special to honor those who have passed on.  I come from a rather large family so we have weddings quite frequently.  My mom will not shut up about how much money was spent on flowers at this wedding or how that cousin saved money by goin fake. 

I have heard horror stories about fake flowers.  And when I told her no we want real flowers she wanted to "compromise" that I would be the only one with real flowers.  I stood my ground and said no all real and I will pay half.  She became upset because I am being "unreasonable" over the flowers.

What do you vote for?  Real, fake, a combination or doing something else for certain people like the bridesmaids get Spanish lace fans.

kimp67

I'm guessing that she's paying since you said you would pay half.  If you want more than she's willing to spend, ask her what her flower budget is & pay the rest.

suz62984

I prefer real flowers myself. If you have offered to pay for the flowers I don't see her issue. Just say "Mom, I appreciate your concern over the flowers however I have decided that I would prefer real; I also stand by my decision to pay for the flowers since our opinions differ. I plan on getting several quotes, and reviewing all my options, before I decide on a florist. Real flowers are just very important to me. Please respect my decision."  ...change the subject

AbbeyS2011

I want real flowers also.  It is something I will not budge on either, but since I am paying for my wedding, I do not have to consult with anyone else.

Tell your mom you are willing to compromise in other areas but not when it comes to your flowers.  If she says, "Your cousin Jill saved $x on using fake", simply say, "Jill did what she wanted for her wedding, and I will do what I want for mine."

retro_bride09

I am utilizing both silk and fresh, but in different applications. For instance, we want the flower girls to carry pomanders, so I made them out of silk flowers. They look great! I am still waiting for the quote from the florist, so we may sub silk/other for things like the bouts.
As someone who is looking at both options, I am very curious, what exactly are the "horror stories" you have heard about using silk?

lequick2010

it depends on the flowers. if you go with certain kinds of flowers (carnations, for instance) they would be cheaper than buying fake flowers. i know a lot brides have bought flowers online and made the bouquets themselves. it would cut some costs and you'd still be able to have real flowers.

also, you can use fake flowers for centerpieces and decorations and use real flowers for the bouquets and boutonnieres.

my bouquet was fake but it was made with the real/natural touch flowers (http://www.angelsaccents.com or http://www.naturalelegancebydelores.com) and you can't tell the difference. however, high quality silk flowers cost almost as much if not more than some real flowers.

khornack

I personally prefer real. However, in order to work around budget constraints, I'm having non-floral centerpieces, making the boutineers myself (from dried pussy willow, feathers, filler, and pretty scrap material from JoAnn's--my fiance's is going to have an antique key, I'll have a matching one in my bouquet wrap). My girls are carrying lanterns that will have rose petals or ferns and Spanish moss (we're putting them together). So the only thing I am getting from the florist is my bouquet and the corsages for moms/grandmas.

I also looked at "wedding in a box" packages from places like sam's club. You can buy bulk flowers online to make simple centerpieces.

If you shop for in-season flowers, you're not going to be paying to fly them in from South America or Holland. And when the supply of something is high (in season) the price tends to go down.

If you don't have your heart set on a particular flower, you could also talk about a market buy, you could authorize your florist to buy whatever flower looks good and is cheapest when you will need it.

There are a lot of ways to get real flowers without going over budget. But if it is causing that much strife, maybe you could offer to take over the flower part of the budget.

SarahSmile23

i always vote for real flowers.

lovepink679

I said both ONLY because we are having 2 centerpieces. Some low (real flowers) and some submerged (fake flowers). Bouquets and all other flowers that are not submerged will be real.

Tisha.

Our bouquets, boutonnieres, and corsages are all fake flowers.  They are the real touch mini call lillies.

Our centerpeices will be real calla lilly stems.  It was actually cheaper to buy the real calla lillies for the centerpeices, than to buy the fake ones.  I'm getting them whole sale from Sam's Club.

The reason we are doing fake bouquets and such, is because I want to keep my bouquet, and I didn't want ONLY mine to be fake.