Bulk flowers from online?

sbs2s

Has anyone had any experience with buying bundles of flowers by the stem from online wholesalers? 

I'm planning on making by own centerpieces with single stems of orchids, sunflowers, and cherry blossom branches submerged in water in tall, cylinder vases with floating candles, and it would definitely be cheaper to do it this way.

I've been looking at both fiftyflowers.com and wholeblossoms.com, and they both look pretty legit, but it makes me kinda nervous not seeing what they look like until 3 days before the wedding, so I was just curious if anyone had had good or bad experiences with this method?

suz62984

If it makes you nervous I would order a few now and just see what their service/flowers are like. I've heard good things about Fiftyflowers.com but also sams club and costco.  I haven't heard of wholeblossoms.com.

sbs2s

Thanks!  Only problem is I'm pretty sure neither lets you order "samples," so I've been looking for the cheapest ones to test out and so far the lowest price has been about $60, which is a little pricey just to look at them. Might just have to suck it up since they would be cheapest in the long run. 

mahnkenc

You know what I did was I ordered the flowers for my bridal shower and tested them out that way! So then I didnt feel like I was spending 150 bucks for nothing... I actually used them!

ehathewa

We are looking at flowersandfreshness.com as well.  Their prices are a little better than fiftyflowers. 

melissamc2

Going the bulk route had been my plan all along (fiftyflowers.com).  I was also worried about how they'd last/work out, so I played around with a half dozen of my flowers of choice (peonies).  I was horrified when they died (with EXCELLENT by the book care) within two days, especially considering I'd get them from a bulk dealer no less than four days before the wedding.

I immediately discarded my dreams of a peony adorned October wedding, met with a florist, and got a quote on all roses.   

I still think there are times when an online bulk flower choice can be fantastic, but I, personally, decided my wedding day wasn't the time to risk it.    The stress of putting together everything myself would be one thing, but waking up on the wedding morning and finding them all dead would be quite another.

My suggestion is to do a trial run with the flowers you want to use - and see how they look after 3ish days of care.

Good luck!

sbs2s

Mahnkenc- That's a really good idea actually, thanks! Were you happy with them/did they hold up well? And where did you order them?

Melissa- That's terrible! And yes, the stress may not wind up being worth it. It would only be my luck to have them die exactly the time of the ceremony started haha. If I go the online route I will definitely do a test run first....only thing that sucks is the ones I want (the orchids) can't be ordered in a quantity smaller than about 70 stems, which is over $200. Damn my expensive taste and small wallet!

I will also definitely check out flowersandfreshness.com....hadn't heard of that one yet.

Thanks ladies!

die_liebe

let everyone know how that works out for you - i'm thinking of buying some online, too!