What Route Did You Take for Flowers?

dianalynm

Hi everyone!

I'm fence-sitting about what I should do in terms of flowers. My wedding coordinator does floral design, and they're beautiful, but pricey. I inquired with a couple florists on Maui, but haven't heard back yet (just emailed not more than an hour ago).

I also thought about the Costco/Maui Floral route, but I really don't want tropical flowers.

Anyway, my question is: has anyone gone the online wholesale route and then DIY your own bouquets and centerpieces? Which companies do you recommend?

Have any of you gone with Safeway or Whole Foods for flowers? What was your experience with them? Did you DIY or have them make everythign for you?

I just can't justify spending so much on flowers, but I don't really know what I should do. Just wanted to get some input...

Thanks!

Tanq&Tonic

Heh.  I was TOTALLY in your boat and figured I'd just DIY everything and keep things simple.  At the time we were planning, Whole Foods was somewhat newly opened and didn't want to commit to a wedding since the floral department was very green -- this despite WFs elsewhere on the mainland doing weddings regularly.  I would most likely have gone that route otherwise.

About 3 months out, I decided just to work with a local florist and blow the budget a bit.  We only had 8 tables, and I didn't want to ask my mom / sister / me to stress about making centerpieces or bouquets the day before.  It was so nice just to have someone else worry about making them, and setting them up, and breaking them down.  We DIY'd a lot of stuff, but ultimately decided that once we landed on island, it was fun time not work time except for final vendor meetings and assembling welcome bags.  Not everyone takes that philosophy, but I definitely thought a little extra cost there was worth it.

kimmykupcakes

My bouquet is made of shells, I have paroles for our wedding team, leis for us and family and DIY table arrangements, aisle and flower circle. The flowers and leis we are all getting through Costco. The arrangements are going to be pretty simple, so we aren't worried about the stress of them. 

dianalynm

My mind was so black and white! I either thought: "Ok, the florist can do it all." or "Ok, we can DIY it all!" But I just realized that I can have a florist do the bouquets (since I have no experience whatsoever with bouquets!) and then DIY the centerpieces since I wanted to do a very simple centerpiece with mason jars, mixed flowers, and small pillar "candles" (since they're LED, but my WC swears they look real...lol).

It was a duh moment for me. I think I am really leaning towards the 1/2 professional and 1/2 DIY! Now to find the flowers...

Anyone ever order flowers in bulk online before?? I really want garden roses, craspedias, hydrangeas, and any other inexpensive flower that looks amazing...

I read reviews about a couple online bulk wedding flower websites and there are just mixed reviews. Get's me all worried about it. Is anyone familiar with the types of flowers that WF or Safeway carries? I don't really care for tropical flowers at our wedding...

kaesha

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_hawaii_route-did-flowers?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:73Discussion:035f64c0-d4f7-4c5c-a7c6-45a68dc54fd9Post:2e5675eb-9012-4f35-9583-88ecc7d9625c">Re: What Route Did You Take for Flowers?</a>:
[QUOTE]My mind was so black and white! I either thought: "Ok, the florist can do it all." or "Ok, we can DIY it all!" But I just realized that I can have a florist do the bouquets (since I have no experience whatsoever with bouquets!) and then DIY the centerpieces since I wanted to do a very simple centerpiece with mason jars, mixed flowers, and small pillar "candles" (since they're LED, but my WC swears they look real...lol). It was a duh moment for me. I think I am really leaning towards the 1/2 professional and 1/2 DIY! Now to find the flowers... Anyone ever order flowers in bulk online before?? I really want garden roses, craspedias, hydrangeas, and any other inexpensive flower that looks amazing... :) I read reviews about a couple online bulk wedding flower websites and there are just mixed reviews. Get's me all worried about it. Is anyone familiar with the types of flowers that WF or Safeway carries? I don't really care for tropical flowers at our wedding...
Posted by dianalynm[/QUOTE]

The quality of what you're going to get is really dependent on the season. I think a lot of brides pick a flower (take peonies, for example) out of its growing season and then get upset when they get something not as impressive (because, it's been shipped from Israel, for example). So, do your research about what's available first. Here in Toronto, I buy wholesale flowers for my home from a local florist who sells them on the side. Why not just ask them what it would cost for the flowers alone?