Wholesale flowers???

mwsrmr0422

I am a DIY bride and I am taking on the biggest job ever by doing my own flowers...I have heard from several people tht sams is a good place to get fresh flowers from....does anyone know any other place to get fresh flowers from realitivity cheap???? help!!!

[Deleted User]

From one bride that did her own DIY flowers for the entire wedding, here is my advice to you:

I was married on April 17, 2010.  I went in it with the goal of doing all of my flowers, centerpieces, bouquets, personal flowers as in corsages and boutonierres along with church arrangmenets.  I took formal training upto the wedding--going to the local community college 4/5 nights of the week for a full year before my wedding.  I even was able to access my teacher's flower discounter.

For all the brides on this forum this is how all florists operate: you book with them xyz months, weeks and even years before your wedding.  They call their wholesaler two weeks before your wedding, then 4 days before your wedding roughly, they pick up those flowers.  They always give a "cover your rear" disclosure if they cannot get a certain flower you specifically ordered because the relationship between grower and wholesaler can be tenuous, you get a substitution.

After a year of understanding what wholesale prices are, don't go through the online wholesalers.  They do a 50% mark up of what real wholesale prices are.

The wholesale price of a roses is roughly .80 a stem. 
Wholesale price of gerberas is roughly .50 a stem.
Snapdragons are the same as gerberas.
If you are going with fancy stuff like orchids:

Denrobiums are .80 per stem
Cymbidiums are a max of $15 per spray with 12-14 blossoms on it.

Go to your local Trader Joes and talk to them about flowers you want.  Go by color rather than specific flowers.

I ordered flowers from 3 places:

1. My teachers importer Meyish

I bought 100 hot princess roses.
3 sprays of holland large cimbidiums.
7 sprays of new zealand cimbidums(minis for my bridesmaids and  extras for corsages)
5 bunches of italian heather
2 boxes of greens

2. Trader Joes for all my Stargazer Liilies 10 bunches of seven stems for about $80.
3. Home Depot--I bought 25 mixed purple and pink bouquets.

My total floral budget came shy just under $900.

Looking back the flowers were more than enough for a 120 person wedding.  I ended up ordering too many greens.

Go to your local grocery--don't buy from online retailers--your local grocery can get you the same flowers the fancy importer online promises to sell you--when you buy online you are paying retail and arranging them yourself--you are better off contracting with a florist.

Here is why you don't want to do your own flowers--all of it is done in the last 72 hours before your wedding.  And during that time you want to be a bride not cinderella--I did all my flowers and it wasn't fun.

If you still want to go the DIY route--contract with a local supermarket florist for your centerpieces only--and just do your own personal flowers--bridal party flowers and wedding party flowers.

You will still save a ton of money that way.

marisellag

I'm the same way, I want to do everything myself. We are going to sams for some of the flowers and soulard market as well. A friend of mine used to be a bridal consultant so I asked her where to go, she said if you want to go somewhere like soulard. I was worried about that because they are really only open on the weekends and I don't want to throw my bouquets together the morning of the wedding but she said go a couple weeks before, let them know it's for a wedding and they can arrange for you to pick up your flowers thursday or friday morning so they are still fresh on your wedding day, but you have enough time to put them together,as long as you know what you want them to look like.

Meagan0528

I am getting married June 12th.  I was planning on doing my own flowers until about a month ago and then I got scared and called Scnucks Florist.  After reading your post Tilliea, I am so glad I did!

Meagan0528

Congratulations on your wedding, BTW!!

steph72881

I'm using Schnucks.  My sister used them too for some of her flowers. They do a good job and are totally reasonable.

lttlebarbie

I looked into doing wholesale flowers and doing them myself as well.  I looked at Sam's prices and compared them to a local florist and it was actually about the same price to go with the florist and she makes the bouquets for me.  She is wonderful at what she does and has affordable rates.  If you would like her information I would be happy to pass it along.

mskristen2003

Walter Knoll sells to the public wholesale.  Go to their green house on florist row off of Jefferson by Layfayette Square. Highly reccommend!

mskristen2003

Oh also, Soulard Market has a lot of really great flowers at really resonable prices.

NaniMekana

One of my friends did all of her own floral arrangements and all that jazz. She got her flowers from a farmer's market the day of her wedding. Luckily she didn't need to do a whole lot and it looked beautiful. The flowers were pretty cheap and fresh.

jlk0219

We ordered our flowers from 2groses(dot) com and arranged them ourselves, and I think it was one of the best wedding decisions we made.  I had absolutely no problems with their flowers and they looked beautiful.  We made 4 bouquets, 6 bouts, the guest book table arrangement, and ceremony aisle decorations for just over $400.  It was me, my mom, my aunt, and two of my bridesmaids doing the arranging the day before the wedding and none of us had previous flower arranging experience (although I did print out photos of what I wanted for reference and practiced making bouquets a couple times beforedhand).  I have the specific cost breakdown in my planning bio, and you can check out my married bio to see pics of how they turned out.  Flowers are beautiful on their own- as long as you choose simple designs and don't try to do something that's way above your skill level, you'll be fine.  Definitely practice beforehand so you feel prepared.  They'll be awesome! Good luck!