to DIY or not DIY...

heybekaruth · October 2010

hello ladies!!! ok...so we are working on our budgeting and i am considering (well me and my cousin who has done this on the side before) DIYing the flowers.

however, we are also considering just DIYing the centerpieces and reception decor and having a florist do the bouquets, bouts, and corsages...i know you guys can't give me an exact estimate...but on average...what did each bouquet, corsage, and bout cost to have a florist make them? i am wanting peonies (or 'fluffy' type flowers), ranunculus, and hyperisum berries...

and as always...i appreciate it!

heybekaruth · October 2010

i just realized that someone just recently asked about flowers...however, if anyone wants to chime in i would be appreciative!

also...anyone else doing their own or DID this own?? advice?? would you do it again?? was it worth the cost savings?

careyblackmar · October 2010

I was going to DIY my centerpieces and leave the bouquets to the florist as well. Then I realized I know absolutely nothing about flowers or centerpieces. I also realized that I could save money and still do other things that would make me feel like I was putting personal touches on the wedding, so I decided (with a bit of convincing from my mom and FMIL that they don't want a bridezilla that week because of flowers) to leave it to a professional. I'm glad I made that decision, because I know I'll be plenty busy that week without stressing over wilting flowers.

GL though if you decide to go for it! I know it can be done, it's just not in my bag of tricks

ktyd8 · October 2010

I did my own flowers. I ordered them from Sam's Club. It was super easy and I would do it again. I saved so much money!! I had them delivered on Thursday for my Saturday wedding. I put the bouquets together on Friday. It took some time, but not enough to say I would hire a florist instead.

pirategal03 · October 2010

We're in the midst of DIYing centerpieces. In my opinion, we're not saving enough money to make it worth the effort. We're using silk fall leaves and pumpkins for some of our tables and the florist is doing floral centerpieces on other tables. We're only saving $5-10/table over the cost for the florist.

However, our centerpieces aren't simple, a less labor-intensive and material-full design might be worth DIYing

heybekaruth · October 2010

Thanks for all the input! I have not met with a florist yet - so I guess I will just see what they say as far as costs and go from there...

I am not planning to do anything too labor intensive for the centerpieces (about half of them are going to crystal candelabras) and the other 10 I want something simple and kinda let the room and linens speak for themselves...

amandaandkyle · October 2010

I thought about DIYing my centerpieces and like you, letting my florist do everything else.

I researched the crap out of it. Really similiar flowers too (though instead of the peonies I am going with hydrangea) and if I had done it -- I too, would buy from Sam's Club. Heard great things about them and I see the best pricing by far. And after meeting with several florists and getting all my estimates in, price (and sanity) wise, it wouldn't save me that much to DIY. I am DIYing enough stuff for our wedding that this is one project I can let go.

pirategal03 · October 2010

And also, if you're using fresh flowers this isn't something to be done ahead of time. My family thinks they have to run every breath by me this week, it's a crazy time to add an extra project.

ChickenOnSunday · October 2010

We did the centerpieces ourselves. Bouts and bouquets came from Chapel Hill Florist. Candy was great to work with. When I went in she pulled flowers from the cooler as we discussed what I wanted the "look" to be. The final product was exactly what I wanted. She also made five flower options for my hair. They were great to work worth. Here are my costs....

off white wedding gown
fall bouquet using cream roses, cream stock, euc, dark
red roses as accent, purple monti, purple stock, ranunculous-
orangy, blupureum, orange/red tipped spray roses, fall yellow
roses, hypericum green and brown tied with purple satin
ribbon provided by bride
			$100 (bride bouquet)

Fall colored bouquet, round, purple, oranges,
gold, browns, dk red, roses, hypericum, silver
dollar euc, monti, ranunculous, and more
gerbs, orange dahlia, pitt . Hand tied with
purple ribbon provided by bride (ribbon sample) 65.00 (Cost for each bridesmaid bouquet - 3 total)

cream rose, green hypericum, greens

$12.50 (groom and groomsmen)

[Deleted User] · October 2010

I am curious as to how the DIYers keep the flowers from dying? No way would I have enough room in my refrigerator?

Here is the pricing I just got from a caterer who will also do flowers:
Bridal bouqet - $165 and up
Boutonniere - $18
Mothers - $25 for a corsage
Ceremony flowers - $125 and up
Table centerpieces start at $45

Overall he quoted me about $2300 for me, groom, 7 bridesmaids, 16 boutonnieres, 4 mothers, 1 ceremony, 9 pedestal decorations and 21 table pieces.

Of course, I'm sure much of this depends on the flowers that you use and I"m not there yet!!

alliegator8 · October 2010

it really depends on what you want. We did our centerpiece, but they were very simple. we order loose orchids from hawaii with our flowers (the total amount i spent on flowers was $300). We took different size jars, put sand in the bottom with a couple of shells then filled it with water and added some loose orchids and a couple small floating candles. They came out so beautifully and not expensive at all. We also got some fake flowers from michaels and put those in glass milk jugs on the windows.

So if it is something easy like taat, I think you could totally do it. If you are looking for something more elaborate, I would consider getting it done. Lke Mary said, you don't want to be worrying about that right before the wedding.

CJ4578 · October 2010

I agree with previous posters- if you're looking for simple, you can totally do it. More elaborate things take more time and stress, and if you're using fresh flowers that means DIY the day before or day of. That said, there are some awesome non-live-flower centerpieces that girls have done. (Jessica from a while back had a fall wedding and did huge verticle vases filled with mini pumpkins and they looked super cool!)

My floral breakdown for bouqs and bouts (from my head, may not be totally correct) was as follows (I originally had a 2k budget for flowers, and the florist got me in at under $1500 including labor.)

Bridal Bouquet- orchids, callas, fiddlehead ferns- $175
Bridesmaids Bouqets- Mini callas- $75
Grooms Bout- Fiddlehead fern, hypersium berries and orchid- $25
Groomsman Bout- Fiddlehead fern and hypersium berries $17
Other Bouts for Family- $11 ea. (Ivory roses or calla liliies and the berries)
Corsages for Family- $22 ea. (Ivory roses and h. berries)

I love love love Tre Bella, and they can work with any budget. Before you DIY talk to some florists in the area about what you want, and see what kind of price they can give you. Definitely worth it.

Good luck!

ChickenOnSunday · October 2010

I think this all depends on the look you are going for with the centerpieces. We did a combo of flowers and candles in different sized mason jars with a burlap overlay. In my case - Fresh Market gets their flowers in on Tuesday. This means by Saturday, the will be open and full.

We picked up the flowers on Friday morning, made the centerpieces Friday mid-morning, and left them at the venue. We did not put them in the refrigerator. I don't have a picture on my work computer of our actual tables, but I have the pictures we used as inspiration.

After the wedding we gave a lot of the mason jars to friends b/c we were leaving on our honeymoon. I did keep two or three jars at our house, and seven days after the wedding, most of the flowers still looked great.

ANSchick08 · October 2010

I DIY'd my flowers, but we didn't have flower centerpieces. I used roses from Sam's Club, had them delivered Thursday, assembled on Friday, wedding on Saturday. I wanted simple bouquets, bouts, and corsages. If you do this I recommend practicing with someone well before the wedding with the MOH, or your mom, or someone that won't panic the week of the wedding.

Someone asked how you keep them alive...the website and boxes normally come with care instructions. But pretty much put the flowers in cool water, and keep them in a cool place (but not the fridge because vegetables release some gas that can kill flowers). We kept ours in the garage because it was cool out there.

I have lots of links for flower care and how to assemble hand-tied bouquets and easy to make bouts. If anyone is interested in them.

ANSchick08 · October 2010

Oh, here's the link to the other Jessica's blog (she did the non-floral centerpieces)

http://weddingpeephole.blogspot.com/

heybekaruth · October 2010

sorry it has taken me several days to respond - it was a busy week last week!

ANSchick08 - would you mind emailing some of the websites your mentioned: rebekahandnathan@gmail.com

thanks again for all the advice! i think i will meet with a couple florists to get pricing and so forth. the centerpieces i have in mind are pretty simple so we may be able to tackle those and leave the bouquets, bouts, and corsages to the professionals.

i guess it will answer my questions more once i meet with a florist or two...

motherof2kids2k6 · October 2010

Hello, I had my venue to do the center pieces for me, but I did add my touches to them, I also did my own flowers (bouquets, bout., crosages, & etc.). I think I came out really good with it, and no I don't think it was that intense to where I would need to have a florist. I paid $150 (the total price was like $300 and the lady gave me half off) for all my flowers, and I still have some flowers left over b/c I had too many, but needed more than enough than not enough at all (I have 6 BQ, 11 BTN, 3CR. and it took no time to do them, and I made it a ladies night in for my girls and we put them together ourselves. i showed them how to do them, b/c the lady who owned the flower shop showed me how to do them before I purchased all the flowers. So it turned out really well, and they do make them for you too for a small fee. Golden State Silk Flower wholesale shop in charlotte nc on South Blvd.

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