Help! Keeping DIY flowers fresh

jessandnick629 · November 2015

Hi everyone,
My fiance and I have been trying to figure out whether we should go with a florist, or do our own flowers (or even a mix of both). My fiance and I don't have any concerns about working with the flowers ourselves since we have experience with arranging them. I've gotten estimates from florists and have also made an estimate for ourselves for flowers, vases, supplies, etc. and it would save us a decent amount to do our flowers ourselves. I'm worried about the logistics of it though, because we'll be staying in a hotel near the venue (since we live further away) the night before the wedding, so we don't have to make the drive up there on the morning of the wedding. I guess the point I'm getting at is I'm worried about keeping the flowers cool and fresh overnight so they still look great for the wedding when we're at the hotel, since we won't have a large fridge/cooler to keep the flowers in. Has anyone done something like this, or have any tips/tricks/etc?

[Deleted User] · December 2015

I think that is where the extra costs comes in. A florist has the space to keep the flowers fresh. Depending on what types of flowers you select, they won't look as fresh the day of your wedding if just left in a hotel room. Here is something else to consider, with having to travel, will you really have the time the day before your wedding to make all the floral arrangements the day before your wedding. If you really want to do them yourself, maybe consider doing silk, or doing some silk (like bouquets & bouts) & then paying a florist to do the fresh. That would help reduce some of the costs.

Knottie98935522 · December 2015

I often see flowers placed in cool (refrigerators), but I really do not know what temperature those places are kept at; so, perhaps see if there is a place at the hotel where you can keep them, or you may need to purchase something that you can keep them in.

Sorry, that's the best I can suggest. Perhaps if you look on YouTube, you can get more suggestions on keeping flowers fresh for a few days.

lyndausvi · December 2015

How far are you traveling? How many CPs are you talking about?

If I was traveling using a florist would be well worth the cost, but that's just me. You can crank your hotel room to arctic cold. Maybe ask the hotel if they have room in their walk-ins. Although DH would have only enough room for 1-2 CPs, not much more than that. I would expect to pay a fee for the storage also.

blabla89 · December 2015

I did all my own flowers and stored them at room temperature, and they looked great for the wedding and for several days after. I think the most important thing is to choose a type of flowers that doesn't wilt easily. Make sure they have flower food and plenty of water.

That said, arranging flowers in a hotel room sounds like a pain. When I did mine, it took up every inch of counter and table space in my kitchen, so I can't imagine trying to do it in a hotel room. Just something to keep in mind.

julieanne912 · December 2015

I bought my flowers wholesale and my aunt (a professional florist who is out of state) worked on them in my basement, which was on the cooler side of room temp. Then, they sat in my car overnight (in September, so it was cooler at night, like in the 50s maybe). They were just fine and many of them even lasted for over a week after the fact.

The only ones that didn't last very well were the dahlias in my bouquet....unfortunately they were also the most expensive!

And yeah, I can't picture having to do it in a hotel room. My basement is 1850 sq ft unfinished so she got to spread out, and then she finished everything at the venue on the day of, and there was plenty of space there.

jessandnick629 · December 2015

Thank you all for all of the advice! We will be traveling about an hour away, to a hotel that is like five minutes away from the venue. We will have eight centerpieces, plus six mason jars worth of baby's breath to serve as decor for the aisle. Then there will be flowers for my bouquet and two bridesmaids. We are having a florist do the boutonnieres since I do NOT want to try to make those, haha. We have talked to some florists and gave them our budget and design, and even though the prices we were quoted were for the most part in our budget (except for one florist), we found out if we bought wholesale we could get the same exact designs for a decent amount less. We figured we could either just save the money or put it back into the budget towards something else, like late night snacks or something similar for the guests.

kylexo · February 2016

I'm work as a florist and am planning on doing all of my own flowers with the exception of my bouquet (having a colleague do it for me.)
Here's what I'm doing to hopefully get the best results:
-Buy wholesale if possible, but Sam's Club, Costco, BJ's all have great prices too
- Keep it simple! For centerpieces, a single kind of flower will make this super each for you and you can still get an awesome, lush arrangement
- Make a grid with double sided tape or similar on the opening of your vases, that way the arrangements look well spaced and you can use fewer flowers
- Keep them as cold as you can before they go out! Also use heartier flowers if possible (that means no peony, dahlias, clematis, sweet pea.) Good options here are hydrangea, roses, babies breath. Tulips are pretty hearty too, but continue to grow after that have been cut which can sometimes make arrangements look messy.

lovemesomemonster · February 2016

For my best friend's wedding we did all the flowers the night before and she turned the AC down in here room to 65. We just put all of the flowers in front of the AC and they were fine the next day.

Help! Keeping DIY flowers fresh

Re: Help! Keeping DIY flowers fresh

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