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Is it seriously worth it? Help..

CurlsNpearls12CurlsNpearls12
100 Comments First Anniversary
in Flowers

Attatched is a picture of my centerpiece inspiration, which is birch bark wrapped vases, and cylinder tea light candle holders. We have 14 Round tables and 8 Long tables for guests. To do around that many centerpieces with real flowers would be over $300.00. I'm sort of having sticker shock for something that is going to die.

If I went for silk flowers, I'd be paying around the same thing, so that's not an option. For the past year I've been obsessing over those centerpieces, so I feel that I'd be disappointed if I didn't go with it. 

Is there some type of flower I could go with to keep the cost down? White would be pretty and I'm fine with going with that if a white flower would be on the cheaper side. Otherwise, our colors are chocolate brown and a light peachy orange.


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Re: Is it seriously worth it? Help..

  • MrsKathyCMrsKathyC
    1000 Comments First Anniversary
    edited June 2012
    Carnations are pretty cheap.  Thats what we had for our centerpieces because I love them!
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  • CurlsNpearls12CurlsNpearls12
    100 Comments First Anniversary

    I'm loving the beer mug, haha. How was your flower budget turnout?

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  • MrsKathyCMrsKathyC
    1000 Comments First Anniversary
    edited June 2012
    Yeah, that is just a photo I found online to compare to the flowers in your inspiration photo.  Here's my actual centerpiece (part of it anyway)


    I dont remember the exact figure, but it was under $200.  I bought them at a wholesale shop in town and put them together myself.  10 centerpieces, I think... and my bouquet. That also includes a bunch of mini carnations too that I used as part of the table decoration.
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  • CurlsNpearls12CurlsNpearls12
    100 Comments First Anniversary
    If you did them yourself, did you have to keep them in a refridgerator to keep looking alive?
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  • MrsKathyCMrsKathyC
    1000 Comments First Anniversary
    I actually kept them in buckets of water, in a spare bedroom with the a/c turned to high  :)
    I got them on Friday and the wedding was on Sunday. Carnations are pretty hardy!
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  • fallbride1109fallbride1109 member
    5000 Comments Fifth Anniversary 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    For that many centerpieces, $300 is a good deal.  For 22 centerpieces, that's only like $14 each, and a florist will deliver and set them up for you leaving you with no hassle to deal with.

    Have you looked into DIYing them?  Don't know if that is worth it to you but that might lower the cost, but then you have to factor in your time, etc.

    In answer to your question, yes, to me it would be worth it, especially if that is what you really want.
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  • Sue-n-KevinSue-n-Kevin member
    Seventh Anniversary 5000 Comments 25 Love Its First Answer

    I agree with the prior poster, carnations are your best bet, maybe supplemented with baby's breath which is also white & fluffy and inexpensive.

    Do you have a Costco or Sam's club membership? Costco sells 150 carnations for $79.99. You wouldn't need nearly that much, but you could find them at a florist for a lot less. Baby's breath is 100 stems for $79.99, which would again be WAY too much.

    We got our bulk flowers from Costco, but I got the phone number from the customer service desk at our local store for the florist who does the floral kiosks at the store. If you do so, you can order directly from that person about 2 weeks before the wedding for any volume, more or less, of the flowers they sell online in bulk. When I picked mine up 3 days before the wedding they were in large buckets filled with water. Over 3 days they opened up beautifully in my basement.

    Both carnations and baby's breath are very sturdy. Personally, I think the airiness of baby's breath would look lovely in the vases in your inspiration picture.

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  • PeavyPeavy member
    1000 Comments 5 Love Its
    As PP said, that's only $14 per centerpiece.  Not expensive at all, in my opinion.  How much do you want to spend?  Have you priced out the vases?  If you use carnations, and they are 50 cents each, you will need probably 7 or 8 to make an impact, that's $6 right there just for the flowers.  Then figure another $4 for the vase (just guessing here), bringing it to $10 just for materials.  So to do it yourself - order the flowers and vases, assemble them, store them, transport them, set them up, etc, is going to be $4 per centerpiece, or $88.  I'm sure you have more than $88 worth of other things you could be doing right before your wedding.

    Just go with the florist.
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  • christinagsuchristinagsu
    First Comment

    I have a wedding design business and if you were quoted at $14/centerpiece for that....you should definitely do it.  I personally would charge about $60 each and that wouldn't include delivery and set-up.  Those are peonies...they are one of the most expensive blooms you could find. 

    I agree on the carnation suggestion that they are definitely less expensive...but you might also consider hydrangeas (just be careful, they MUST have lots of water).  It would only take 1 stem of hydrangea, whereas you would need a lot more stems of carnations.


    One thing to keep in mind if you decide to DIY...please, please, please OVERestimate your time.  It almost never fails that when I do a wedding that parts of it were DIY, I end up having to rush and get everything done because the bride and relatives are always too busy at the last minute.  It just seems to take longer than people allow for, so keep that in mind.


    Best wishes and good luck!!!

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  • kmclean29kmclean29 member
    100 Comments
    Peonies are one of a kind and birch tubes are becoming more popular, which means higher price to the florist. I have to agree, totally worth it!
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  • nafallonnafallon member
    Third Anniversary 100 Comments
    edited June 2012
    We bought bulk baby's breath from Sam's Club for about $100 and did 10 centerpieces and 5 bridesmaids' bouquets with it.  They have lots of choices in their bulk flowers.
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