I’m back at it again ladies. This post is dedicated to why you should NOT consider DIYing your wedding day florals. Sure, you can hop down to the wholesalers and grab some flowers but there’s a few things you should really consider. I’m going to speak from experience here so this is coming from Lindsey the Bride, not Lindsey the Wedding 101 gal.
Above, you can see how a typical floral wholesaler may look. Depending on which one you go to it may be a little different but basically there’s flowers upon flowers in water bins. Prices can vary. Some flowers you may want could be priced individually and some may be priced per dozen or bunch. Prices can even vary for different sizes in a single flower type or color.
Now some of you took one look at that image and said, “OMGoodness I can totally do my flowers with a resource like that!”
Let me tell you some things to consider.
- These flowers may look great from a distance but each bundle will come with some useless flowers. Just like your florist will deal with waste, so will you.
- These flowers don’t come all pretty and trimmed like the ones you pick up in the grocery. SAY WHAT?! That’s right. There is tons and tons of prep work that you will need to do to each stem you choose to use. For example: Roses come complete with thorns, tons of leafs, and petals that are called guard petals. Each stem your florist uses is de-thorned, de-leafed, and the guard petals are removed.
- Did you know that you can actually kill or wilt your flowers by placing them in the refrigerator? The cooler that florists use is not the same as your fridge at home. Keeping them fresh will be a challenge. Some flowers also just don’t hold up well so that’s why a florist may assemble your bouquet the morning of the wedding. You don’t want to be dealing with that on your big day.
- Did you know that some flowers secrete enzymes that will kill other flowers if you place them in the same water? Yep, it’s true and your florist will know all the combinations that are acceptable.
These are all things that a pro can handle very easily because they have the knowledge, expertise, and tools to overcome them.
Now let’s move on to my personal experience. Almost 5 years ago (Happy 5th is next Saturday!) my sweet hubby and I were prepping for our wedding. We had decided to have our ceremony florals done by a pro but do the reception centerpieces ourselves. We picked a simple design that included a large vase of branches in the center of the table surrounded by small glass vases filled with flowers and feather whisps. There’s a glimpse of them above and yes, that is me and my hubby on our big day. I figured the small arrangements would be easy enough for me and my girls to do the day before so I ordered the flowers from my florist and we picked them up two days before the wedding. I had no idea that they would need so much work before we could start arranging them! On Friday, the day before the wedding, we worked for hours upon hours creating 50 little fist sized arrangements. I’m good at DIYing and so are my friends and family. So when I say it took us forever, know that we weren’t slacking. I wanted to get those things DONE so I could enjoy my day! We ran out of flowers and my hubby had to run to the wholesaler right before they closed, in rush hour traffic. We arranged for hours before the rehearsal and for way into the wee hours that next morning. It was a mess. Our hands were stained green. I will never ever arrange that many flowers again.
For all of these reasons, please consider hiring a pro for your florals. It’s totally worth the budget dollars and you’ll be happy you don’t have green hands the day of your wedding.