Colorful Creations by Stephanie: DIY Wedding Flowers

The actual bouquet

I was not one of those brides who spent

Her whole life planning every detail of her wedding with one exception; the flowers. Through high school and part of college, I worked in a flower shop and my favorite job was to deliver and set up the wedding flowers. It was always so exciting to be a small part of such an important event and I knew that was the one thing I was going to do for myself, if nothing else.

I started out by googling wedding flowers and kept a pinterest folder of flowers I loved. I probably had hundreds of photos. I chose the color scheme for my entire wedding based on the availability of flowers for the time of year I was getting married (October). I searched for flower combinations in the colors I loved and came up with a large list of flowers options. Next, I researched availability and pricing. I looked for companies that sold wholesale. By keeping the flowers the same across the board from bouquets to center pieces to boutineres, you can save a lot of money by ordering in bulk. If you are really feeling adventurous and want to save even more money, do like I did and order a themed mix. The mixes come in a large variety usually by color or season. They don't tell your every single flower (growers choice) but I called a week ahead and asked what and how many of each I would be receiving so I could plan ahead. You can also get a good idea of what variety of flowers might be in it by asking what they are sending out now.

This was how the flowers arrived from the grower, FED-EX. COSTCO was the wholesaler.

Finding a reputable wholesaler can be tricky. Ask your local florists for the name of their wholesaler, ask your florist how much they would charge to order and and store them or even deliver them for you. Check with wholesale stores such as costco, Sams club or BJ's. You need a membership to shop here but some will give temporary passes. I went through Costco and had a family member with a membership order them for me online. I found they had the best variety and a great price.

Flowers rehydrating after I unpacked, trimmed and de-leafed them. This was a fall mixed bulk pack.

You will want to order no less than three weeks out, some places need a month or more. The flowers were delivered to my house directly from the grower 4 days in advance of the wedding. Because the flowers arrive tightly packed in a box with no water, and the heads are usually still closed, this gives them time to open up and rehydrate. I bought five $5 five gallon buckets from the hardware store and dumped the food packets that come with the flowers along with the water. Cut the stems at an angle several inches from the bottom of the stems. Pull off all the leaves to reduce bulk in the vase or bouquet handles. I stored the flowers buckets in the garage since it was fall it was the perfect cool place not too hot or cold. Whatever you do, don't put them in the regular refrigerator unless you turn the temp way up to 65 or 70. I learned the hard way when we went to walk down the aisle, all of the boutineres were wilted so we had to go without.
When it came time to transport, we dumped most of the water and loaded the buckets in the back of someone's SUV and did all of the arrangements in the kitchen of the venue. The night before the wedding, I put together all of the arrangements and set them out on the tables. I also made the cake topper and corsages and boutineres the day before. The day of all I had to do was wrap and trim the stems on the bouquets, cut and suspend the carnations. It rained so instead of hanging the carnations from the gazebo, we hung them in the window overlooking the lake behind the head table. They were beautiful!

Another thing I did that I was so greatful I had thought of it, I went to the grocery store and picked out a $10 or $15 bouquet that had similar flowers, shapes and sizes as what I was having in my actual bouquet and spent several hours practicing making bouquets and then finally a centerpiece. Since it had been so long since I had worked in the flower shop, I was quite rusty. The practice was great because I could take it apart and put it back together as many times as I needed to get it right. That way, on the day of the wedding, I was not stressing about my flowers not turning out right, because I already had figured out exactly how many stems of what I was going to need and how they would fit together. Also, during practice, it didn't matter if I accident broke a stem or messed up the ribbon because it was just practice. Shown below is a photo of the practice bouquet. Also on the day of, make your toss bouquet first as a warm up so if you mess it up, it doesn't matter because it is only getting destroyed anyway! Last piece of advice, have a second person there to help you. That way as you are working on the bouquets, they can hold them as you add flowers and can turn the bouquets so you don't have to worry about dropping or smushing them.

I hope you enjoy making your bouquet as much as I did. Don't stress out, it is supposed to a fun and wonderfully satisfying personal touch that you have for your special day!