Wedding Flowers DIY

  DON'T DIY when it comes to flowers (well, many other wedding situations as well). No, I'm not saying this because I want you to use Allure Floral Design. Yes you might save money on buying flowers at some mystery wholesale company online, but the labor you will spend on gathering, prepping, storing, cooling, arranging, transporting and setting up those flowers, I promise you, from one bride to another, is not worth the money to be saved. Don't you want to be relaxing the day before your wedding, getting together any other last minute details? Tu put it in perspective, it takes am experienced wedding florist three days to fully execute your designs. Wednesday the flowers arrive. Thursday the design work starts, making sure to gather all materials. Friday designs are completed. Saturday the designs are touched up and delivered. I took flowers to New Your just for personal bouquets, I am professional wedding floral designer  - it took me an hour out of that day, but that was a hassle! I had family arriving, nails to be done, etc. So, for the sake of saving you headache, hire a florist to do work for you! The money you spend to hire a florist will be worth it! I found a great article that shows what I often hear from brides that DIY... this is in common occurrence!

From Ever After Florist about preventing a DIY flower disaster:

 This is a very risky idea that could end up costing you more money then having a professional floral designer help you with it. I had a bride who I quoted $1,000.00. This would cover her bridal bouquet, 3 bridesmaids, a flower girl, about a dozen boutonnieres, some corsages, 10 small centerpieces, cake flowers, and delivery & set up. Sounds like a lot of money, but it was actually pretty decent for all the things she wanted and the flower choices that she wanted.   However, she decided that she could save a couple of hundred dollars if she went to Costco and bought and designed her own flowers with the help of some 'creative' friends. The bride decided that she would start working on the store bought flowers a few days before the wedding to give her enough time.  So, she went to Costco bought want she thought she need, had her friends over to help her, and then started on it. This was harder then she thought. But they were all having fun and when all the flowers were used up, she had to make another run to Costco to get some MORE flowers, and then a third run because she didn't realize how many flowers she actually needed to make the bouquets look decent.  Now she was getting worried because she was actually spending a bit more money then she thought. However, she was still under the $800 mark so she figured she still did well. The bride had finished most everything a day ago, put the flowers in her refrigerator and felt that they would certainly do great in there. WRONG! Refrigerator have food products in them, which give off ethylene gas and kill fresh flowers. This is exactly what happened to this DIY bride. Most of her flowers had gotten too cold, froze, and then turned due to the ethylene gas and some of the other flowers wilted due to the culture shock  between Costco, the car ride home, the mishandling of the flowers by the unprofessional 'creative' friends who helped design the flowers, and then going into the fridge. So the night before the wedding, the bride is now at the grocery store ordering her flowers. She ended up with whatever the grocery store had available, which was not exactly what she had wanted, and spent about $500 more here. Her total for flowers between Costco & the grocery store ended up being $1225. It is not worth saving a few hundred dollars when you are working with perishable items. Leave this work to a professional florist who not only knows how to handle and design the flowers, but can guarantee them as well".    

COMPARISON SHOPPING WEDDING FLORISTS!

     

      This isn’t a statement to this particular bride in any way shape or form, the
     experience for me just brings up the thought of comparison shopping and my 

     recommendations for brides in general about florist shopping!

    I got an email from a bride we provided a proposal and custom design for that ended

   up getting a proposal for the same flower selections, etc. from another florist, and

   that florist gave her a lower price. I understand brides like to shop around, as I was

   a bride — which is completely fine and I’m just sad because she was  adorable and 

   I would have loved to have had her as one of my brides! A bride would be silly

   NOT to shop around for different options/prices/etc.

   When comparing your options, you can’t compare apples to oranges!

   How to get your dream vendors within your budget: If you absolutely love your

   vendor, ask them what other options there are to keep the same concept, but get 

   the price down to get it into the budget. I very well could have offered an easy

   solution that would have trimmed a few hundred dollars that would not have

   even affected the overall design. Then, the bride could have used the florist she 

   preferred artistically.

   Why is one florist more expensive than another? How do I compare? 

  When comparing one florist to another you must take into account that they may

  both be planning to use a different amount of stems, exact flower types, different 

  quality in wholesalers, and most of all — the floral design talent and technical skill.

  So, really, you can’t compare them. Just because another florist may do an estimate

  for the same designs, but at a lower price point, doesn’t mean they would have been 

  the same design [it's not like comparing car prices]. The designs can utilize the same

  flowers, but that doesn’t mean the finished product will look the same. It’s like two 

  different cooks using the same ingredients…doesn’t mean both dishes will taste

  or look the same! Both florist are most likely planning to design it differently and 

  you just can’t compare apples and oranges, especially on price. I think some brides

  get confused and think both florists would have a set amount of stems to use, but

  really it depends on the florist. Yea, the flower types might be the same, but there 

  are so many factors that play into the final product. You also need to make sure to

  use a florist that is familiar with the types of flowers and design styles you are 

  interested in. A florist that is not as familiar with using sensitive flowers like the 

  currently popular dusty miller, will wilt by the time you walk down the aisle if not

  prepped, preserved and kept hydrated until you are holding them in your hands.

  Factors that play into your floral designers finished product:

  - the designer. PERIOD. end of story! Artistic talent in this design based field is 

  the fueling ability to create magic on your wedding day. Then, there’s technical

  event floral design skills. Take two different painters, Van Gogh and Picasso — 

  they both use oil paint, the same type of canvas, but then end product looks 

  completely different. It’s all about how the designer gathers the materials, 

  arranges the materials, and the way they place the flowers together with their 

  artistic talent and technical design skills.

   - Is the florist you chose a factory florist? If they put out many wedding (3+) in 

  one weekend, how  do they plan to be involved in the end hands-on design 

  work of your bouquets, etc.?

   - the grower that provides the flowers and what quality they are (different

   growers have different quality levels, even for the same type of flowers), the 

   wholesaler that stores them and their preservation process.    

   - how the floral designer preps, stores, preserves your flowers from the time 

   they arrive at their store, cutting them, storing them in the proper temperatures

   (orchids need different temperature air than many other flowers, some florists 

   don't follow this!), designing them, delivery, to the time you walk down the 

   aisle with them (or the reception...:-) ) Recently I saw the work of another florist on

   a local photographers wedding blog, and the flowers were wilting…they didn’t properly

   take care of the flowers on the day of the wedding and didn’t help the bride understand

   that those particular flowers wouldn’t hold up in warm weather. The result was wilting

   flowers in all her bridal photos. If she had gone with an experienced wedding florist, this

  would not have happened, it was a complete waste of money for her bridal bouquets! An  

  experienced wedding florist knows there are other options other than putting a bouquet 

  in water that will hydrate a bouquet so well you don’t need to put it in water at all day! 

   Many other small factors play into it, but these are the main points that affect

   the look of your flowers! 

  

   Post questions or comments below!