Rock Paper Sweet

A collection of imaginative wedding ideas & stylish everyday living, from the rings to the favors to the 'happily ever afters.'

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Ways You Can Save Money On Wedding Flowers

Getting a little bit creative can save you major bucks when planning your wedding.  For my wedding earlier this summer, I decided to do almost all the flowers myself.  I flipped through magazines and browsed wedding photos online to get an idea of what types of arrangements and bouquets I liked and didn't like.  Well, what I realized is that I am not a fan of the typical bridal bouquets and the fru-fru table centerpieces you often times see at weddings.  I decided I was going to do something that was more natural - and, as a bonus, it was a LOT cheaper than going through a florist (no offense to any of you florists out there!).  My thought was this: WHY spend so much money on an arrangement of cut flowers that are going to wilt away and die within a few days?  I love having potted plants in my house, so why not use this idea for my wedding flowers? 

I browsed nursery after nursery to find exactly what my husband and I were looking for: white flowers and lots of greenery.  We were hoping for a fresh, clean, natural feel with the flowers, and we got it just right!  The cost of potted plants is significantly cheaper than fresh cut flowers (even if you do go through a wholesale florist), and you get to enjoy them for so much longer.  For instance, I adore orchids, so I used a white orchid plant on half of the tables in our reception venue.  Orchids are so elegant and classic that they stand alone - you don't need to do anything else to make them any more beautiful (they are also relatively low maintenance).  It was a simple arrangement that I bought from - believe it or not - a grocery store for $9/each.  They were blooming brilliantly at our wedding reception, and now (two months later), my husband and I, along with my mom and several of my aunts, enjoy having the orchids sit on our kitchen tables - still as beautiful as ever.  It is so special to my husband and I that we are still able to have this very flower from our wedding reception in full bloom today!



For the rest of the flowers at the reception, we re-used flowers from the rehearsal dinner the night before.  My aunt and uncle hosted the most beautiful and elegant rehearsal dinner for us in their backyard, and they had made lovely arrangements of all-white flowers and greenery.  Some of the flowers they purchased from a florist, but many of them were picked from the garden.  They had hydrangeas (my favorite), roses and baby's breath.  They made smaller arrangements in silver bud vases, so nobody would have ever realized they were the same flowers at the wedding!  My aunt sent me the flowers the next morning, and with the help of my mom and my maid of honor, we quickly (and easily) redid the arrangements in larger vases and added sticks that were spray painted silver into the mix. 

Rehearsal Dinner

Reception




For flowers for the ceremony, I enlisted the help of several family friends.  One helped make pin-on corsages for my and my husband's mother and grandmothers.  I had bought eucalyptus stems and white carnations to use.  We took a eucalyptus stem, tore off the leaves near the bottom, and used hat as our base.  We then took two carnations (preferably ones that had not fully bloomed yet) and placed them over the eucalyptus stem at different heights.  We then wrapped green florist tape around the stems and trimmed them to the length we wanted.  And...viola!  We had beautiful corsages.  We made them Thursday evening (wedding was Saturday evening), so we placed them in half-closed Ziplock bags - so the flowers could breathe - and placed them in the refrigerator.

I had a florist make the boutioneers for the men because we needed a lot and I didn't have enough time to do all of them. Be sure to check around for prices, because you should be able to find someone to make boutioneers for pretty cheap.  I had called around to different florists and found someone who could do them for $5/each.  I had her make them all the same, then I personally added a sprig of pink berries (that were in my bridesmaid's bouquets) and a silver flourish to my groom's boutioneer so that it would stand out from the rest.


I bought two dozen white roses, two dozen white spray roses and a couple stems of pink berries.  I bout these all in the florist section of the grocery store.  They were fresh and beautiful, and relatively inexpensive.  My maid of honor and I assembled the bouquets for the three bridesmaids and seven flower girls with these flowers.  We gathered together eight white roses and peeled off the excess greenery.  We inserted a couple springs of berries into the bunch and wrapped it tightly with floral tape.  These were the bouquets for the bridesmaids - easy as that!  We did the same for the flower girls, only we used the smaller spray roses and omitted the berries.  It was so simple that my maid of honor and I did all of these bouquets on the morning of the wedding.

Bridesmaid bouquet

Flower girl's bouquets (all together in a vase)

Bridesmaids bouquets


For my bouquet, I gathered together some of the larger flowers that were used at the rehearsal dinner and add some of the white roses and eucalyptus stems to them.  I then inserted the silver sticks and a pearl sprig into the bouquet.  I wrapped it tightly with florist tape and inserted pins into the stems to hold it together.  It was meaningful to have a bouquet of (some) hand picked flowers and flowers that were also a part of the rehearsal dinner.  It was fun to make my own bouquet, but I have to admit I was a bit nervous about finding the perfect flowers and putting it all together on the morning of our wedding!



On the altar, I placed big, potted peace lillies into large brown urns that I had borrowed from a neighbor.  The peace lillies (found at a nursery for $20each) were the perfect combination of crisp, white flowers and ample greenery.  They were perfect for the ceremony, and now they are being enjoyed as houseplant in my parent's home.  The urns gave the plants some extra height so that they looked appropriate in the big church.  We also used ferns and small white potted flowers (all found at nurseries for just a few dollars each) to fill-in the empty spaces.  



The great thing about using potted plants instead of fresh cut flowers is that not only are they incredibly cheaper, but they can be enjoyed for much longer.  With the proper care, these plants can last for months!  When you need to use fresh cut flowers, try doing the arrangements yourself.  You will save a bundle of money!  Don't be afraid of trying - it's not all that hard to do because the flowers are already so pretty.  Good luck!

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