DIY Flowers -- 72 days to go!
Bread feeds the body, indeed, but flowers feed also the soul. ~The Koran
Background:
Early while looking over our budget and considering a few things, we decided that flowers were not our top priority (the venue and food are, instead). We are doing non-floral centerpieces, so the only flowers we needed were bouquets and boutonnieres. I love the look of ONLY roses-it’s very simple, chic and classic. And, conveniently enough, it’s pretty cheap. So we decided to do white roses for myself and my fiancé’s boutonnière, and then red roses for the bridesmaids and groomsmen. Simple, and hopefully pretty easy.
We’ll be assembling the flowers the day before the wedding, the morning before the rehearsal. It will be my mother and I and whichever bridesmaids feel like helping (I’m thinking at least three of them will be down with some floral crafting). We’re assembling one bridal bouquet (~20 stems), six bridesmaid bouquets (~10 stems each), and fourteen boutonnieres. When my mom and I did a dry run recently, it took us about fifteen minutes to whip together a bouquet, and five minutes for a boutonniere.
Questions:
1. Suppliers
2. Technique
3. Tips/Tricks
First, suppliers. For the past few months, I’ve been planning on using FreshRoses.com for our flower order. However, I’ve also heard amazing things about Blooms by the Box. I’ve been trying to dig out online reviews and information, but I’m getting mixed reviews. Anyone have experience with either vendor? Heard great or horrible things? We’re looking for red and white roses, and maybe some white rose petals. I’m trying to dig through online reviews of both vendors, but it’s really tough. I’d love to hear if anyone has any personal experience or advice about deciding between these two online wholesalers.
As for the actual construction of the bouquets and boutonnieres, I’ve been trolling weddingplans entries and blogs searching for videos and how-to’s. For the bouquets, it’s mostly just about eyeballing-since it’s all one flower, I just take a large one, make it the center, and start putting other roses around it, one by one, until it fills out. Tie, wrap with ribbon, voila. For the boutonnieres, I found video that was very helpful. When trying to start wrapping the accent leaves to the rose, it suggested that instead of wrapping it with floral tape, simply hold the tape and twirl the flower gently with your fingers, letting the tape wrap itself-perfect! So that’s my technique, at the moment-any other suggestions for technique or how-to’s?
Finally, I was wondering if anyone had any unexpected tips or tricks after doing their own flowers. Was there one thing you regret doing that turned into a problem? One thing you realized that was a total lifesaver? Any advice, thoughts, or suggestions would be highly appreciated!!
Background:
Early while looking over our budget and considering a few things, we decided that flowers were not our top priority (the venue and food are, instead). We are doing non-floral centerpieces, so the only flowers we needed were bouquets and boutonnieres. I love the look of ONLY roses-it’s very simple, chic and classic. And, conveniently enough, it’s pretty cheap. So we decided to do white roses for myself and my fiancé’s boutonnière, and then red roses for the bridesmaids and groomsmen. Simple, and hopefully pretty easy.
We’ll be assembling the flowers the day before the wedding, the morning before the rehearsal. It will be my mother and I and whichever bridesmaids feel like helping (I’m thinking at least three of them will be down with some floral crafting). We’re assembling one bridal bouquet (~20 stems), six bridesmaid bouquets (~10 stems each), and fourteen boutonnieres. When my mom and I did a dry run recently, it took us about fifteen minutes to whip together a bouquet, and five minutes for a boutonniere.
Questions:
1. Suppliers
2. Technique
3. Tips/Tricks
First, suppliers. For the past few months, I’ve been planning on using FreshRoses.com for our flower order. However, I’ve also heard amazing things about Blooms by the Box. I’ve been trying to dig out online reviews and information, but I’m getting mixed reviews. Anyone have experience with either vendor? Heard great or horrible things? We’re looking for red and white roses, and maybe some white rose petals. I’m trying to dig through online reviews of both vendors, but it’s really tough. I’d love to hear if anyone has any personal experience or advice about deciding between these two online wholesalers.
As for the actual construction of the bouquets and boutonnieres, I’ve been trolling weddingplans entries and blogs searching for videos and how-to’s. For the bouquets, it’s mostly just about eyeballing-since it’s all one flower, I just take a large one, make it the center, and start putting other roses around it, one by one, until it fills out. Tie, wrap with ribbon, voila. For the boutonnieres, I found video that was very helpful. When trying to start wrapping the accent leaves to the rose, it suggested that instead of wrapping it with floral tape, simply hold the tape and twirl the flower gently with your fingers, letting the tape wrap itself-perfect! So that’s my technique, at the moment-any other suggestions for technique or how-to’s?
Finally, I was wondering if anyone had any unexpected tips or tricks after doing their own flowers. Was there one thing you regret doing that turned into a problem? One thing you realized that was a total lifesaver? Any advice, thoughts, or suggestions would be highly appreciated!!