Budget Blooms:
DIY Wedding Flowers

One of the newest trends today in the budget wedding world is DIY wedding flowers. Most brides choose the DIY route for 2 reasons:

1. They want to take an active, creative role in planning the wedding of their dreams and

2. Money, money, and more money.

I have been to a wedding where the flowers actually cost more than the entire reception. And honestly, they weren’t anything close to grand or spectacular and certainly nothing to write home about. There was no genius floral design behind the bouquets and arrangements, and red roses (the only flower used) aren’t a particularly rare or expensive bloom. So needless to say I almost fell on the floor when I heard how much they cost. I couldn’t believe it, and my exact thoughts were, “I could have done this - and better!!” And so can you!

Even if you are not DIY inclined, there are many books, online guides, tutorials, videos (including the ones on this site) to help you create a fantastic floral display for your wedding.

Although very budget friendly, DIY wedding projects tend to be very time consuming. Make sure you have enough time to devote to this (or any) wedding DIY project before you decide to take it on. If you don’t think you have ample time to devote to this project, consider having a florist do a few – or the bulk - of your items, and you create the rest. Above all else, have fun with it.

If you still aren't sure if DIYing your wedding flowers is for you, ask yourself these questions and be very honest with your answers.

1. Am I motivated enough?
2. Will I have enough time to arrange bouquets/centerpieces before the ceremony?
3. How much money will I save vs. how much work is involved?

Your answers and initial reaction to these questions will tell you whether or not DIY wedding flowers is for you.

Before you dive in head first, there are a few “rules” you should follow in order to ensure your DIY wedding flower success.

Let Your Creative Juices Flow

Start scouring the web along with bridal books and mags for inspiration. You might stumble across a flower you really love that you never knew existed, or you might find an arrangement style that you think would go perfectly at your country chic wedding. The more ideas you have, the more you will have to incorporate into your own floral creations. Keep in mind that you will need to have your color scheme chosen for your wedding so that you don’t choose blooms that will clash with your colors. And don't forget to order wedding flowers in season!

Video: How to Choose Your Wedding Flower Colors

Order Early – And Often

There are tons of DIY wedding flower supplies out there to make all of your projects go as smoothly and as beautifully as possible, so make sure you have everything you will need – plus extra - for all your DIY wedding flower projects so that you don’t lose precious time and money running back and forth to the store or website. Make a detailed list of everything you will need for each project before you order and keep these lists on hand to help the assembly process go that much smoother. For example, your Gerbera Daisy arrangement will need 6 daises, ½ LB of clear glass gems, 9 inches of pink French wired ribbon, an 8 inch square glass vase, etc., times however many arrangements you plan on having.

Once you know exactly what you will need for each item, order (purchase) your supplies – plus extra - early to ensure everything you will need will arrive in plenty of time. Did I mention you should order extra supplies? Don’t forget your flowers will need to be kept in water and will need a cool place to be stored up until the wedding.

Video: How To Care For Your DIY Wedding Flowers

Simplicity is the Order of the Day

For any DIY wedding flower item, select simple designs so that you aren’t overwhelmed with the complexity of a certain flower bouquet or centerpiece design. This includes staying away from very tall and/or large centerpieces – especially if this is the first time you’ve ever taken a crack at flower arranging.

Check out these INCREDIBLE, simple (and cheap!) bouquets from your local Supermarket! Seriously! What amazing DIY wedding flower bouquets, with easy peasy instructions thanks to Real Simple Weddings.

These gorgeous DIY wedding flower bouquets can be assembled in just a few steps - check out Real Simple Weddings for complete instructions.

Video: How To Choose Your Centerpiece Vase

Practice, Practice, Practice!

Remember that your actual DIY wedding flowers will arrive approximately 2 days before your wedding. And although you will have ordered extra for any “accidentals,” you (and your helpful friends and family) will still need to have some idea of what you are doing well in advance of those 2 days. Most online flower wholesalers have samples for you to order so that you may see quality and color. This is a perfect opportunity for you to practice your bouquet and centerpiece skills and not let those beautiful blooms go to waste. You can also pick up some inexpensive flowers at the grocery store in order to practice your floral designs. Practice making at least two of each item you plan to have. And then practice some more until you are comfortable with how it’s turning out. Make note of how long it’s taking you to make each item so that you can allow yourself enough time a day or 2 before the wedding for all of the gorgeous flower arrangements you will be creating.

One of the easiest and most economical ways to find wholesale wedding flowers is to look online. By far, finding your blooms and supplies online is the best resource in order for you to make your own wedding flowers.

Here is a list of several excellent online wholesalers for flowers as well as DIY supplies.

Flowercouncil.org is a fantastic site for general flower information as well as detailed, easy to follow DIY instructions for bouquets.

RoseSource.com is an online wedding flower wholesaler that has an enormous selection of all types of flowers for the DIY bride. They also offer free wedding consultation via phone and online chat.

FiftyFlowers is another fantastic resource that sells DIY packages, already done for you centerpiece and bouquet packages, as well as supplies and several online "how to" instructional and tip pages. Free shipping is another big plus for this website.

FreshRoses.com sells wedding flowers wholesale for DIY projects as well as the supplies to make the arrangements. For the not-so-DIY inclined, they also sell packages of flower arrangements and bouquets already made.

AmericanFloralDistributors.com (their site has sound) sells wedding flowers wholesale and has a few DIY wedding flower video tutorials on their site for you to take a look at. They also have a tutorial you can purchase if you want some extra assistance and inspiration. They offer free shipping.

GrowersBox.com has easy to choose from DIY wedding flower packages or you can shop à la carte. They also offer free shipping.

All of these sites allow you to sign up for email specials and sales. It’s a great idea to place small orders (if offered) with the online flower wholesaler of your choice to make sure their quality and customer service is up to par. Some offer specific “sample packages” for the DIY bride.

If you are lucky enough to live close to the Pike Place Market in Seattle, welcome to the DIY Budget Brides' wonderland! You can purchase giant, beautiful flower bunches for around $8 - sometimes less. When I was visiting there I would walk down to the market every day and buy bunches of flowers just to pretty up my hotel room. They were so beautiful and so super cheap that I found myself buying fresh bunches every day! This local hot spot brings new meaning to the phrase cheap wedding flowers!

Have a Trader Joe's nearby? Take advantage of their vast floral selection and cheap, cheap prices. They sell spray roses for $3.99 a bunch (approximately 8 stems) and hydrangea bunches (approximately 3 stems) for $6.99. You can't find those prices many other places. Take a look at this arrangement. The flowers cost me $11.97 from Trader Joe's, the vase $6.99 from save-on-crafts, and I only used a few rocks from the 2 lbs I bought from save-on-crafts for $2.39. It took me less than 10 minutes to cut the stems into different lengths and place them in the vase. I did no arranging, the flowers stayed where I stuck them in. Bottom line, this arrangement cost me less than $25 for all materials, and less than 10 minutes to make. Sure doesn't look like a 10 minute $25 DIY wedding flower centerpiece, does it?!

Don't forget to check out local florists for a diamond in the rough. In my home city there was a florist just down the street from my house (pre-Katrina) who sold roses - long stemmed and spray roses - for $6 a dozen. However they had a strict rule that they did not do weddings. (That is, IF you actually mentioned the "W" word.) This florist was a DIY bride's dream come true and thankfully was able to re-establish themselves in a new location after the hurricane. They still don't do "weddings!"

diy wedding flowers - ribbons

Once you have a good idea of where your DIY wedding flowers are coming from, it's time to stock up on your supplies. From ribbons to floral tape to wire cutters, check out these websites for wholesale DIY wedding flower supply ordering.

SaveOnCrafts
RibbonTrade
CheapRibbons

And don't forget your local craft supply stores such as Michael's and Hobby Lobby.

Again, Simplicity Will Rule the Day

One of the easiest DIY wedding flower bouquet types to make on your own is the hand tied bouquet . Made up of long stemmed flowers tied together with a ribbon that usually leave the bottom of the stems exposed, it's the most popular bouquet today. And lucky for you, it's the easiest to DIY!

Take a look at these detailed instructions on how to make your own hand tied wedding bouquet. As well as these start to finish how-to videos.

Another area of the budget bloom world is making your own wedding centerpiece arrangements. Have I mentioned yet that simplicity rules the day? For many reasons, it's best to stick with simple but stunning. Complicated and large arrangements can easily send any DIY budget bride to the loony bin. If your little heart is set on elaborate and ornate arrangements, it's best to leave this one to the professionals. If you are flexible in this department regarding size and design, put on your creative thinking cap and get busy. And remember, simple can be stunning!
See these DIY wedding flower centerpiece and arrangement videos for detailed how-to instructions on 4 different ways to create a gorgeous wedding centerpiece.

Video: How to Make a Wedding Centerpiece:
Glass Arranging Beads

Video: How to Make a Wedding Centerpiece by Hand

Video: How to Make a Hydrangea Wedding Centerpiece

Video: How to Make a Wedding Centerpiece: Floral Foam

Now that these videos have shown you exactly what to do and how easy it is to do it, here are some fantastic wedding centerpiece and arrangement ideas:

diy wedding flowers

This is one of my most favorite DIY wedding flower ideas ever. Two beautiful gerbera daisies (approx. $2.00 or less per stem wholesale) floating in a plain clear glass vase (approx. $4.00 or less from a hobby or online retailer such as SaveOnCrafts with glass beads in the bottom (approx. $2 for 1 LB) with a pink ribbon hot glued around it (approx $3.00 for 25 yards from said craft store) with sliced up fruit placed around it. This arrangement cost about $15 or less to make and it's so elegant and sophisticated it's hard to believe a "professional" didn't create it!

diy wedding flowers
Here's another fabulous DIY wedding flower arrangement simply but stunningly done with peonies and slices of lime. Peony blooms are a little bit more expensive than gerbera daisies, but this DIY wedding arrangement is still extremely budget friendly. The limes are held in place with floral foam, which is also used to place the peonies into for stability.

Wow it doesn't get much simpler than this in the DIY wedding flowers world. A single calla lily placed in a glass bottle then grouped with other lilies in bottles. What did that take, 5 minutes max? You can of course duplicate this design with any type of bottle or flower.

diy wedding flowers - lily

If you like the idea of one beautiful bloom per arrangement, here is another example of simple but stunning. Each table has a tall, slender vase to hold one single Stargazer Lily (Lilium). Period. That's it! And the look is magnificent.

diy wedding flowers - citrus
Take a look at this great DIY wedding flower arrangement. Similar to the use of citrus on the projects above, yet a variety of several different inexpensive blooms plus lots of greenery are being used to create a wildflower arrangement look.

Not that kind of grass! Check out Bride Kristi's wheat grass and gerber daisy centerpieces. She grew the grass herself and stuck daisies in them the day of. Simple, super chic and oh so budget friendly!

diy wedding flowers - wheat grass

These next two are more favorites of mine. Different blooms cut to similar lengths and placed in short containers. No real design, no mystery behind the beauty of it. Just cut flowers in the vase of your choice with some water. Et Voila.

If you think you can handle doing all or some of your wedding flowers, I encourage and applaud you! If you stick with simple but stunning, you can’t go wrong and you will save a ton of money in the process.

Related articles:
Ideas for Cheap Wedding Centerpieces
How To Make Wedding Flowers: Bouquet Video Tutorials
How To Make Wedding Flowers: Bubble Bowl Centerpiece
Cheap Wedding Flower Ideas

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