Tips from a DIY Bride

Published August 30, 2010 |

Hi There,

I love this…a bride posted these tips at the Fiftyflowers.com site after ordering her wedding flowers from them.

1. If you’re particular about color, you might want to order
a sample shipment, or make sure you pick a specific
varietal that you know you like. I chose to just order in
bulk by the generic color, to save money. Instead of
ordering 200 “Vendela” roses for $220, I ordered 200
“light cream” roses for $200. I ended up getting Vendela
(the boxes are marked with the specific type), but didn’t
have to pay the extra $20, since I was flexible.

2. Before ordering, search online for a coupon code.
I was able to save 10% by using the code that came with
my sample shipment– CARE2009. Maybe try CARE2010
for 2010? Give yourself enough time to source affordable
vases– I love the little ivy vases that are only $1 each at
craft stores.

3. Get enough buckets and flower food in advance (it
takes more food than you think), and change the water as
directed. Get a good stem stripper– the plastic flower
ones I linked above were PERFECT. Also, get a strong
pair of shears– cutting thick stems with normal scissors
would be hard on your hands.

4. For roses, don’t forget to remove the guard petals–
you may have to remove up to 8 or so per rose– but trust
me, the flowers look MUCH better once you remove the
imperfect outer petals.

5. Set up an assembly line system– much faster!
As you’re going along, if you break some of the flower
heads off, don’t throw them away– save them to put out
around the cocktail area, around votives, etc. You can
also strip off the petals and scatter these around.

6. Keep an eye on how fast the flowers are opening, and
adjust how you’re keeping them accordingly (water temp,
room temp). For example, my lavender roses opened
much faster than the others. I should’ve moved them to
a cooler part of the room, but instead I made separate
arrangements of these lavender roses for the bar,
cocktail area, etc. If your flowers are opening too slowly or
too quickly, call the customer service line for advice–
they’re very helpful. My lavender roses were fully open by
the end of the night– they were gorgeous, but would not
have lasted another day. The other colors were beautiful
for days afterwards!

7. Figure out in advance how you’re going to transport
the finished arrangements, if you’re doing them off-site.
Transporting lots of vases with water in a car is very
difficult, as is rolling them down a hotel hallway on a
luggage cart (haha )

8. Hire a helper, if you can!!!! My helper Barb was
incredible. It was GREAT to have someone else do most
of the execution, so I could just relax and take care of
some other last-minute things. So, my flowers were
DIY-with-a-twist! Of course, you can also gather together
a range of free friend and family helpers, if your budget
can’t stretch to this. But for an extra $15-$25/hour, I think
this is well worth it. Don’t underestimate the time
commitment– depending on the size of your wedding, it
can be a huge undertaking. We had ~60 small and ~30
large-ish arrangements of flowers, so it took a LOT of
time.

9. Don’t be intimidated– just do it! Don’t get stressed– it’s
pretty difficult to mess up such a gorgeous raw material. It
helps to have a trial run. This will help you determine what
quantity to order, and also give you an estimate on how
long each arrangement will take.

10. Enjoy the money savings! I had a certain look that I
wanted to achieve, but I wanted to bring it in under a
certain budget. The only way to have both was to order
online, and provide the labor and materials myself. I got
quotes from two florists, and they were more than triple
what I ended up spending (for flowers and labor and
equipment included). For the simple look that I wanted,
DIY was ideal.

OK, thus ends my DIY Flower Diatribe!

Good luck!

I have to add a few comments of my own now:

In my DIY Wedding Flower Guide I give you a sample form I use to figure out my flower orders. I also provide you with a list of the most common flowers and what stem counts they come in when you order them. This will help you determine what you will need to order.

Some varieties of roses DO OPEN FASTER than others. ALL LAVENDER roses open FASTER than others!

By all means, schedule and line up helpers well in advance. I even give you a handout with a way to figure out how many helpers you will need.

DO NOT deliver and set up your flowers yourself on your wedding day. This is what all the helpers are there for!!!

If you are transporting the flowers, make sure to pack the vases tightly with paper inbetween to keep them from falling and breaking. If the vases came in a box with dividers, try to use that box to hold your arranged flower vases.

Use an air-conditioned vehicle…a van is best. You can rent a van for $19.95 plus mileage that will have air conditioning from U-Haul.

You should plan on arranging all your flowers TWO FULL DAYS BEFORE YOUR WEDDING! Don’t do this the night before. You don’t need the added stress. Instead, enjoy your rehearsal dinner and have fun.

Make sure you have sharp, clean clippers for cutting your flowers.

Borrow vases and buckets from friends to hold the flowers until they are arranged. You can buy 5 gallon buckets from Home Depot, OSH or Lowe’s. Each 5 gallon bucket can hold about 100 roses.

Hope this helps. I give lots more tips in the workbook and videos of my Do It Yourself Wedding Flower Guide. For only $99.00 you can download your copy today.