DIY Wedding Flowers

DIY wedding flowers can potentially save you a lot of money if you have the skills and know how.

The most important rule with DIY flowers is, keep it simple and don't get carried away trying to add more and more. This will mean your flowers don't end up looking too fussy and it also means fewer materials, therefore less costs.

Ask any florist and they will tell you the biggest rookie mistake is making the flowers over-complicated. So always remember rule number one - "less is more".

The rest of the DIY wedding flower rules are as follows:

1. When buying your flowers consider your options. -

Florist: they do tend to be a bit more expensive but they will have a large choice and advice is easily available in-store.

Wholesaler: huge choice, perhaps a little too much if you are completely inexperienced but you will get a huge choice and if you bring someone with a little experience with you to help steer you in the right direction it could like hitting the jackpot.

Supermarket: high street supermarkets tend to have a good selection of fresh flowers at good prices. In-store advice is likely to be difficult to get so do your research before you go, that way you will know which flower type or types you want and if they aren't available have an alternative in mind. Make sure you know how long they'll last out of water.

Your garden or a friend’s: (please don't steal them! - ask first), depending on the time of year, you may be able to pick your own flowers and foliage in your or a friends/neighbours garden for free.

My Top Tip – With DIY wedding flowers timing is crucial. You need to time everything so that your flowers will be at their peak on your wedding day, so you need to carefully plan your flower choice and when to purchase them (i.e. certain flowers will need to be purchased and allowed to open, whereas others will need to be in bloom before you buy them).

2. Take a flower arranging course:

Or (my favourite) learn online for free, there are thousands of videos online showing you how to make your flower arrangements quickly and cheaply at home.

3. Design your arrangement carefuly:

Spend a little time thinking about your ceremony and reception and where you want your flowers to be located. Measure these locations so you know what area you need to cover. With a little thought you may be able to design your flower arrangements in such a way that they can be used in both locations i.e. they can be moved to the reception after the service. This could potentially halve the cost of the flowers in one easy step.

4. Borrow flower arrangements:

If you're careful and plan your wedding around a holiday such as Easter you may be able to coincide with a time when the church is already decorated.

Speak to the church to ask their permission to use the flowers (you could offer to make a small donation to the church or offer to take the flowers to the local hospital for them afterwards in return for using the decorations for your wedding).

If the timing suits your wedding this is the ultimate in DIY wedding flowers as you don't have to do very much at all.

5. Don't forget the foliage!

This is easily available in any garden or hedgerow (but always ask permission from the owner before you take any) and will finish your flowers perfectly. It also cuts down on the number of flowers needed, but don't go overboard. But don't forget the golden rule, "less is more".

6. Get your accessories on line:

Items such as florist's tape, wire, pruning scissors and ribbon etc. are all invaluable and can be purchased easily and cheaply on line. They will also give the completed flowers a more professional look.

You also have the option of using artificial flowers traditionally artificial flowers didn't look as good as the real thing but they have moved on in leaps and bounds in recent years.

The downside with artificial flowers is that they won’t fill your venue with the smell of fresh cut flowers. So you could use them for your bouquet or mix them in with a few real arrangements to get the best of both worlds and your guests will never notice.

As you can see there is no reason to shy away from DIY wedding flowers, you just need to remember to give yourself enough time to prepare the arrangements and don't forget to leave enough time to get them to the venue and set them up. Bring a few friends that way you can have a laugh with your mates and you'll get them done in no time.

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