DIY wedding flowers

sahara1959

I'm thinking of doing my own wedding flowers as I get a thrill out of craft and making my own designs. Has anyone used www.flowers4florists.com to order their flowers from? Any advice would be welcome.

sallycinnamon99

Sorry never used them so can't advise.
I also want to do my own bouquets. Was thinking of atificial things for bridesmaids, perhaps crystals etc. Am getting married abroad so this would be a bit easier.
Can you post pics once you make them? Would love to see them.

Good Luck

Speckled_Egg

Have you contacted them? I think you'll find they'll only want to deal with businesses who will set up an account with them and order on a regular basis.

Whereabouts are you? If you're near London you'd be better going to Western International or New Covent Garden. Ordering over the Internet is fine if you're a florist and know exactly what you're getting but I'd say you're better off going to market and choosing your flowers.

Be warned though, doing your own flowers is hard work and will potentially add to your pre-wedding nerves. It is also incredibly tough on your hands. Take a look at any florist's hands!!! I worked as a florist and there is no way I'd do my own flowers. Thankfully I have a couple of willing friends!

Good luck!

sahara1959

Having tried to contact them about the colour of certain flowers and received no reply, I decided to go to covent garden flower market and was amazed at the range of flowers you can buy, so I think that's where I will get my supplies. Thanks for your advice Speckled Egg, but I have given in to having my hair done at the hairdressers but must now save money somewhere else and I'm not sure how florists can charge so much for a basic bouquet which is all I want.

Wish me luck

MrsTinks

My mum is doing my flowers - she's one of these annoying people who can just turn her hands to everything... I'm not shabby at it myself but she's super good. We're going to be fairly basic with white roses, thistles, ivy leaves and some other white flowers to fill out a little but we haven't decided on them and will probably just decide when we buy the flowers.

mirrorimage0

ooh ooh i got one of those annoying mums too :rotfl: she can do more or less anything and im bloody useless its so annoying, but she did my fake flowers the other night and they look great will take pics when i get my camera back, she did a big boquet for me with lilies and crystals and ribbon which came to about 40 pound in all and 3 bridemaids plus 2 flower girl ones which in all came to about 30 pound ish but looks fab

Speckled_Egg

Well done sahara1959 for going to market. It's fab, isn't it?

When you go to buy the flowers for the big day, make sure the trader/traders you are buying from will sell to the public. Some of them get a bit funny and will sell to trade only.

If you're getting married on a Saturday, you can buy your flowers from Thursday. This is probably a good day as some of your flowers may still be in bud and you want them perfectly opened (ie. you don't want tight roses they should be big and blousey!).

Market starts at about 3am. Get there early so you have a good choice! When you get home, you need to 'condition' your flowers. This means you strip the bottom leaves, cut a couple of inches off the stem at a 45 degree angle and pop them in water with some flower food for a good long drink. I'd give them at least four hours. This will help to keep them as fresh as possible for as long as possible. Also, make sure there are no leaves below the waterline or in the water. This keeps the nasty bacteria at bay!

If you're buying on Thursday and doing table decorations with Oasis you can green up on the Thursday but leave putting your flowers until the Friday. If you're doing a handtied bouquet, do this later on Friday and keep it water until just before you need it. Also, buttonholes have a very short shelf life so best to leave these until the Saturday morning.

There is a lot more to floristry than people realise and if you're doing it properly it will take you longer than you think! Make sure you have plenty of time and invest in a proper pair of floristry scissors (will cost about £5). Believe me, it is VERY hard to make a lot of money in floristry. If you employ a good florist you should be buying superior flowers (not a Tesco special!), a bespoke item, the florist's expertise and knowledge! Sorry, but the cost comment always drives me mad. There are very few rich florists!!!

Good luck!

x

littlel_3

Hi all,
am just started to sort out my flowers for the wedding, My bouquet and two bridesmaids bouquets, I don't want to have real flowers because they are too expensive and would like to do them myself.

so now to the point I do like the foam flowers, has anyone got these are they as nice as they look on the net (have not managed to get out and see them in person yet), and does anyone have any suggestions on where to get these at reasonable prices, I have already bought the crystal pins to go in them from a shop near to me that sells everything but have still to go back to see if they have flowers as had to get out of there in the end, nightmare two year old wanting to touch everything:rolleyes:

Speckled_Egg

What are foam flowers?

Krystaltips

Flowers made from foan I would guess

Speckled_Egg

Ha ha! The mind boggles!