DIY Wedding Flowers: A Florist’s Perspective

As I was cruising Petal and Bean florist’s blog, I ran across this article that I found very interesting and they allowed me to co-post it. There are aspects I didn’t think about regarding DIY flowers for your wedding. I particularly like that they offer a “DIY Lite” package that takes care of the scary stuff for you but still helps with your bottom line. More florists should really do that! Below is the transcript as it was written by Stacy Sanchez of Petal and Bean.

Diy Wedding Flowers? Maybe. But, Don’t Believe Everything You Read, Including This Blog

I love to read.  I read newspapers, magazines and browse multiple websites, blogs and social feeds each day.  You could say I’m a bit of a media junkie.  And believe me when I say that I’ve noticed a lot of junk in the media these days.  What am I referring to?  Well, there’s a lot of misinformation when it comes to wedding planning information and resources out there, in my opinion, anyway.

One of the most common ways these so-called wedding experts telling you to save money by cutting out a professional florist and recommend the bride to do her own flowers.  Well, you could also use the same line of reasoning and suggest for her to bake her own cake and cook her own food as well.  We know from years of experience that talking with the brides we work with that they can always go back and remember their wedding flowers through the images captured that day.

The flowers that you will look at in your wedding pictures for the rest of your life should not be something that you and your friends just threw together because some “expert” somewhere told you it wasn’t hard and you will save money.  With the money you save, you’ll be spending time (and in a small business person’s viewpoint, time IS money) dealing with flowers and plants that you might not have any idea how to properly care for.

You don’t want to have to call a florist last-minute to see if they have the same type and color of replacement flowers (which has happened to us) because it might not work out.  And instead of having the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) centerpieces taken care of, you now have an unexpected emergency that is costing you time and energy that could be better spent enjoying the time with the friends and family that have gathered to share your day with you.

Each of these flowers has different care instructions, some like to be kept in their plastic sleeves, and some like to be left out of the refrigerator (it’s because they’re tropical) instead of the cooler temps.  You can plan to DIY, but consider the time you could have instead of creating a project for your guests.

That’s what a professional florist can do for you.  We can take away the crash-course floral design tutorials, worrying about whether or not you should put the soft stems with the hard stems and other things that guests shouldn’t have to think about.  For those that are capable, knowledgable, and want to spend the time and energy doing their own florals, we have packages for that too.  

DIY Lite

For those couples planning their own wedding flowers, we offer a “DIY-Lite” package, meaning we’ll process the flowers, hydrate them, and have them drinking and properly cared for until you’re ready for them.  All you’ll have to do is cut them to size and place them in the containers!

Contact us to learn more about this package and our other professional destination wedding servcies for your wedding planning needs.

But, don’t take my word for it.  This is only one opinion from one florist.  But, we do have 17 years of experience and event planning to formulate these opinions.  We have seen the rise of the DIY bride and know there is a time and a place for everything, but sometimes it shouldn’t be your wedding.

I would highlight these considerations:

• The layperson probably has no clue just how special certain flowers are and how every flower has to be processed in its own way. Did you know that Daffodils tend to kill other flowers in an arrangement without special precautions? Did you know that all those lovely citrus slices you see inside of vases are either plastic or further separated from the blooms as not to kill them? Did you know that hydrangeas need to be periodically soaked in water to stay full? Drinking alone is not good enough for them and I didn’t know until a florist recently explained to me why mine croaked! These are the sorts of things a florist can help you with. Turns out flowers are kinda needy.
• Having your friends and family help you create centerpieces will probably result in several failures. Unless it’s one person doing it, they will almost certainly look inconsistent. I don’t know why but two people never arrange things the same. The blooms will have to be processed very close to (like the night before) your wedding. I speak from experience that the amount of time you thought you would have that night is way over-estimated. Also, it ruins the rehearsal dinner night with more chores. Finally, your recruited helpers will probably find this task tedious and be scared to death of ruining it with no backup. Why stress them out?
• The extra flowers you will need to buy to ensure success might just remove any savings. This is especially true if you need to get them at the last minute. Florists buy from their dealers about a week out from your event and getting things in a hurry will likely cost you. Trying to make an arrangement for the blog the other day I destroyed some soft-stemmed flowers with the floral foam and they were dead by morning. You really don’t know what you’re getting into.
• Long and short of it is this: I would never have considered doing my own flowers. I went with live plants and non-floral arrangements so I could have the piece of mind of having them done ahead of time without the fear of them dying. If you do decide to go the DIY flesh flowers route, have a florist teach you what to do and then be ready to pull your hair out making centerpieces right before the wedding. In my mind, flowers and photography should be left to the professionals.