DIY bouquets- feasible or no?

I would not suggest DIYing your own live flowers before your wedding. I am DIYing my own sola flowers bouquets, and my bouquet alone took me hours to complete. If you do, I would suggest doing a trial run so you can get an idea of what you need to do. I think this is a lot of stress in the day(s) before your weddings. Sams Club does sell bouquet packages.

I am having a small wedding and love to do DIY anything! I bought $15 worth of flowers from Trader Joe's the other day to see how one would come out! I think I did a pretty good job and it is still alive today so I will make the bouquet the day before my wedding. So I suggest giving it a trial run!

I haven't done my own wedding flowers yet because it's in December, but I work at a florist.

- Do a practice run.

- Try to choose hearty flowers that aren't finicky.

- Factor in the time you'll need.

- Flowers should arrive a few days before the wedding, and you should put your bouquets together the day before.

- Boutonnieres are easier than they look. There are lots of good videos on YouTube for these and for bouquets.

- Make sure you have the right size vases to store your bouquets in water until you're ready to use them, especially if you go with thirsty flowers like hydrangeas (these are popular, but can wilt FAST without a water supply). Keep premade boutonnières in the fridge, preferably misted and in a small plastic bag to hold in humidity. If you can fit your bouquets (no plastic for these), GREAT, but if not, just keep them cool and out of sunlight.

- I see your wedding is in early November. I don't know where you are, but if for some reason it gets really cold and temps are below 40 F, cover your flowers when they're outside for transportation/etc.

Good luck!

I bought mine of of Etsy for $45 and I love it. I got my BM's bouquets at micheals fro $12. It may be cheaper to buy then to DIY.

Sam's Club sells pre-arranged packages that include bride and bridesmaid bouquets. I would check those out over arranging yourself. That's a pretty big task to be dealing with in the days before your wedding.

It takes practice and patience as one bouquet can take hours for a newbie. If you want something small and simple, I say go for it. Some people have an eye for that kind of thing. I'll personally be using a florist because I have a huge WP.

I am planning to DIY my bouquet with a couple of test runs. I plan on purchasing my flowers either Trader Joe's (which has a great selection) or a local nursery. Luckily I will just need two bouquets. I think once you start getting into bigger wedding parties it becomes less and less of a good idea and more of a hassle right before your wedding.

First I was going to do Sams flowers but a friend of mine recently did hers (2 weeks ago) through sams.. they had flowers in pots scattered all over their house and had to water them and make sure nothing wilted then assemble the day of.. unless you have someone who can do that for you, I would not recommend that added stress. Then I thought "why not get hobby lobby silk flowers" just DIY that, cant be too hard.. got the numbers figured and settled on that, til one day I saw someone suggest your local grocery store florist depts.. like not a big chain grocery store. Here in my area we have a local grocery chain that has florist depts and I met with them. I am getting (a gorgeous ginormous bouquet) my bridal bouquet, 5 BM bouquets, 7 boutonnieres, and some ceremony aisle bunches of flowers for a whopping $220.00. You read that right.. She will have everything assembled and put together with material the morning of the wedding. We just have to pick it up to deliver to Venue ourselves. I would def recommend trying to find a local small business grocery store chain if thats an option in your area.. this cost is less than DIY by far and no stress for me on wedding day.

Simple bouquets with ribbon wrapped stems are not hard at all. Buy some dollar store fake flowers and practice putting one together. You can take them apart and redo them multiple times to practice and don't have to worry about breaking the stems or anything. Then if you want buy a some grocery store flowers and make a trial bouquet with real flowers. Take pictures of your trials to remind yourself how to put them together. Buying from Sam's and Costco is reasonably priced but if you are only doing a few bouquets you may have a lot of flowers left because they come in large amounts. You could use extras in vases for decorating. Be prepared to have someone waiting for delivery at your house the day the flowers come because they can't just be left out on a doorstep. You will need to trim the ends and put them in water in a cool spot. Carnations will need warm water to open. Be prepared to strip thorns off of roses and have band aids because you will get poked or scratched a few times.

I forgot to add this. Put rubber bands around the stems before wrapping with ribbon.

Wow- great advice here. Hmmm, I see how this can be a lot of work right before the wedding. I'll look into local shops because @Tara C that is an awesome deal. While I was planning to have a "bouquet party" on Thursday before the wedding, my BM may not be that into this. Thanks for the insider scoop @CallieSue and @SnowWhite. I've started receiving quotes from florists and my head was spinning so I thought I'd look into other, budget-friendly option

My sister's wedding is in August and we are doing this. She is ordering from Costco. Mine is in February and I will be ordering from Sam's.

I think it is a wonderful idea and could be really fun to do with my ladies. I will not "employee" my bridesmaids, but many friends/family have simply volunteered. I have done quite a bit of research and watched YouTube videos. I truly don't find it too daunting or stressful.

Like you, flowers are not the staple in my wedding. I also plan on using quite a bit of greenery for decor, so that makes it a little easier on myself. Good luck!! Let me know what you decide.

I'm planning to do this for my wedding, though it's just bouquets for myself and my three bridesmaids (nothing for the groomsmen, families, centerpieces, etc.). I ordered the flowers I wanted wholesale through The Bouqs, and they are being delivered 3 days before the wedding so they can open up before I assemble them the day before. I did do trial runs with grocery store flowers before just to make sure I could do it. I bought floral shears and floral tape to keep it all together, and it seemed to work fine for me!

Go on pinterest and etsy and start looking around!

My first wedding my mom was wonderful and amazing and did all the flowers the day before. She bought them wholesale and it saved a ton of money. They were beautiful nobody would ever have suspected a pro didn't do them. That said she did tell me that while she loves my FH and didn't like my ex she would absolutely not ever do it again. She said it was way too stressful and too much work to be done by someone who doesn't do it for a living. Point being it's doable but you'll be stressed af.

I've done hand tied bouquets and corsage for my kids'

homecoming and proms and they came out perfect but I don't need the additional stress in days leading up to the wedding when there are a million details to attend to. So having saved in the past on diy's, I'm having a professional handle.

I am doing my own flowers by buying centerpieces. I am using one as my bouquet and the rest as centerpieces. Check out https://www.fiftyflowers.com/

I didnt have the time to DYI the bouquet- I order mine from whole foods and 1) it came out amazing!, 2) cheaper than the DYI and florist (they charge $55 for a bridal bouquet, the DYI starting point was $80), 3) if you didn't like it you can just leave it w no charge.

I was considering doing my own flowers as well until I read that Sam's and Costco's delivers the flowers 2-3 days before the wedding. I was too nervous about storing the flowers up until that point. I also didn't want the added stress.

Ok, I had no idea that Whole Foods, Trader Joe's offer such awesome bouquets/ flower options. Thanks guys!