Publix wedding flowers???

I have seen Publix flowers at weddings there Very nice, do you plan on doing the work yourself or hiring their florist off hours. Or do they arrange in store? Our friend hired the florist off hours.

What are Publix flowers?

Publix is a grocery store chain in the southeast

@Sarah. Publix is a supermarket chain down south.

@Sarah Publix is a grocery chain.

I would compare buying flowers at a grocer to buying your cake at a grocer. Yes, it can turn out well if you want something simple and more along the traditional side. However, the florists who work at Publix are not seasoned florists (I've had several friends who did the arranging at Whole Foods, Kroger, Publix who started with little experience) and might not be able to execute more specialized/stylized arrangements that you see in the wedding magazines.

Other things to consider is that grocers do not rent out their vases so you will have to spend the extra money to purchase. They also do not deliver or setup so you will have to workout having friends or family do all of that.

Just weigh out the pro's and the con's like with anything else and see if that is something you want to do.

I think it depends on your venue, style and the extent to which you want to be involved. The skill level will not be that of a more traditional florist, which may or may not work for you or your setting.

Publix does flowers?! Omg, I'll have to look into it!

Grocery store floral items have an expiration date on them it is seven days. They're treated like produce items if they don't sell their thrown away. Traditional florists can have their flowers in their shop forever or until they die. Grocery store flowers usually come in at least two times a week. I have worked as a traditional florist in a flower shop and a grocery store Florist the grocery store flowers were much fresher.

I would say check with the Publix to see what day(s) they get in their fresh flowers. It seems lately, that when DH buys me mixed flower bouquets there, it must be the day before the fresh ones are due. What he's been buying have not lasted more than 2-3 days.

MJ: I don't know what traditional florist you worked for, but I can tell you that it is not customary to keep flowers around forever hoping to sell the dying stock to brides. Traditional florists do keep flowers in the fridge -- but they aren't used for weddings unless it is a last minute, walk in order for a few bouquets or a bout (and even then, you get what they have. You can't special order). Those flowers are for walk-ins or one item orders (congrats, birthday bouquets, get well, etc.). Wedding flowers are ordered specifically from the wholesaler for the event (often field to packing to shipping to retailer). Our wholesaler sends them to us fresh -- they are not kept in freezers. Many times, they haven't bloomed, and we need to get them in-house days early to coax the blooms.

When I was married 15 years ago I used Publix. My flowers were amazing. This go round I'm using them for both the cake and the flowers. It's really the person who is putting your stuff together that makes the difference. My lady was a private florist for 30 years, so I'm confident that she knows what she's doing.

Thanks Ladies. I definitely plan on checking Publix out for our wedding cake but wasn't sure how they were with flowers. I don't think it will hurt to at least see what they offer and how competitive their prices.

@Kelly: that's awesome. We go back to FL in Sept. I'm gonna check the Publix in our area, maybe I'll get lucky and find someone their that has a background in floral design also.

@Denise - Did you end up using Publix? Just curious!

Has anyone ended up using Publix? My fiance and I plan to start working with their Aprons event planner for florals at the end of this month.

Hi - I am actually using publix for my wedding cake, flowers and lunch catering for the wedding party. our wedding is 6pm so we are providing lunch to our wedding party. the florist is a 20 year vet so she has the experience. I have seen her work and it is beautiful. we have done our cake testing and they gave us the 3 cakes to take home. We shared with family and friends and they further validated our decision. the cakes were yummy and will be beautiful for much less than the traditional bakeries.

I say go visit the florist and ask to see pics of their work and go from there. Another floral suggesting was to go to farmers markets and talk to those florists. just some out of the box ideas.

super excited about our cake and flowers from Publix