Hey friends! It's Elsie. I'm here to tell you the story of Emma's wedding flowers. It's funny and stressful and has a happy ending. Are you ready?
Way back in the old days Emma helped me make all the flowers for my wedding along with my bridesmaids. So when her special day came I wanted to return the favor. Making your own wedding flowers can save hundreds or thousands of dollars. This is a perk, because (as you probably know) weddings are really expensive. Even when everything "looks homemade", it's not. So it's awesome to be able to save with simple DIYs like this one.
As with most things, Emma wanted something super simple and chic. An easy request. She told me many times that she didn't care about the flowers she just wanted them to "look good". Polar opposite of a bridezilla, right? That's Emma… she's the most easy-going person who ever lived. Just ask our mom.
So, here's where the story gets interesting. The day before the wedding A bunch of boxes of flowers were delivered to my house. It was all stuff that Emma had picked out that she liked. The brides bouquet and boutonnieres were a breeze. Then we started working on the bridesmaids bouquets, which were supposed to be made of mostly yellow gerbera daisies. So Rachel, Katie and I started working on them and the were falling apart LIKE CRAZY. The flowers were just breaking off from the stems so much so that we couldn't make a decent looking bouquet.
We stressed for a bit. Then asked Emma, "Is it ok to use other colors?" To which she replied, "Yeah, any color is fine. Do it rainbow." (See? Easiest bride ever.) So we went to every grocery store (yes, grocery store) we could find and bought all the pretty flowers we saw. Then after the rehearsal dinner we stayed up til 2 am giggling, maybe sipping cocktails and finishing all the bridesmaid's bouquets. Ta-Da! We did it. Crisis averted.
My tips for making your own wedding flowers are simple!
1. Be flexible. If you can't chill out and improvise, maybe DIY isn't a good option for your flowers. They probably won't turn out exactly like the photo you saved from Pinterest, but they'll be special and beautiful and you'll have fun making them with people you love.
2. Have options. Save lots of photos of flowers you love. Have a plan B. Buy more that you need. We ended up using all those extra yellow daisies at the reception venue the next day!
3. Focus on people. As with all of the choices that come with planning a big day, you're probably not going to care that the color of the roses were a perfect match for your bridesmaids shoes in 5 years (or, let's be honest, 5 months). Weddings are stressful, and that can sometimes cause people to focus too much on the "not quite perfect" and miss important moments with friends and family. Whether you are a bride or a bridesmaid, be sure to prepare yourself before the big day to be happy and present, focusing on what really matters: the people.
Here are a couple instagram photos from the night before the wedding (taken by either Katie or Rachel or me… it's impossible to remember)
photography by Arrow & Apple
The flowers look amazing! Great bouquets. Those last-minute situations are a true test of character. Well done 🙂
Thank you for sharing some photographs of flowers, It will be very helpful for everyone. People can know that which type of flowers can they use for changing the theme of room and palaces.
Wow! I love this! For my wedding, we made DIY carnation bouquets. We found them to be inexpensive and genuinely beautiful when used in bulk – and accented with a few other types of flowers with interesting textures, such as protea and scabiosa.
I went with a florist for my flowers and she cut me a great deal (even went to her aunt’s farm and picked hundreds of rose petals for us at no cost!), but on the morning of the wedding when the flowers arrived we realised I hadn’t thought to order a bouquet to toss. My sister ducked out to the local shops and found a sweet little bouquet that actually very closely resembled my bridal bouquet! Crisis averted! I think we learnt the value of grocery store flowers that day too 🙂
Its really cute and attractive. I cant help staring this pictures. Very nice!
Love this flowers and bouquets !!
Today Wedding planning is very important for good ceremony
Wedding Flowers
Great tips 😉 They turned out brilliantly. I’d love to do my own wedding flowers too!
Rosie x | Every Word Handwritten
So nice and colourful and not all fancy and fake, LOVE!! 🙂
I bought flowers from a wholesale florist and did my own flowers the day before the wedding. I loved it as it was such a calming and beautiful thing to be doing, took my mind off any other worries! There are so many cool tutorials on youtube, that’s where I learnt all my tricks.
oh I totally agree with this post. My sister and I made my bouquet for my quincenera, and it wasn’t Pinterest worthy. But it was better, since it looked and was homemade, and subtle and pretty. It has a lot of sentimental value knowing it was diy 🙂
DIYing my wedding flowers with my sister and bridesmaids was such a good memory! I also loved seeing my most detail oriented bridesmaid sit down with a group of the groomsmen and overseeing them while they made their own boutonnieres. Wedding week is so wonderful!
Very informative. I will apply hat in our shop. Thanks
love it! a calm bride makes everything easy. I only hope I’m as calm when I get married. You’re inspirational Emma! 🙂
www.carowhack.com
Love this post:) I started my own wedding flower business out of my home this summer; I had my own wedding to plan for and 5 other friends weddings, so why not get a business license and buy all those beauties at cost!? Its been the most fun decision ever! I’m looking forward to saving brides money in the future!
although we ordered the boutonnieres from a local florist, my bridesmaids and i also made our bouquets the night before the wedding. my bouquet was several white hydrangea with off-white roses and accented with little green and white mums which we also got at a local grocery store (can’t beat 3/$12 bouquets!). my best friend/college roommate/bridesmaid also made the bouquets for her wedding and told me she had ordered the roses from costco. i did the same thing and they arrived on time and gorgeous. we all stayed up late in my parents’ kitchen the night before the wedding drinking wine, making bouquets, and finishing off other little DIY projects for the wedding the next day. it was a lovely and stressless experience that i’m glad i got to share with my parents and friends.
Realised only during my sister’s wedding last year, how focussing on people was the one big thing. Reduces stress and keep people happy- all that’s important!
Upasna at Someplace Else
Sweet! So simple but you look gorgeous and I love that tattoo! 🙂 Congratulations!
Hi Katie, you can order flowers from Sam’s Club and they will ship them to your house. The roses were perfect. 🙂
Sam’s Club. 🙂