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I cringe when I hear a bride say that she is going to do her own wedding flowers. I know...it really does sound romantic, but I cannot help but feel anxious knowing what unnecessary grief she is about to face on one of the most important days of her life. Here are the top misconceptions to watch out for when considering the do-it-yourself approach:
- I will save money by doing my own flowers. Dear beautiful bride, I understand the age old tug-of-war: time vs Money. But if you think you're budget is tight, just wait to see how tight your time will be as the day approaches! Many well-meaning brides of the past thought purchasing their own flowers and supplies was the trick to not having to budget for a skilled professional to do the job. Unfortunately, it's a game we all play with ourselves at times...thinking we can outsmart the value of paying someone to do it right. I've made this mistake when shopping for clothes. I think I can't afford the carefully and exquisitely made $200 dress downtown that is a perfect fit for my body type and makes me feel like a million bucks, so I opt to hit Marshall's to dig for the needle in the haystack. I toss into my squeaky cart four ($39.99) dresses that "would work"and two cinching undergarments ($9.99 each) to make one of them a better fit. Thinking of all the money I am saving, I add a pair of shoes that are super cute, so talk myself into enduring the way they pinch my toes ($19.99). Add two hours at my sewing machine making the cheap dresses work a little better I'm not feeling very confident about how I look, so I grab a cardigan on the way out the door and cover up my hard earned look. I finally arrive at the party and all I want to do is go home and kick off the stupid shoes that I can barely limp in anymore and put on some yoga pants so I can breathe again! $199.96 plus at least 6 hours fussing and I've saved four cents for a much lower quality of product and experience. Lesson learned.
How does this apply to you beautiful bride? $275 spent a Michael's, $95 Home Depot, $325 from Costco.com and $65 at the local farmers market and then $45 more for last minute emergency Safeway floral department purchase ($800 total), in addition to the hours of prep and arranging, the giant mess and the time spent away from your groom and family, and you could have had a talented and calm pro deliver a superior product! Please believe that your time will be as valuable a resource as your money on the big day. A good floral designer will understand your desire to spend wisely and can help you choose items that will make the most impact for your dollar. - I will save money by purchasing artificial flowers and doing it myself.Let me save you the trouble, dear beautiful bride...artificial flowers are equal to or more expensive than fresh. Just take a stroll through Michael's and see the nicer blooms priced at $8.99 per stem! This will not save you money, but in all fairness, there is one advantage to the faux flowers: you can make them as far in advance as you like and not worry about them again until the big day arrives. However, nothing compares to the fragrance and feel of life-filled, fresh blooms to celebrate your marriage.
- I should have plenty of time put some bouquets together the day before or the morning of. After all, my ceremony doesn't start until 4pm. Okay, here's your assignment: Find a friend who's recently been married and who created a schedule or timeline for the big day. Take a look at the schedule and ask them if there would have been any possible way to fit 6 hours of physically demanding work in there somewhere. Can't squeeze it in? Try the day before the wedding. Still no? It's hard to anticipate all the details that will need to come together the last days leading up to your wedding, but please keep in mind that even with a well calculated schedule, there WILL BE UNEXPECTED last minute details and hiccups to address. It is smart to leave yourself excessive amounts of margin around each must-do item in your timeline. Another real danger in attempting to arrange your flowers the day of or before your wedding is the mess it makes of your hands. I am constantly scrubbing chlorophyll stains off my hands and nails. It often takes days for it to work it's way out with the natural oils in the skin. If you must, make sure your nail appointment is after the dirty work and skip the traditional photo of you and your grooms hands on the cake knife. More importantly...remember that BEING with the people surrounding you to celebrate is an important part of your wedding and often won't get proper representation on the timeline. It's up to you to create that space.
- I can just make the arrangements up a couple days before and put them in the refrigerator to stay fresh. I've lectured you enough about the value of time that week prior to your wedding, so my point with #4 is that many devastated brides have attempted this one before you and found that, though the life of blooms can extend with cooler temps, too cold and they die a quick and irreversible death! Especially tropical flowers that are meant to thrive in warm moist climates. Remember that a refrigerator also has a drying effect and moisture is the lifeblood of your flowers.
- My parents have lots of hydrangea growing in their yard...I'll just use those! Every locally grown bloom has a specific season of availability. The tricky part about working with flowers is that a slight change in weather pattern can mean the sudden end to a flower's season. Unusual weather is a floral designer's nightmare as we have to scramble to find alternate resources for the bride who planned her whole wedding around blue hydrangea! Often our recourse is to secure imports at the last moment and usually, we absorb the loss in profits from the unexpected higher costs. The moral of the story is...we sweat the details, we worry about getting you the right shade of opulent blooms and we deliver everything perfect. What would a beautiful bride like yourself do if the season for your mom's hydrangea did not last to your big day or record breaking heat turned the beautiful blue blooms to brown? I know what you won't be doing...relaxing and enjoying your wedding day like beautiful brides are meant to!
To close, if you are concerned about cost, I encourage you to find a skilled floral designer who can help you choose just a few fabulous floral pieces that will make the most impact with the budget you have to work with. Ask for some inspiration on ideas for affordable do-ahead, out of the box decor to cover the rest of the wedding. Your one gorgeous, well-suited bouquet and handsome boutonniere will make a much classier statement than an entire room packed full of sloppy, thrown together flowers.
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