Reader Question: I am planning my own very inexpensive wedding and don't see flowers anywhere on your pricing breakdown. I am ordering bulk and doing them myself but I was curious as to how much of your budget went to flowers.
Originally, we had $50 allocated to "decorations." We used $33 of those dollars to purchase vintage sheets from the Goodwill that we used as tablecloths. We were going to use the rest of the money to buy my bouquet from Whole Foods, but at the last minute, we realized we could ask a friend to collect wild flowers from the property adjacent to the Bed & Breakfast where we were staying.
We had visions of potentially using potted zinnias from our garden for centerpieces, but our garden didn't do very well that year, so we decided to skip centerpieces. We figured the food would be enough decoration. We had homemade guacamole, salsa, and chips waiting on every table when the guests arrived at the reception. Matt's parents hosted a family lunch on our wedding day and so we did end up with some reused flowers from that event that Cathy and Cory (the B&B owners) added to some tables at the last minute.
I hope that answers your question!
Originally, we had $50 allocated to "decorations." We used $33 of those dollars to purchase vintage sheets from the Goodwill that we used as tablecloths. We were going to use the rest of the money to buy my bouquet from Whole Foods, but at the last minute, we realized we could ask a friend to collect wild flowers from the property adjacent to the Bed & Breakfast where we were staying.
We had visions of potentially using potted zinnias from our garden for centerpieces, but our garden didn't do very well that year, so we decided to skip centerpieces. We figured the food would be enough decoration. We had homemade guacamole, salsa, and chips waiting on every table when the guests arrived at the reception. Matt's parents hosted a family lunch on our wedding day and so we did end up with some reused flowers from that event that Cathy and Cory (the B&B owners) added to some tables at the last minute.
I hope that answers your question!
9 comments:
We're also buying flowers in bulk, and having an after-rehearsal bouquet making night. i figured we'd all be together anyway, and it's not too stressful, so it'd be perfect as a way to sit and chat and be creative.
We're using about 4% of our budget on flowers. Keep in mind that, depending on your flower preferences and the actual wedding total, the budget should go up or down. :)
Just found your blog- it is lovely! Looking forward to reading more :) XO
Love your blog, love your wedding, but just wanted to voice a concern about... wildflowers... of all lovely things! I read in the Green Bride Guide by Kate Harrison that picking wildflowers as an alternative to buying flowers can be problematic because some wildflower populations are actually quite vulnerable and fragile, and suffer from being picked... So people shouldn't be encouraged to use wildflowers unless they KNOW that the flowers in question are not rare or under any habitat stress. Just a thought... do with it what you wish! - a loyal reader
I wasn't too concerned with flowers- originally I thought about having my bridesmaids carry candles, but they didn't really like that, and I respected that.
So we're ordering in bulk, too,. I'm using carnations (I like the fluffy looks) and Sam's club has 150 stems for about $60, which I thought wasn't too bad. (They also have a smaller amount of stems, for less)
If you go to craftster.org and search roses, you'll find GOEGROUS diy roses made out of coffee filters.
We haven't decided what to do about flowers as a whole, but I plan to try this out soon: http://www.realsimple.com/holidays-entertaining/weddings/flowers/wedding-flowers-bouquets-supermarket-00000000000483/index.html
And the flowers wouldn't need to be from a supermarket, per se...
Here is an organic flower farm in Chino, California that delivers. I am ordering their dahlia party pack for 250.00 and doing the arranging with friends the day before.
https://californiaorganicflowers.com/default
Also, most farmer's market flower vendors will allow you to order and pick up from the market or the farm. This is a fun way to keep it local, and see the flowers in person.
oops, I meant Chico, CA.
....and it's a farm ran by a small community of women who love their jobs. I think that adds a little loving energy into the flowers.
Most people are known to cut out the flowers entirely, but you can easily find flowers for cheap. You could consider doing a single flower floating in a vase filled with water as a centerpiece. It's not only cheap, but it's even quite elegant. Flowers don't need to be in abundance to be beautiful, one simple flower can do as much as a thousand flowers.
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