June 17, 2010

Budget Bouquets, Boutonnieres and Bowers!

Posted in Deals, DIY Projects, Wedding Design at 6:52 pm by Elizabeth Nixon

So, you want to know how to save a bundle on flowers?

Did you perhaps receive a florists’ quote exceeding $4,000, for what you thought was a rather skimpy amount of blooms?

Of course, not to knock the florists’ talents! It’s well worth the money to avoid the hassle of planning and arranging for your own floral needs at your own wedding! As professionals, florists deserve to mark up their product, just like any other vendor would.

That said, I am an avid gardener and passionate arranger of flowers and so I will be doing it myself all for under $300. In fact, just don’t be surprised if this bee decides to branch out into floral designing, because she loves it so! Can we see a “Paisley’s Petals” somewhere in my future?!?! I kid, I kid.

I would totally come up with a better name than that! (Sorry any “Paisley’s Petals” that are out there!)

Anyway. If you’re going the DIY route, first off, establish a budget. This, we saved until the week before the wedding, like big stupid heads.

We were going to try to source everything from our own garden, but it was a tough winter on our flowers.

So. All the Paisley money has run out, being that it is a week before the wedding. Fortunately, a generous, last-minute gift from Mama and Papa Paisley of $300 was enough to play with, considering we have our own garden full of filler blooms.

That money brings us, courtesy of Sequoia Wholesalers:
15 stems Dahlias (light pink)
20 stems Billy Buttons
40 stems Veronica (white)
100 stems scabiosa (white)

And, from Fiftyflowers.com:
56 stems peach Juliet peony roses

For some reason, the thought of putting together my own bouquets and 22 centerpieces scared Mama Paisley. For some reason. I honestly don’t know what!

She ordered me outside to prove my flower-arranging worth, and, not to brag, but less than 10 minutes later I came back with a nicely shaped, full, pink-and-white bridal bouquet that I would have been happy to carry on the actual big day. Except Mama Paisley said it stank (the smell, not the looks) and put it outside. But, Mama Paisley looked relieved, and I was happy to assuage her fears and show off in front of her and MOH Paisley.

Arranging flowers is what I most look forward to doing the day before our wedding.

For “filler” flowers, I have this, my mom’s garden, to work with:

A nice, big, Mock Orange:

Some Feverfew:

Lamb’s ears:

Pink Veronica:

And much, much more:

With these as fillers and my Veronica, Feverfew, Scabiosa and oodles of the showy, white-and-yellow Matilija poppies, (that grow on the roadside in Lake County) my centerpieces will resemble Saipua’s aesthetic: loose, organic, gorgeous!

Source

A cross between the above, and this:

Source

For my bouquets, using the peach Juliet roses, they will turn out something like this:

Miss Cowboy Boot’s bouquet! With peach Juliet roses, I believe.

The Billy’s Buttons I might use for the boutonnieres, or perhaps the centerpieces.

Stay tuned to see how it all turns out!

Are you taking on a HUGE do-it-yourself project that everybody and their brother just shakes their heads at when you tell them about it? But you just don’t care what they say because you luuuuurve doing said project? Maybe it’s baking your own cake? Baking batches of macaroons for your dessert table? Sewing your bridesmaids’ gowns? Letterpress printing your own invites? Do share!

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