I am trying to save on my wedding budget and wonder if it is possible to do my own wedding flowers? What all is entailed in this? Are there other DIY projects I can do to save money?
-Julie
Thank you for your question Julie. DIY portions of your wedding can create a very personalized outcome. It is possible to arrange your own flowers, but it may not be practical and there is a strong possibility it will not save you money in the long run.
Flowers bought and arranged at a floral shop do cost slightly more, but also buying flowers and vases (ones you can’t return) at retail and arranging them yourself may not save you as much as you might think.
You will need to purchase and be able to store in a cool temperature enough flowers for centerpieces, bridal bouquet, bridesmaids bouquets, groom’s boutonniere, groomsmen boutonnieres, mother of the bride/groom corsage, father of the bride/groom boutonnieres, corsages/ boutonnieres for grandparents and aisle decorations.
Then comes the knowledge of putting the flowers together. Care differs between flower to flower and some cannot be held against the skin or outside the water for more than an hour before it will wilt.
Flowers cannot be arranged more than a day before the wedding and this brings in a very based time crunch when you are also dealing with wedding day set up, rehearsal dinners and much more.
It’s a challenging experience, but only you know if this is something you can handle.
As for DIY, centerpieces that do not involve flowers are a good option to create in advance. If you are good with calligraphy and stationery, making your own invitations, save-the-dates and table numbers may be a good option as well.
When it comes to DIY keep in mind whatever you make will more often than not look DIY and if that’s not an issue to you then that’s a good option, for others who expect the outcome to look like the highly edited, color corrected, lighted images they see on Pinterest then they will be sadly disappointed.
I would also suggest to not take on more than you can chew. Having an entire DIY wedding is an impossible feat even if you delegate to many friends and family.
I would suggest at most taking on two projects max. Saving money is better left in the flower types you choose, how many tiers you have on your cake and the venue you pick out. At the end of the day, DIY projects can sometimes cost you more than you imagine.
-James Novotny
James Novotny, director of James Novotny Lifestyle Design and the wedding blog alwaysthebridesman.com, would like to help guide you down the aisle and ease your wedding day woes.
Feel free to send your wedding quarries to lifestyledesign@jamesnovotny.org or drop them off at the Clarion office, 6-314.
James Novotny is an all-inclusive wedding planner and is open to questions regarding same-sex and multicultural weddings.