AMAZING DIY WEDDING FLOWERS ON A BUDGET
Hello! Thanks for stopping in. Today I’m going to share with you how to make amazing DIY wedding flowers on a budget.
If you’ve been following along lately then you know my son recently got married at our home here in beautiful Lake Arrowhead, California. When I designed and built our Mediterranean-Meets-The-Mountains style home I dreamed of one day hosting a wedding for one of my children here. That dream came true on September 8th when we hosted what turned out to be a simply magical wedding under the cedar trees on our property.
The bride and groom are both professionals and wanted to pay for most of the wedding themselves, including the cost of the flowers. However, they are also thrifty individuals and wanted to stick to a budget. Wedding flowers can often represent a large percentage of a wedding budget so in order to get the biggest bang for their budget, they decided to create the decor flower arrangements themselves, along with a lot of help from friends and family. They did leave the bridal party bouquets and boutonnières in the very capable hands of the super talented folks at Wildflowers At The Lake, our wonderful Lake Arrowhead florist.
In planning our flower needs we first tackled the tablescape design. Months in advance I sourced these rustic galvanized containers that we would use to house both flowers and fresh herbs for centerpieces. I ordered a total of 9 containers in varying sizes for each of 4 long rectangular tables that would seat 20 people each.
Next, I determined where else we would be needing flowers around the house and grounds. Then a few weeks before the wedding I gathered together vases and urns that I already owned, saving a ton of money.
Into each container I placed a photograph of a flower arrangement I thought would be perfect for the container. I used photos of flower arrangements I had made in the past, but also collected photos I liked on Pinterest, etc. The photographs were for style/arrangement references only, as the flowers we’d be using for our arrangements would be different types & colors then those shown in the photos. So, I then wrote down what type of flower to put where and how many of each. In doing this exercise I could also determine how many flowers to order.
On the photos I also indicated where the arrangement would be placed: ie Dining Room, Bar Mantel, Master Bedroom, Entry Foyer, Wine Cellar, Powder Room, etc. Knowing that these reference photos would be used in a wet environment, I slipped each one in a plastic page protector.
I have some training and experience in flower arranging, but the bride and the groom had none. So, having these reference photos was very helpful to the amateur flower arrangers who gathered around the long tables I set up in our garage. I wasn’t sure how water-tight the galvanized buckets were, so I purchased plastic plant saucers/liners for each container. In some of the containers we also used large mason jars, which served to keep the flowers in a tight arrangement, rather than letting them flop to the sides of the wide-mouthed containers.
We don’t live anywhere near a flower mart so I discovered that I could order loose flowers at a very economical price from Costco. There are two ways to order flowers in bulk from Costco: online at the Costco website and/or direct from Costco’s floral supplier, KMS Floral, on their website. You can even order pre-made floral arrangements, garlands, flower pedals, wedding bouquets and boutonnières from their Wedding & Event section. Items ordered on Costco’s website are shipped direct to you on your designated delivery day. Flowers ordered from KMS Floral are delivered to your local Costco store where you must go to pick them up. Our order took 2 SUV’s to get them all home. Plus we received additional flowers and a garland via FedEx, shipped direct from Costco’s supplier in Columbia. Just to make sure we had enough time to compose all of the arrangements, we had the flowers delivered 2 days before the wedding. They arrived fresh and beautiful!
My KMS Floral Order
The flowers we picked up at Costco were in buckets of water and I had additional buckets on hand as well for the flowers that arrived via FedEx. We added flower preservative powder to the water and in an effort to have them stay fresh and beautiful, we kept the flowers inside my air-conditioned home until they were needed in an arrangement.
Two days before the wedding I gathered together 3 friends, 2 of my sons, the bride and me, and we went to work on the arrangements
I also ordered 30 pounds of fresh cut rosemary and thyme from the chef at our country club. She gets a delivery from her supplier everyday so the fresh herbs turned out to be a terrific, inexpensive greenery item that smelled great too.
To fill out the arrangements we tucked Natural Spanish Moss around the base of the herbs.
The tallest galvanized buckets were filled with flowers and into the smaller ones we placed the fresh herbs. Along with 120 flickering candles on each table we created a stunning tablescape.
The night before we had soaked dozens of bricks of oasis so it would be ready to place inside the various urns and containers. Oasis gives you a foundation in which to hold the flowers in place, but it also serves to hydrate cut flowers as well. For clear glass vases where oasis can’t be used we added strips of clear floral tape to the tops of each vase, forming a grid into which we stuck the flowers. In some cases we also added a twist of waterproof ribbon inside the glass vases to camouflage the stems.
Each floral stem was trimmed for freshness using special floral scissors I had on hand for everyone.
My Oldest Son & Best Man
In my messy garage they managed to create some magnificent, professional-looking floral arrangements that we could be proud of!
Finally we started placing the arrangements in their designated locations. A lovely urn full of white flowers went on the coffee table in my family room.
A gorgeous arrangement went on a table in front of a courtyard window.
Another arrangement decorated the Dining Room Mantel…
and dining room window area…
and the dining room table.
On wedding day we had a beautiful arrangement of appetizers on the dining room table which was crowned by the lovely flowers.
Knowing that folks might venture into the Master Bedroom, we even made a gorgeous arrangement for my bedroom fireplace mantel.
The amazing arrangement you saw my son constructing earlier was placed on the bar where we needed a very tall arrangement to balance with the 30 foot ceiling.
We also produced a beautiful arrangement for the Signature Cocktail table in the foyer.
Also in the foyer was the Guest Book Table where yet another arrangement was on display.
Stepping outside, my talented friends Dave & Craig wound a garland (purchased through Costco.com) around the fountain in my front courtyard.
They then tucked flowers into the garland and it became a beautiful focal point. And the running water kept the garland fresh for 2 weeks after the wedding!
The wedding ceremony took place outside in our walled motor court. Of course we had to find a way to decorate what would become an outdoor sanctuary. So, I found these wonderful metal barrels at World Market.
I also purchased these basket sets at World Market. We filled them with plants from the garden department at Home Depot.
You can see in the photo below that we also added a Costco Garland to the Motor Court Gate, into which we tucked fresh flowers. A vase full of flowers also graced the Priest’s Communion table and small bouquets decorated the chairs.
We also made small sprays of flowers for the wedding cake.
I thought the cake table was simply stunning!
It has now been 6 weeks since the union of my son and his beautiful bride took place. But because the wedding was celebrated in my home I got to enjoy the flowers for an additional week. It was bittersweet when the flowers began to wilt and had to be discarded. So I gathered up a bunch of roses, tied them with baker’s twine and hung them from my kitchen pot rack. Now I get to enjoy the flowers for years to come and be reminded of that lovely day.
I must admit that I had my worries about pulling off DIY wedding flowers, but with the help of dear friends and family we not only created beautiful flowers, but we ended up with far more arrangements than we ever would have been able to afford had we ordered them from a florist. In total we spent about $2000.00, a real bargain when it comes to wedding flowers. If you have time, a little bit of talent, and friends to pitch in you can do it too!
Here’s What You’ll Need To Make Amazing DIY Wedding Flowers On A Budget
Just click on the links below for all the resources.
Quart Size/Wide Mouth Mason Jars
Waterproof Floral Ribbon in Birch Bark Pattern
Thank you Dominic & Nina of Apartment 3 Photography for all the amazing wedding photos!
So there you have it: AMAZING DIY WEDDING FLOWERS ON A BUDGET
Thanks so much for dropping in!
Express Yourself!
No blog post is truly complete without a word from you. I’d be so delighted if you’d leave a comment below.
All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Unless otherwise noted, all photos are the original property of Celia Becker @ www.AfterOrangeCounty.com and may not be reproduced without specific permission. This post contains affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase I may receive a small commission which helps to make this blog possible. Thanks for your support.
