The cost of flowers!!

Fittle

Is anyone else finding the cost of the flowers VERY expensive!! I had really underestimated it!

I won't be needing flowers for Church, just a few bouquets and button holes and a display for the top table. I am very tempted to go the flower market and and try to do these myself, having received quotes from 300euro upwards from florists, and 85euro for the actual flowers themselves, from the market!!!!

I don't have a gaggle of women who will be sitting around a kitchen table the night before the wedding to do this for me....but I do have myself and 2 pals who are creative enough and could easily wrap some ribbon around some stems (I don't particularly want the 'posie' style bouquets, just something very simple!).

Anyone done this, or doing this....or is there even a class we could go to to get some tips?????? Or am I taking on too much???

The truth is I would rather spend the extra 215euro on wine for the tables!

Daisy M

Fittle I couldnt be more off topic if I tried but huge congrats to you:). I have often had a chat with you on the parenting forum and admired you for doing such a great job parenting your young fella on your own. I am delighted for ya that you have met Mr. Right best wishes for all your futures!

Sleepy

Like yourself we're going the civil route and balked at the prices quoted by florists. Insane money for very little work imo. Reckon anyone kitting out a church with them is insane, especially when the church insists on you leaving the flowers there!

My other half ordered our buttonholes and bouquets on etsy.com and got the bridal party (all feckin 13 of us) kitted out with silk flowers for a little over €100. They're very realistic looking and she prefers to have them after the event.

We'll be getting some real flowers in the market for our table centres and top table decorations too so all in we'll be spending less than €200.

Fittle

We are actually having a church wedding Sleepy (he's a proddy and divorced, and the protestant church has welcomed me with open arms;) )...but it's a very small church, and it will be christmas time so it will be kitted out with it's own flowers (had a nosey in December, it was only gorgeous:D).

I'll look at that website for the silk flowers - hadn't thought of them! Thanks :-)

ElleEm

The price of flowers is ridiculous!!

You said you're not looking for traditional bouquet styles, but have you considered not going with flowers at all?

I have seen "bouquets" made of old brooches and some satin or silk flowers, and they are gorgeous. You can borrow brooches from family/ friends, and you can pick up really cheap ones in charity shops or bootsales. The satin flowers can be bought in a haberdashery for a few quid. It's all based around one of those big polystyrene (or foam) balls, that you can get in any art supply shop. They is no expiry date so you can make them whenever you want.

I have seen some really classy ones in one/ two shades





but there are also really quirky ones with loads of different colours.

Fittle

They look fab ElleEm and i'd certainly consider them! I just found this 4 minute tutorial online....she makes it look very simple and I love the bouquet at the end - is it really as simple as she makes it look?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_eKa9O6yF0

ElleEm

I've not made any myself but all the tutorials I've looked at seem easy enough. I imagine you can do it super cheap, even Penneys would have a lot of fake diamante hairclips etc. that you could use.

I am not planning a wedding, but when I get married, I will defo be making one of these. I made paper flowers for a friend's wedding and they looked cute enough but these brooch bouquets are so elegant looking.

eviltwin

My MIL does wedding flowers for family and friends, she's doing a lot of bouquets with artificial flowers now, they look just as nice as the real thing.

Cerulean Chicken

I'm just getting bouquet for me, for my two bridesmaids, and buttonholes for the menfolk, €170, score! Delighted with that price Going to pick some flowers from a relative's garden and put them in vases to sit either side of the altar, and using the bouquets in pretty vases to decorate the top table.

Fittle

Cerulean Chicken wrote: »

I'm just getting bouquet for me, for my two bridesmaids, and buttonholes for the menfolk, €170, score! Delighted with that price Going to pick some flowers from a relative's garden and put them in vases to sit either side of the altar, and using the bouquets in pretty vases to decorate the top table.

I'm not getting much more than that and can't get a quote under 300! Are you in Dublin and could you pm me with the place you are getting them for 170? Thanks

Cerulean Chicken

Fittle wrote: »

I'm not getting much more than that and can't get a quote under 300! Are you in Dublin and could you pm me with the place you are getting them for 170? Thanks

I'm not in Dublin which probably makes a big difference.

Vojera

Personally if I was doing my own flowers I would only go down the artificial route. That way you can do them the week beforehand. If you're using fresh flowers you can't do them until the night before and you could be up to high doh at that stage. At the very least you'll want to minimise the amount of stress in the run up.

Mac0783

Hi All,

Am so glad i'm not the only that thinks the flowers are very expensive. I have found a website to order the flowers from wholesale, but can't get anyone to arrange them for me. They all insist that they use their own suppliers for "quality" purposes which sounds very convenient when they want to charge me between €500 - 700! :eek:

My wedding is in Sligo, so any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Cerulean Chicken

You can get very good foam roses now, they look very real. I've bought them in the past for various crafty projects, 6 cost about £6 before shipping, I buy them on ebay.

lazygal

We didn't bother with buttonholes or corsages, I hate them. Two bouquets, with peony and other roses, a ceremony arrangement, a bouquet for my parents' house and hire of two bay trees cost 180 from a freelance florist. I'm in Dublin, she's not working right now though.

neemish

I'd say be sensible about what flowers you put on tables. At a number of weddings I've been to, the carefully chosen bouquets have ended up sitting on the floor for the day as they meant that you couldn't see/talk to the person sitting across from you. Could be handy for some guests but for the most part, a waste!

neemish

Also, have a look at the Church on a Sunday. if you like what you see, ask you does the arrangement. Usually a local volunteer does it, and might be willing to arrange the flowers for a donation rather than charging the same as a florist

Mac0783

thanks girls for your replies. Really want fresh flowers though if at all possible, not bothered at all by the types..

Cerulean Chicken

lazygal wrote: »

We didn't bother with buttonholes or corsages, I hate them. Two bouquets, with peony and other roses, a ceremony arrangement, a bouquet for my parents' house and hire of two bay trees cost 180 from a freelance florist. I'm in Dublin, she's not working right now though.

Can I ask why you got a bouquet for your parents house? Never heard of this. We're only having buttonholes for the bridal party because himself "wants" them. I didn't think men cared about flowers but he's very into his suits so I can't argue :P

lazygal

Cerulean Chicken wrote: »

Can I ask why you got a bouquet for your parents house? Never heard of this. We're only having buttonholes for the bridal party because himself "wants" them. I didn't think men cared about flowers but he's very into his suits so I can't argue :P

We didn't do the cheesy bouquet presentation to the mums on the day. I wanted to give mum flowers the day before instead, plus they were nice for family pics at home,

hoodwinked

ah the flowers! if you want to know what we did,

The church - we decorated with hydranga's (sp?) collected from my grandmothers garden the day before, we placed a cluster of them on the alter,
and we had ribbon left over from the invitations so used that to tie them all on the pews (the girlfriends of the best men did it).

for the bridal party we bought these bouquets:



in the half price sale in debenhams (they were 75% off) for €20 each, we then wrapped the ribbon around the stems and glued it on, so they colour co-ordinated with the invitations to make mine different, my step-dad picked some cowslips while milking that morning and i added them into the bouquet that morning to give a splash of colour to mine. there are some beautiful wild flowers around Ireland.


the hotel looked after the flowers on their end as part of our package but we added the bouquets to the tables after the photos,


we had to go fake anyway as we both have bad hayfever and the costs with florists were ridiculous.

Millem

Mac0783 wrote: »

Hi All,

Am so glad i'm not the only that thinks the flowers are very expensive. I have found a website to order the flowers from wholesale, but can't get anyone to arrange them for me. They all insist that they use their own suppliers for "quality" purposes which sounds very convenient when they want to charge me between €500 - 700! :eek:

My wedding is in Sligo, so any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Why don't you do a flower class? I did a day where the flower school demonstrated hand tied bouquets, corsages, and buttonholes. It cost €20 and people came from all over Ireland. They are amazing. I took videos on my iPhone and took notes. I plan to go to another one in April. They give great advice and you can also buy your flowers wholesale from them.

http://www.theflowerschool.ie/category/floristry-demo/

pwurple

The trick with reducing the price of fresh flowers is to get what is in season. Looking for decent grade roses midwinter is going to be crazy money no matter what way you pull it. Ask the florist for advice on substitutions

You can tell the florist it is too expensive for you, be flexible and they can suggest alternatives. Like adding more greenery (I love a green bouquet, very fresh looking), or chosing a larger flower (like lillies) so you need less of them.

Fittle

I do like the idea of fake flowers, and being able to put the bouquets together the week before, rather than the night before!!
Anyone got a link to someone I could get them online?

Cerulean Chicken

On weddingsonline there's a whole DIY section where people put up lots of links to UK sites doing the supplies very cheaply. I just searched foam roses on ebay and after a bit of research picked what I wanted, but if you were making bouquets you'd need all the supplies.

hfallada

Go the fruit market in Dublin 1 (check the site as the opening hours are weird) and buy from the whole salers. They buy flowers from holland and bring them to market and then sell them on. Its commerical and open to the public. You can get flowers for half the price of a florist and since theyre just off the ferry the flowers last for ages

Mac0783

Fittle wrote: »

I do like the idea of fake flowers, and being able to put the bouquets together the week before, rather than the night before!!


Hi

i bought fake foam roses from a florist in Athlone for my brooch bouquet, €12 for 12. and she has all different types. the florist is call A room in bloom and is right in the centre of town if that's any help??

Mac0783

i don't think i'd be able to do them myself. the arrangements for hotel and chapel maybe, (sure its just flowers in a vase) but the bouquets would stress me out i think. how to make sure they're tight enough to hold together and look ok.. and having to do it the day before? i can feel my blood pressure rising already

EveT

I made brooch bouquets for me and my BM, everyone was raving about them passing them round all day.

Made centrepieces too, by wrapping glass vases in lace and tieing a ribbon around them, got rose button holes for 5 each, put little wicker hearts on the pew ends and little lanterns on the ground under them

Fittle

EveT wrote: »

I made brooch bouquets for me and my BM, everyone was raving about them passing them round all day.

Made centrepieces too, by wrapping glass vases in lace and tieing a ribbon around them, got rose button holes for 5 each, put little wicker hearts on the pew ends and little lanterns on the ground under them

Hi Eve, I just found a FB page that makes brooch bouquets and she quoted me 300euro for one!!!!! I nearly fell off my chair!!

Were yours hard to make? No worries about the centrepieces, as the hotel have that included, thanks.

Vojera

I had a page bookmarked about making your own bouquets but I'm on my phone and can't find it now.

Etsy can be good for fake flower supplies too, just watch the shipping as a lot of sellers are in the US, so it can be pricey that way.

I also noticed that Dunnes had some in their home wares department, though they're probably a bit big. Ikea also do fake flowers.

We ended up going with real flowers because we got a decent enough deal (in Mullingar, though), but we were looking at getting flowers in Dublin (where we live) and travelling down with them but the prices were unreal! The florist we found had a load of packages put together but none of them suited us, but she had no problem swapping stuff out for what we did need. Our flowers are also gerbers, which are really cheap compared to roses or lilies so you can consider those changes too.

pooch90

Hi Vojera, would you mind PMing me the name of the florist in Mullingar?

Vojera

pooch90 wrote: »

Hi Vojera, would you mind PMing me the name of the florist in Mullingar?

Done!