Bouquet and buttonholes

maryfred

I was thinking of making my own bouquet and the 3 buttonholes that we will need. I've looked up videos and it doesn't look too difficult. (Famous last words maybe:P.) My question is can I buy florist wire, florist tape and buttonhole pins from a florist or do they not sell it to customers? Or maybe an arts and crafts shop? I don't want a big fancy bouquet, something quite simple. I haven't priced getting them done professionally because we're on a small budget. Thanks.

January

There is a florist supply shop in Dublin city (http://tiptop.goldenpages.ie/) that would have all of that.

I reckon you could also source it all on ebay, I know you can definitely get floral wire and tape there from sourcing them for my button bouquets.

biddywiddy

I've been thinking about doing this myself (either with flowers or brooches).

There's a good tutorial on DIY flower bouquets here.

I agree that eBay is probably a good place to start.

Millem

maryfred wrote: »

I was thinking of making my own bouquet and the 3 buttonholes that we will need. I've looked up videos and it doesn't look too difficult. (Famous last words maybe:P.) My question is can I buy florist wire, florist tape and buttonhole pins from a florist or do they not sell it to customers? Or maybe an arts and crafts shop? I don't want a big fancy bouquet, something quite simple. I haven't priced getting them done professionally because we're on a small budget. Thanks.

I highly recommend this course. Also they are also a wholesalers who will sell you everything you need. You can also buy your flowers off them too. They are super helpful. They run the courses every few months. http://www.theflowerschool.ie/diy-wedding-flowers-day/
It is not difficult doing flowers but the €20 course is so helpful as they teach you how to prep etc and you can ask lots of questions. They will tell you what flowers are in season and when, and even tell you how much to order so you won't have much wastage

maryfred

I've had a quick look on ebay and they seem to have everything I would need.My wedding is in September so I'd like a few practice runs before then.Millen,I looked up that course you linked but they don't have one before my wedding but thanks anyway.Fingers crossed!

kaki

I did this for both my wedding(s) in September

I used a mixture of dried flowers ordered from Hammelmans Dried Floral (dried grasses, dried grains, crespedia, lavender) and fresh sunflowers from Wholesale Flowers in Ireland, and fresh flowers in Italy from a local garden centre. I sourced floral tape, floral wire, pins and burlap online (mixture of Amazon and Ebay worked out the cheapest).

Pro-tips (a.k.a. hindsight):

• Get a good few dry runs in beforehand
• Remember that for best results, when working with fresh flowers they need to be made on the morning of the wedding - maybe try and enlist a crafty friend with the task? You'll probably have plenty to be doing the morning of without messing around with florist wire!
• Depending on the flowers you end up using, you may need to seal the ends of the stems to prevent sap from staining clothing (this can be done with clear nail polish, or by "flaming" with a lighter)

Bouquet:


Buttonhole:


Centrepieces

Millem

kaki wrote: »

I did this for both my wedding(s) in September

I used a mixture of dried flowers ordered from Hammelmans Dried Floral (dried grasses, dried grains, crespedia, lavender) and fresh sunflowers from Wholesale Flowers in Ireland, and fresh flowers in Italy from a local garden centre. I sourced floral tape, floral wire, pins and burlap online (mixture of Amazon and Ebay worked out the cheapest).

Pro-tips (a.k.a. hindsight):

• Get a good few dry runs in beforehand
• Remember that for best results, when working with fresh flowers they need to be made on the morning of the wedding - maybe try and enlist a crafty friend with the task? You'll probably have plenty to be doing the morning of without messing around with florist wire!
• Depending on the flowers you end up using, you may need to seal the ends of the stems to prevent sap from staining clothing (this can be done with clear nail polish, or by "flaming" with a lighter)

Bouquet:


Buttonhole:


Centrepieces

I have also done flowers for weddings and I would not dream of doing them on the day. Everyone is way way way too busy. Professionals whip them up in 5 mins, the average joe could 45 mins to do one buttonhole! They can be fiddly. Be very careful and gentle and do them the day before and leave in the fridge. The girls will tell you that at flower course and if wedding is on Saturday say flowers should be collected Wednesday and prepped, pews ends, unity candle flowers etc can be done on the thursday, friday bouquets, buttonholes. (Oasis can be cut up a week in advance and let soak till the Wednesday). We had to leave flowers with no oasis bouquets/buttonholes in the fridge (bouquets in pint glasses of water, buttonholes in lunchbox) as it was during the heat wave otherwise a cold room like a garage. I didn't put on bouquet ribbon wraps until the morning of the wedding. Church flowers were put up Friday night and oasis was topped up with water. I used all fresh flowers.
Wholesale flowers are the same company who run the flower course. Not the cheapest for flowers but I did find them great value for your equipment.
You don't mention bridesmaids or ceremony flowers? Therefore you could get away with buying from the likes of aldi (depending on what flowers you like!). Wholesale sell you in larger quantities eg 25 roses, so if you only want 30 you need to order 50!

Gatica

I was going to suggest Ebay as well. I got lots of supplies there when I thought about doing a brooch bouquet.
There's also a couple of wholesalers in Ireland who'll sell/ship to you, with VAT:
http://www.centralfloralsupplies.com
http://www.wholesaleflowers.ie

Milly33

If you are only looking for a few bits any florist will probably sell over the counter to you or like that just call to a wholesale place I know in Cork anywho they have no problems selling to the public.. If you are ever in limerick we called to one Fitzgerald Flowers just outside Limerick that is open to the public

Remember to get the green sticky tape!! Tis a must for wrapping ends of flowers together or for covering wires up.. nice pins to pin them to the jackets aswell

You can do it!!

maryfred

Can't quote on my phone but thanks for all the responses.
Millem,it's a very small wedding,only 10 people.The groom,his witness and my witness will have buttonholes,or I might do a small bouquet for my witness.My bouquet obviously. To be honest I'd completely forgotten about flowers for the room but a small arrangement would do for that. I actually was going to get flowers from ALDI or LIDL,I think with what I have to do,they'll be fine.I will definitely be making them the day before!
And Milly,thanks for the encouragement!

Millem

maryfred wrote: »

Can't quote on my phone but thanks for all the responses.
Millem,it's a very small wedding,only 10 people.The groom,his witness and my witness will have buttonholes,or I might do a small bouquet for my witness.My bouquet obviously. To be honest I'd completely forgotten about flowers for the room but a small arrangement would do for that. I actually was going to get flowers from ALDI or LIDL,I think with what I have to do,they'll be fine.I will definitely be making them the day before!
And Milly,thanks for the encouragement!

Aldi are great for the flowers, the only thing I found is say the roses were not as big as the wholesale ones so therefore you use more but because you don't have much to do it might be cheaper to do. go early in the morning (when shop opens) so you get your pick! You are so right about doing them the day before!