Trimming the flower budget? Essential Flowers?

I figure the 'essential' flowers are: bouquets %26amp; boutenierres for the bridal party %26amp; our parents. Anything I'm missing there?





In order to trim costs I am not having flower centerpieces at the reception - I am going with candles in a pretty bowl.


Is anyone going to notice if I don't have flowers in the church as well? They're outrageously expensive. Or is it going to look like I'm super-cheap?





I'm trying to trim my budget to the bones on "accessories" to the wedding and can't envision a thousand dollar flower bill so I can put up flowers @ the church and reception hall.





In your experience, what are some very affordable real flowers that would be available in dark red and white that would make good bouquets and boutenierres?

Trimming the flower budget? Essential Flowers?
It sounds like you have it covered. The only bouquet you may be 'missing' is a toss-bouquet. Some brides prefer to have a smaller replica of their bouquet to throw for the bouquet toss. This is completely optional.





You may want to consider ordering your flowers online in bulk. This could save you a fortune. But then you'll have to arrange them yourself.
Reply:I am planning to order my flowers from an online wholesaler and spend between $200-300. I too will only have flowers for the bouquets and boutonnieres, which my sister and I will arrange ourselves.





I don't think you'll look cheap for not having flowers at the ceremony and reception. Candles give a very romantic feel. To dress up the ceremony you can also use candles. I'm having an outdoor ceremony and I'm going to use paper lanterns with a cherry blossom design to decorate at the ceremony in lieu of having flower arrangements. You can try to think of something like that for the reception is you feel like you need extra decorations.
Reply:Theknot.com has a really detailed flower guide that tells you what flowers are more/less expensive, and what colors they come in, what they smell like, what their significance is, and what season they are common to.


To keep them inexpensive, pick flowers that are common in your wedding season and part of the country. Also, bigger blooms mean you don't need as many to fill out a bouquet. Set a rigorous budget before you go into your florist meeting, and they will be able to let you know what you can get for your money.


Doing them yourself is an option, but it will force you to be working on flowers the night before your wedding, and I personally wouldn't want to be staying up the night before arranging all of that when I should be sleeping and resting before the Big Day.


I've heard that silk can look really believable, but the really high quality silk flowers can be quite expensive too-so you'd have to really do your homework to get a good deal on them.


Good luck-don't worry too much about flowers. That's not one of the details guests will remember when looking back on your wedding, so there's no need to fret too much about it! Best wishes!
Reply:I would go with simple fresh flowers you could do yourself. Why not see what will be in season and contact a flower wholesaler to see if you can purchase. Perhaps tulips will be in season. You could make the arragements with very few, but striking flowers. Not sure how far ahead you are but I bet you could get in on a flower arranging class at local craft store like Michaels or AC Moore. Ask specific questions about what you want. You might be able to work with a floral shop to get the flowers in bulk. They would still make money because they wouldn't be out the time to arrange them.
Reply:Gerbera Daisies are pretty inexpensive.


http://www.weddingtactics.com/wp-content...





Afew simple roses would work too. Look on websites like


www.brides.com


www.theknot.com


www.weddingchannel.com





They have galleries of different flowers.
Reply:The only flowers we're doing is a bouquet for me. My fiance said he doesn't want to wear a flower, so that's it. My bouquet is like $85.
Reply:When I got married in 06, the florist told me that the cheapest flowers are carnations followed by roses. I, like you, did the minimum for flowers, and still ended up spending around $800! When my BF got married in October, we made them all our selves. It was actually pretty easy, and I think that she only ended up spending about $200. Just search the web for how to's. Good luck!
Reply:I don't think it's necessary to decorate your church with flowers. My sister is in the same boat and is nixing her "church" flowers, especially after my cousin got married and the flowers didn't even show up in her wedding photos.
Reply:One suggestion? Put flowers to double use. Use flowers in the church that can be moved to the reception site . . . to be used as centerpieces. (I did this at my own wedding. Two flower arrangements used at the church altar were moved to the reception site . . . where they served as centerpieces on the tables.)





Suggestion two? Look for inexpensive silks. http://www.thebridesbouquet.com/





Suggestion number three? Use plants and greenery to decorate both the church and the reception site. Got a friend or a family member with a green thumb who has lots of plants? Ask to borrow her plants for the day. Use her plants to decorate, then return plants to her after the reception. Borrow some big ferns . . . they'll look great at the front of the church.





Suggestion four? Check out this site:


http://www.save-on-crafts.com/gifandpac....


Do it yourself. Make your own bouquets, bouts, and corsages.





edit: For decorating the church, must the colors be red and white? Can you use autumn colors? For example, if using leaves to decorate at the reception . . . can you carry that over, using leaves and candles to decorate the church as well?





For decorating autumn weddings, I think using what is available works well. Baskets, leaves, pumpkins, squash, branches with autumn leaves, etc.





To save money, you can cut bridal party flowers to a minimum. Bouts can be a single carnation or a single rose. Each bridesmaid can carry a single flower decorated with greenery and ribbons. I'd vote for simplifying the bridesmaids' bouquets to a single flower . . . and using a bit of DIY creative effort to decorate the church.





Good luck to you.
Reply:i would ax the bridesmaids flowers in exchange for flowers to decorate the church and/or reception. let them carry a single stem or a nice purse.
Reply:I made my own flowers for my wedding (I used silk flowers) and put candles on the table... I have friends that used goldfish for centerpieces on the tables , and one friend that got married in October had jack-o-lanterns as her centerpieces. I didn't have flowers at the church they were already there. Also try looking on craigslist for people's extras from their wedding. I recycled a lot of my wedding stuff.. I have let 6 people since my wedding wear my petticoat from my dress.. that thing is expensive for something you only wear for a few hours. As far as affordable real flowers ... carnations are really cheap and come in the colors you are wanting..
Reply:I really don't think flowers in the church are necessary. It's not something people will remember. Also, all the bridesmaids bouquets can double as centerpieces for the reception, even if it's just on the head table, and you have candles on the other tables. Even centerpieces aren't going to stick in people's memories too much. As a guest, if a couple spends a TON of money on flowers, and they're everywhere, and they're gorgeous, I might remember them just because they're a huge part of the suroundings. Otherwise, I'll probably notice what the bride is carrying when she walks down the aisle. That's about it. I really don't think they're *that* important overall.
Reply:Hi. I love fresh flowers myself, but, yes....they can get expensive. I bought the flowers for my son's wedding and at one point we were thinking of doing away with the church ones as well....but in the end we did get some for each side of the altar. However, it IS NOT necessary.





Two ideas: Do you have a Walmart or Costco near you? I purchase roses (all year) at Walmart all the time and they are only $10/dozen. OR....all the flowers don't have to match. A bouquet of alstromeria (sp?) looks elegant and they are cheap. Get 2 identical vases from a dollar store or Walmart and you are done!





OR....simply do not have any. Really, no one cares! I know the guys don't notice things like that. And, it depends on where you sit. I have been at weddings where I couldn't tell you if they had floral bouquets or not because I was too far back!





Good luck!
Reply:We're severley budgeting for our wedding. we're only doing flowers for the bouquet, and lapels of best man, entourage and Father of the Bride. We're getting flowers from a market local to us and arranging them ourselves, so at a snip of the price.
Reply:www.costco.com





www.samsclub.com





Buy from bulk floral. You could make your own bouquets and boutenierres and still have some left over to put flowers on the table with your candles...and have flower petals for the flower girl. It is easy to make the bouquets. Just google it.
Reply:The cheapest flowers would be the ones that are in season the same time as your wedding. Roses, tulips, freesia and lilacs are usually pretty affordable and come in your colors. Another way to cut costs is to eliminate the boutonieers and just have the groomsmen wear colored pocket squares. That's what I'm doing because I think it looks more modern anyway.
Reply:You won't look "super cheap". Many times candle centerpieces look more expensive and elegant than real flowers. As for the church, we didn't decorate ours either and no one noticed. Churches are usually pretty enough that you don't need to add anything else.
Reply:I too had the same problem, my budget didn't allow a $3,000.00 flower bill. I cut the flowers back to just what you did... the bridal party and our parents. But the day before the wedding we saw a truck on the side of the road selling roses for $5.00 a dozen.


We stoped, talk to the guy for a while, told him of our wedding. He told us if we bought the 12 dozen roses he had, he'd sell them for $2.50 a dozen.... it saved us about $30.00.


We used them for our flower girl, and put pedals on the tables, they weren't perfect like if we'd gone to a flower shop, but they were natural and didn't cost an arm and a leg.


It's a suggestion, and even if they don't give you a discount, $60.00 for 12 dozen roses is a heck of a lot better than a $3,000 flower bill.





Good luck, and best wishes!
Reply:I came across this problem when I got married. The flowers I wanted were too expensive and I couldn't afford them. So I went to hobby lobby and bought fake ones. Only my (brides) bouquet was real. They weren't the silk one though, they were the rubber kind. They looked so good and everyone thought they were real. I made everything with them. Bridesmaids, boutonnieres, corsages, and even decorated around my wedding with them. All for about 100 dollars. If you can find some really nice fake ones, I would do that. They aren't even hard to make, I did my own and I know nothing about flowers!