DIY Dilemas - Flower Trial

As excited as I am to be getting married in Jamaica, I feel that having a destination wedding puts a serious damper on my DIY hopes and dreams. If we were getting married in Chicago, I’m afraid that I’d want to do everything from invitations to flowers to hanging lights to you name it! Our Jamaican par-tay will streamline my potential projects. I tend to get ahead of myself when it comes to any type of project, so perhaps this is actually a GOOD thing.

One aspect that I want (and will try my hardest to achieve) to DIY are the flowers. A (singular) bouquet and boutinnere are included in our wedding package. And let me tell you – they are not pretty.


For some reason, anthuriums creep. me. out.


(okay, so they may be pretty, but definitely NOT my style)

Did I mention that I have 7 bridesmaids? Well, I do (and more on those lovely ladies later) & the prices from their “preferred” floral vendor are exorbitant. For example, on a DW blog that I follow, a new bride just returned from Coyaba and spent THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS on one, simple orchid bouquet.


source
Don’t get me wrong, it is beautiful, but seriously? $300? For a budget bride? I don’t think so.

I posted a question on that same blog, asking any Montego Bay brides if they knew of any local wholesale florists. Luckily, one gal wrote back that she DIY’d her DW flowers & found a wholesale vendor. They don’t have a website or anything, so it makes me a little nervous, but I do have their email address and plan on contacting them. Some friends (and Ted) think I’m crazy for wanting to do this, but personally, I think it will help keep me busy & I know a few of them, my mom and sisters won’t mind helping out. In their defense, they probably want to save me from a potential meltdown, should something not work out.

I stopped at the grocery on my walk home from the train the other night to pick up some roses, and below are the results. Keep in mind that I want something VERY simple, no greenery, no fluff, etc. Also, this entire process took me around 20 minutes - so they are by no means perfect &/or what they would look like on the wedding day - I'll need to practice, people!

I started by gathering my supplies (scissors, rubber bands, ribbon), then stripping the roses of thorns and leaves.


I then simply gathered the heads of the roses (6 for bridesmaids) and secured them with a rubber band. I didn't have floral tape, and feel this may have kept them together a little nicer.


After banding them, I took a length of my favorite wedding ribbon :) and wrapped it around the stem. The ribbon is 5/8" and I definitely think that a wider ribbon would look nicer.


I want my girls to carry deep pink flowers, so I played around with the color a bit (I bought orange-y flowers since it was close to Thanksgiving).


I'd like to carry a slightly fuller bouquet, so here I added 6 roses to the bunch.


& again, in pink:


To save money, I also plan on using the bridesmaid bouquets as centerpieces after pictures are done. Just plop them into a waiting vase & voila! “Free” centerpiece!


What do you think? Am I crazy for attempting this myself? Should I just suck it up and buy bouquets from the florist?