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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to use normal hand tied bouquets

119 replies

Workyticket · 17/04/2021 18:31

for our wedding?

I'm generally clueless about weddings and you lot have been so helpful with my various queries

Postponed last year. Rebooked for July this year and we've sorted precisely nothing.

I've been quoted £80 for an informal bouquet. We're not skint but it's a very relaxed wedding on a working farm and would rather throw money at more drinks and food for guests. I also have a few bridesmaids and they'd be £50

Could I just order normal bouquets from the local florist or buy them in Tesco or am i deluded?

What's the difference? They might be a bit drippy I guess - not sure how wedding florists get them not to drip 🤔

OP posts:
Thread gallery
16
Chocolatehabit · 17/04/2021 19:08

I did ours from lidl and m and s flowers - they were lovely. There are loads of YouTube videos on how to make bouquets. I used the green florists tape to keep the stems together then wrapped in ribbon and pinned the ribbon neatly with Pearl headed pins. Go for it ! It’s a lovely thing to do with bridesmaids and a glass of wine!

jay55 · 17/04/2021 19:09

A friend of mine had hand tied roses, no faffy bits and they looked gorgeous.

If you're not set on a particular colour or flower then go for it.

Merryoldgoat · 17/04/2021 19:10

Also, if you order wholesale you can do all the flowers (which I did and it was enormous fun).

Google Triangle Nurseries.

UnreasonablyPissedOff · 17/04/2021 19:11

Try aldi for flowers, they always have gorgeous & often unusual types. I buy tons of peonies there every year when they're in season.

EcoCustard · 17/04/2021 19:11

Wedding florist here, £80 sounds about right for an informal hand tied bouquet. If doing it yourself op, try a local wholesaler just be wary of vat and minimum amounts. If it’s a summer farm wedding sunflowers are lovely and a good price as seasonal, cope with all weathers and easy to care for. Gyp is quite expensive go forage for local greenery. To stop any drip from bouquets wrap in a muslin, tea towel and soak in water. Remove and then remove the towel at last minute and dab dry with towel. Get flowers a few days before, condition and leave to open to the beautiful full flower.

Original poster
Workyticket · 17/04/2021 19:12

You're all so lovely!

My mam twisted her face but I'm 42, we've been together donkeys years and just want to get married and have a party. £80 on a bouquet for me or throw £80 at a cask of ale for our guests to hand pour from is a no brainer surely 😆

OP posts:
saltychoc · 17/04/2021 19:14

I agree with Aldi - 50% of their flowers are horrible fake colours but they also have some lovely ones too and really cheap
I doubt they are ethically grown though

The Morrison's near me has a little floristry where you can buy individual stems of what you want

Original poster
Workyticket · 17/04/2021 19:14

@Merryoldgoat

Also, if you order wholesale you can do all the flowers (which I did and it was enormous fun).

Google Triangle Nurseries.

I've been scouring their website this weekend - planing on throwing eucalyptus and rucus down the length of the tables and don't tell my mam not having table cloths!
OP posts:
swampytiggaa · 17/04/2021 19:17

The flower lady in my local Morrisons has done wedding bouquets over the last year. Really pretty as well. Might be worth seeing if your local supermarket of choice has a dedicated flower person. Ours was really happy to help out 😊

purplecorkheart · 17/04/2021 19:18

If there are any nearby farmer markets to you it might be worth seeing if their is a stall that does flowers. Mine in summer does stunning bouquet of "wild flowers" for between five and seven euros. The couple who run the stall will make them up for weddings etc at a charge of €10 if you want them a day they are not at the market.

chesirecat99 · 17/04/2021 19:19

Do you really want to spend the morning or day before your wedding shopping for flowers and doing flower arrangements? It might be stressful...

Button holes are pretty easy - you need floral tape to wrap the stems and pins to secure them. Supermarkets usually have roses and carnations so they should be easy to find on the day. Have a look in your garden for foliage. You could buy a potted asparagus fern, ivy or rosemary (from the herb section in the supermarket) to use as greenery. If you make them the night before, leave some of the stem protruding so you can put them in water then snip them off on the day.

Bouquets - the easiest way is to buy an oasis bouquet holder (hard sponge that you soak with water and stick the stems into). Roses are probably the easiest, cheap and readily available supermarket flowers to use for the bridesmaids. If you want something more special for yourself, you could buy a bouquet and arrange it in the holder but you will need to practice first!

Medianoche · 17/04/2021 19:23

We bought a loads of flowers from a market stall the day before the wedding. A couple of friends turned them into a bouquet, buttonholes and huge displays for the service.
It actually made it more personal and was the best way to be able to get what I wanted. The option was to do that or let one my husband’s aunties choose a bouquet etc, as we only had a week in the country before the wedding, so not time to order from a proper florist.

Tinkersbauble · 17/04/2021 19:25

These are mine that I did with the help of a florist friend (there must be videos on YouTube of how to hand tie a bouquet). I spent a few hundred on flowers from a flower market (but we had a lot, archways, lots of table flowers etc). It’s really pretty easy. You basically just put them together now you like, wrap this wire stuff round then finish with some thick ribbon and pins. Job done. Flower market was fun despite the early start. Also, no one will remember the flowers apart from you Op. I love colour schemes/decorations/flowers so could easily have got carried away but the main thing we focused on was the guest enjoyment (good food and lots of drink). No regrets.

to use normal hand tied bouquets
Tinkersbauble · 17/04/2021 19:26

Wire stuff= floral tape!

Merryoldgoat · 17/04/2021 19:26

Honestly - we did the arrangements the day before and dropped them at the venue the night before.

Two friends and my aunt did it with me and we all had a lovely relaxing time.

I had only white flowers with greenery so they were really easy to arrange.

Depends on how fussy you are though - I was more worried we’d run out of booze (we didn’t - we had so much we were giving it to every visitor for months afterwards).

Tinkersbauble · 17/04/2021 19:27

My tip would be get lots of roses and they will fill out any bouquet nicely.

Merryoldgoat · 17/04/2021 19:27

and yes / loads of great YouTube tutorials.

Why not get some friends round with booze in the garden and have a practise?

BeeUffy · 17/04/2021 19:31

I got really nice, good quality flowers and greenery from a wholesale florist. For around £160 I had enough for a massive bouquet for me, and plenty of bouquets for both the reg office and reception venue (both small as there were only 15 of us). I didn't have bridesmaids but would have had enough for a couple more bouquets if I'd had bridesmaids.

BeHappyAndSmile · 17/04/2021 19:34

Another florist weighing in

If you're going to go with a florist don't get a regular hand tied because they're made to look large and loose. They wouldn't look right being carried as a bridal one.

If you're going to do it yourself have a couple of trial runs to make sure you're happy doing it! The last thing you need is to be in a panic the day before and worry that you can't get something on time

chesirecat99 · 17/04/2021 19:38

I've been scouring their website this weekend - planing on throwing eucalyptus and rucus down the length of the tables and don't tell my mam not having table cloths!

We do this with ivy, eucalyptus, holly, ivy, bay and olive twigs from the garden with battery fairy lights at Christmas, Easter etc. Ask around, someone you know might be able to let you have some for free, especially ivy, you might be doing them a favour as it grows out of control and needs cutting back regularly! Grin

CornishTiger · 17/04/2021 19:39

I didn’t do colour as I had no imagination and this wedding was ordered within 5 wks cheaply but here’s mine- can you spot the pro bouquet?

to use normal hand tied bouquets
to use normal hand tied bouquets
CornishTiger · 17/04/2021 19:39

Wedding was planned not ordered. I wasn’t under any order to Marry him!

CornishTiger · 17/04/2021 19:41

Another angle

to use normal hand tied bouquets
C152 · 17/04/2021 19:42

If it won't stress you out, I'd do it yourself.

I did my own. Bought some flowers the day before, kept them in water overnight, wrapped them in paper towel in the morning to get them to the venue, then trimmed the stems so they were all the same length and wrapped some white satin ribbon around the stems. Exactly what I wanted and cost about £30 for 2 bouquets (including ribbon).

Babygotblueyes · 17/04/2021 19:45

A friend got every guest to bring a white flower to her wedding and her friend made them into a bouquet for her to carry down the aisle - then she dried it. I thought it was really lovely. I know florists have to make money but seems like if you say the word wedding, the cost of everything goes up a ton.