to use normal hand tied bouquets

[Workyticket]

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 🤔

My bouquets were all supermarket flowers. Cost about £40 for all. Mine were cream and pink roses and my bridesmaids had rose buds, alstroemeria and gypsophelia. My mum's florist friend did them all a few days beforehand and they were kept in a cold room in water which my mum kept changing. She used florist wire and ribbon and they looked the same quality as the ones I was quoted over £400 for.

@Alsohuman

My mum did all the flowers for our wedding, she did a fabulous job. I’ve always wondered why people don’t just buy hand tied bouquets, you can get something really nice for a fraction of bespoke wedding flowers. You only have to say the word and the £ signs light up in the eyes of florists and cake makers.

Go for it. (Oh, and please don’t have artificial flowers, they’re horrid!).

£ signs do not light up in the eyes of florists.

You are comparing a mass produced product with something bespoke. There are lots of flower farms that will sell all of their stock to a single supermarket. They buy in huge quantities thereby benefiting from economies of scales. Those flowers are turned into set designs on a production line. They know exactly how many flowers are needed in advance to fulfil the supply chain.

On a decent size wedding, a florist will do a consultation, probably do a site visit, answer numerous emails, come up various proposals, maybe prepare a mood mood, prepare the quote, revise the quote, change it again because another table gets added in. They have to plan the number of stems for each arrangement (because we don't go out and just buy 'a mass of flowers'). They then order them, go and collect them, condition them, arrange them, deliver them (sometimes to two or three locations) lugging bloody back breaking heavy vases and urns. The day after go and collect vases and plinths, etc. which they then need to get back to the workshop and clean. It is a LOT of work.

Supermarkets have fooled people into believing that florists are expensive. They're not. They have artificially lowered the price of flowers in the way that Primark has lowered the price of fashion.

If you just wanted a simple handtied for your wedding made from supermarket quality flowers then I'd probably charge you the same as the supermarket and chuck it together in about five minutes. The problem is that people aren't clear about what they want and just expect us to rip them off. The fact of the matter is that our margins are really tight and the vast majority of florists who are employed earn minimum wage or not much above it.

www.jackfleuriste.com/post/wedding-flowers-pricing-a-few-myths-debunked

£1.50 bunch of random flowers from the nearly dead bucket in Tesco for a trial button hole run. The mint (from my window sill) smells unreal but wilted in seconds.

FAR from professional but I'm honestly not bothered about them being perfect

I bought trailing nasturtium seeds today too!

Buy flowers from a supermarket and tie with string/ribbon/raffia

Or check the location of your nearest flower wholesaler !

Mint will wilt without water. You need something more woody like rosemary or bay or ivy from your nearby overgrown graveyard. I would stick to flowers like roses, carnations and chrysanthemums for button holes for the longest lasting power out of the regular supermarket varieties.

Hope the nasturtium seeds work out. I would get them started ASAP. Raid the recycling for plastic bottles, egg boxes, cans etc to grow them in for now, if you don't have pots. Or make newspaper pots. If you don't like them as wedding flowers, you can always eat them or leave them in the garden. They self seed so they they will come back every year as a reminder of your wedding

Actually, if your FIL is on board, he just about has time to grow sunflowers on his allotment (they count as a food crop). I would chose a small multi-flowering variety (they will bloom sooner) and plant in several batches over the coming weeks to maximise the number of flowers on the day.

Mint will be fine out of water if you tape it.

@Workyticket

I was quoted £100 for this last week

I mean - I love it but I'm 42! I proced up some Denby bowls and cringed at spending £100 on them... but they'd last forever

I had a similar-looking, although larger bunch for my wedding. Raided various family members’ gardens and had a wonderful time doing the flowers the day before. I just wanted a colourful, wildflower-like bouquet, so wasn’t set on any particular flowers so could rely on what was in the gardens. At another wedding, we mixed and matched flowers from the garden with some bits from a florist.

OP you sound very much like me! I couldn't even tell you what was in my bouquet; I just asked for white and purples. Similar for my MOH.

As for flowers for the chapel, our priest put us in touch with the other couple marrying there that day (very small, very old, very scenic chapel in Germany so gets a lot of use in season) who were interested in sharing the cost of the flowers on pews etc. I was so relieved! I genuinely had no idea about anything and just wanted it to be pretty.

It's not that I don't appreciate the work and effort that florists put in, I'm just not their target audience I don't think My wedding was almost 20 years ago and I'm still the same. If I order flowers for anything I always just request whatever is in season and trust that they'll put something nice together for me..

Another florist weighing in to support @SausageDogSandwich's points. Florists are massively undervalued and weddings are often much more work than they're worth, due to people's inability to accept that our time and expertise is worth anything.

I do understand that not everyone is bothered by flowers at their wedding but imagine pretty much being told about your own job (even anecdotally) that "anyone" could do that.

I currently have a bride on the go who only needs a bouquet, a bridesmaids bouquet and a buttonhole. I have so far exchanged hours worth of emails, two meets in person, phone calls and mood boards ( from me, to try and focus her). My time spent with her is currently standing at around £450. Her flowers are looking to cost £150. Yes I am nearly at the point of sacking her off, but this is by no means unusual.

By all means make your own flowers if you're relaxed about what they look like. I've seen non- florists make perfectly lovely simple bouquets. Plants in rustic terracotta pots look gorgeous down the lengths of tables.

By the time you've watched the YouTube videos, bought the tape and ribbon and had even one practice go you may as well have asked a florist to make them. I'm in central London and could make you something perfectly decent for about £35 if you left me to to choose ( even the smaller bright posy you show would be about £50 - that's been arranged for a photo so all the flowers are at the front - you need a third again to make it " all the way round.")

If you do your own I think you’d need florists wire (to put up the stems) and I believe they spray them with something so they don’t wilt or shed petals?

I think homemade bouquets are lovely but you need to research how to do it properly. I’ve a feeling florists stand the split stems in dilute bleach to kill any bacteria that could make the flower wilt early? Also if it’s a handheld bouquet the last thing you want is it dripping down your dress or the bridesmaids dresses, maybe stand it in that green foam stuff overnight (to absorb water without a mess)?

My grandfather was a florist and he did the flowers for my wedding. He worked non-stop for 3 days in my parents house getting them ready. My flowers were way over the top compared to the rest of the wedding because I could never in a million years have paid for what he provided on my budget, but he did it as his gift to us. I got to see first hand just how much work goes into wedding flowers so I understand why they cost so much.

I don’t think there is anything wrong with the diy approach. I made my wedding invitations, favors, flower girl basket, etc... I do agree though with the florist above who said that specific bouquet pictured would be expensive. Asking instead for a bouquet of in-season flowers in an assortment of mid to bright colors and providing a few pictures of examples that are just for the general feel you want, but explain you are flexible on flower choice, you will get a lot more for your money. If you let a florist pick what is priced well that week they can make your budget go much further.

I did the flowers for my cousins wedding, all with shop bought flowers and 0 experience! Did 4 bridesmaids, the brides and the table settings. They looked lovely

I considered supermarket flowers and making my own for our elopement but we wanted the whole thing to be super relaxed (I stress easily!) and I didn’t fancy the hassle of it. Got a lovely dried bouquet from artisan dried flowers and really it was beautiful. All ready in advance so nothing to worry about other than my hair and makeup on the day. Just in case it appeals. Cost me forty something I think. Hope it goes well whatever you do

I absolutely value florists time and skill but understand why you want to do your own.

Having FIL with an allotment is a big help. If you do decide to go the sunflower route Nicky’s Nursery have Procut Sunflower seeds in several different colours that might be something that could be of interest.

We did our own, and the button holes. Ordered some specific stems from florist, grew some of our own, and my whole family nipped round their gardens the day before. Bulked them up with supermarket flowers. Used flower tape, hessian and lace over the top. Everything spare was used on the tables. You can definitely do your own - I’d get a couple of volunteers to help though. We had a bit of a party to get them done.

Pic - not amazing but limited choice in the nearly dead cheapo flower bin!

@cakewench

OP you sound very much like me! I couldn't even tell you what was in my bouquet; I just asked for white and purples. Similar for my MOH.

As for flowers for the chapel, our priest put us in touch with the other couple marrying there that day (very small, very old, very scenic chapel in Germany so gets a lot of use in season) who were interested in sharing the cost of the flowers on pews etc. I was so relieved! I genuinely had no idea about anything and just wanted it to be pretty.

It's not that I don't appreciate the work and effort that florists put in, I'm just not their target audience I don't think My wedding was almost 20 years ago and I'm still the same. If I order flowers for anything I always just request whatever is in season and trust that they'll put something nice together for me..

Yes! I really hope I've not offended genuine florists - like you say, I'm just not their target market