Wedding Flowers

   I saved so much money by making my own bouquets!  I knew I wanted lilies- in fact that was one of the only things that I absolutely knew that I wanted; They have always been my favorite flower.  I chose stargazer lilies because they went perfect with my teal and cranberry wedding colors.  I went around to a couple of places to get quotes for my bridal bouquets and was stopped in my tracks by how much they were charging for them.  The cheapest florist I found was Kroger, but even their prices were way up there.  They quoted $70 for my bouquet and $50 for each bridesmaids bouquet.  At first thought, this really didn't seem that high but then I broke it all down.  (My bouquets were going to be simple- lilies and alstromerias- thats it.)

3 stem lily package - $9.99 (out of season, they are probably even cheaper in the summer)

Alstromeria package - $3.99

   One bouquet probably has 3 lily stems and maybe 2 packages of alstromerias in it which would cost about $18 RETAIL.  The rest of the cost is the little amount of ribbon and wire they use, so we will generously give that about $2.  Which means they are charging $30 per bouquet in labor for one of the simplest bouquets you can get.

   So, I bought some cheap flowers to experiment making my own bouquets.  EASY easy Easy!  It was so much easier than I thought it was going to be.  I bundled some flowers together, rearranging the flowers to look full, and then tied the stems together tightly with a rubber band.  You can also wrap it with floral tape to secure it. Then I cut the stems to all be the same length.  After that, I wrapped some ribbon around the stems to cover up the floral tape/rubber band and hot-glued the end to keep it in place. (I also experimented by not even using tape or rubber band and just wrapping it in ribbon and that worked too!) To add a little detail I put a couple of white push pins in- this also secures it a little more.  The whole process of making a whole bouquet took me around 20 minutes, and that was the first time I ever did something like this.  Try it!  I promise you can make your own, and they will turn out gorgeous!  

  Total cost of flowers for my wedding (includes 1 bridal bouquet, 5 bridesmaid bouquets, 7 boutonnières, 5 crosages, centerpieces for 22 tables, cake and table decor, and enough leftover to decorate the honeymoon sweet, AND tax) was $635.85!  And it could have been cheaper if I didn't want lilies everywhere!  Did I mention I love lilies :)

*Side Notes*
- I did go ahead and pay to have the florist make my boutonnières and corsages.  I probably could have figured out how to make them on my own, but the prices weren't too bad so I saved myself the time.  The boutonnières were $9.99 each and the nosegay corsages were $15.00.
- It would also be cheaper to buy the flowers wholesale. I did not have enough time to research and plan to do this but I know it would have been a cheaper option.  Or at least found a florist to give you a discount for buying so many flowers in bulk.