For those who did and will be doing your own flowers for the big day!

Evening all!

I was wondering what you are going to do/did you do with regards to making your own bouquets, BMs bouquets, buttonholes and flower arrangements?

Will you be/ did you rope in helpers to help make them? How far in advance would I make them? Is the day before going to be ok to cut and arrange the flowers and if I do, will they still look fresh for the big day?

I'm thinking of doing artificial flowers for the buttonholes so I can do them well in advance just to relieve the stress! lol

Any advice/tips please!

I am toying with the idea of doing my own flowers for the flower girl posies and the tables as I'm not too keen to fork out £400 (£40 per table) on them.  I'm roping my mum in to help me because she is really good with flowers and she said that if you make up the flower arrangements the day before, keep them in water (with plant food) overnight and then in the morning trim an inch off the bottom of the stems and put them back in the water until you need them, they will still look fresh.  I'm going to buy a cheap bunch of flowers from the market to test this out just to make sure it works.

I think making the button holes from artifical flowers is a really good idea in terms of saving time.

Good luck x x

Hi ladies, my mum is a florist so I've had some good tips over the years. Just make sure the bouquets are kept away from any heaters but also from the shower - sometimes people think you should leave them in the bathroom but definitely not a good idea!! If your centerpieces are going to be arranged you could always use floral oasis which will hold the water and save you any last minute arranging. If in glass vases then Chickster is spot on, flower food and a quick trim will sort them out.

Good luck!! It's one thing I am glad I don't have to worry about all the number of photos my mum is emailing over is bordering on spam

Thanks Carirw, I'm really glad to hear it!   It's given me a lot more confidence to do it now x x x

Thank you both for the tips!! x 

I made all of the buttonholes, bridesmaid bouquets and a few table arrangements with the help of my aunt. 

We did them all the day before and they looked perfect the next day. Just store them somewhere cool but not in a fridge as was suggested to me. I stored them in the cellar of my venue and our garage (it was February so quite cold). 

I bought some cheap artificial flowers and foliage just to have a play around with beforehand. As others have said, if you use oasis you can soak it in the water which will help to keep them fresh. 

Im going to be doing my own with my best friend. We have both worked in florists before so we are pretty clued up. My suggestion would be not to have to much a the last thing you going to want to do is spend all day the day before doing flowers. Good luck

My mum is a retired florist, we have just finished doing my artificial flowers (I was not having her doing real ones the day before my wedding, with 6 bridesmaids).

She always put the bouquets togther (after wiring and taping) and then keeps them in the garage, the darkest area, and spray them very very finely (not too much as they will mark). If they where lillies or flowers that needed to open as long as it was a nice day she'd be up early to get them in a sunny (but not full sun) to open them just enough to last the day.

Good luck to any of you doing your own I would have no idea, but I can wire nad tape, been doing that since I was about 6!

Thanki you all for your tips and advice! Now, as I have decided to do the button holes with artificial flowers, which is better silk or foam flowers? TIA x

These are great tips! I will be buying and arranging my own flowers. Still undecided if I will be using artifical flowers or not so some advice on silk or foam flowers would be great!

My mum and a family friend did all my flowers, we used artificial so they had longer to play around with the designs and get everything just right.

My mum did a few floral art classes in the 70's, so I was a bit apprehensive about her abilities. I was so pleased with my flowers though.  I'm sure the HIB's will have better advise, but this is just what we did.

 We did a trial run a week or so beforehand & kept the bouquests/buttonholes in a few locations: 1 in the fridge, 1 in the cellar etc & compared which kept best.  Its also a good idea to see which flowers/foliage wilts the quickest, & therefore may not be the best if you are making the bouquet the day before the wedding.  Orchids & roses last a long time in bouquets.

   Hobbycraft sell several floristy bits including wires, green tape, oasis for table centres and oasis on a handle for bouquets.  There is also a spray you can use on flowers & leaves which prevent them loosing moisture & stay looking fresh.

  There are many online classes & pics to help.  My mum did the majority of the work, but myself & a friend helped wire everything, cut flowers etc. I onyl had 1 bridesmaide so we made: a trailing bouquet for me, a hand held for my BM, a throwing bouquet made with excess flowers & 4 buttonholes.   We bought the flowers on Thur: soaked the oasis overnight & sat the flower stems in large buckets in the cellar, On the friday we took the oasis out of the water to get rid of the excess, wired all the leaves & flowers & assembled the bouquets & had the wedding on saturday.

   Because the buttonholes weren't sitting in oasis, they wilted 1st, so mum redid them on the day.