The DIY Bride: Making Your Own Wedding Bouquets

You just got engaged. You’re excited, ready to plan, and then sticker shock hits. SO many brides experience this, I know I did. After I got engaged and began talking wedding planning with co-workers, a few told me what they spent on their weddings. I nodded and smiled as I thought to my self “there is NO WAY I’ll spend that”.

You know where this is going, I spent the same amount if not more. With the cost of weddings being so high, and inflation only making things worse, many brides are getting creative and looking for ways to save money on a wedding.

If you consider yourself a DIY bride, think about making your own bridal bouquet and bridesmaids bouquets. This is what I did for my wedding and it was so much fun and I just love looking back at the pictures knowing that we made our wedding flowers. They turned out to be so beautiful and I saved money in the process.

Not only that but it makes for stunning “getting ready” photos if you have a bouquet bar set up in your bridal suite while you are getting ready for the wedding. How fun to have pictures of you and your ladies putting together your wedding bouquets!? After all this reminiscing, I would do it all over again.

Read on for tips on where to get flowers, when to build the bouquets and more. Or, if you are planning a wedding in the Charlotte, North Carolina area or the Rock Hill, South Carolina area check out our flower cart rental to make creating your own bouquets a breeze. Click here for more info on our FLOWER CART.

When to create your bouquets

We chose to make the wedding bouquets at the rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding. That way we wouldn’t be rushed because we didn’t have a lot of time to get ready the next day, and the flowers would still be fresh for the next day.

If you have the whole days with your bridesmaids the day of the wedding and your ceremony isn’t until later in the day, you might consider making your bridal bouquets the day of the wedding as a fun and relaxing activity to enjoy the day of the wedding. I’ve been a part of wedding where there is lot of downtime in -between the girl’s getting hair and makeup done and I would have loved an activity like building the bouquets for the wedding.

Where to get your flowers?

There are several options for this, all with their own pros and cons…

• Florist

• Local Wholesaler (this is what I did)

• Flower Farm

• Grocery Store

• Grow your own!

Florist

First of all you will have to see if your local florist is willing to work with you on this since it may be different than their traditional services. This may also be one of the more costly routes BUT they can likely provide a great selection and information of which flowers are best. Not all flowers last long once they are cut and some are more delicate than others - making certain varieties better than others for making bridal bouquets.

Local Wholesaler

I went to a local wholesaler. They had a huge selection and decent prices, and were also able to offer tips on which flowers would hold up well in wedding bouquets. If you live in a small city or rural area, there may not be flower wholesalers that are local to you.

Flower Farm

For my sister-in-law’s wedding in the mountains of Virginia we stopped by a small wild flower farm on the way to the wedding and picked flowers to decorate with. What a dreamy experience!

Grocery Store

This Option may offer you the least amount of variety to choose from in terms of color and flower variety, but if you are flexible and live in a rural area with out many florists, wholesalers or a flower farm, this could be a great option, easily accessible, and you’ll still save a lot of money on the wedding flowers.

Grow your own

Ok, this one is obviously for the extreme DIY bride with a green thumb - not me - but this can be such a rewarding option. Things to consider if you go this route include

• Know what to plant - which varieties will last when when cut for bouquets

• Know when to plant your flowers so they bloom when needed.

• Are they cut-and-come-again-flowers or will they provide a limited amount of blooms?

• Learn how to properly harvest and store them prior to the wedding day

• Have a back up plan in case extreme weather conditions take out your blooms!

Creating bouquets for the wedding isn’t for everyone. If you aren’t confident in your creative eye and don’t enjoy artistic activities, make your life easier and hire a florist so you don’t add more stress to your big day. But if you love creative activities and want to create a memorable experience with your bridesmaids, consider building your owner bouquets for the wedding.

If you are in the Charlotte, North Carolina area or Rock Hill, South Carolina and you are a DIY bride looking to build your own wedding bouquets, consider renting our Flower Cart.

We stock the cart full of fresh blooms in your wedding color palette, ribbons and all the materials you need to build the bouquets, including some tips on a beautiful gold mirror sign (quite instagram worthy, if I may say) to help you make bouquets you are thrilled with.

We delivery the flower cart/bouquet bar, set up, and tear down so all you have to worry about is the fun part.

Interested in renting our cart? Click HERE for more info. We’d love to help create a special memory on your big day!