You may recall my flower dilemma.
I’m going to try to use real flowers for my bouquet for sure. My mom will not have it any other way.
I will still use the silk flowers for pew bows and likely for some of the bridesmaid’s bouquets. So I’m taking a cue from J. Bride and using real flowers for me and a mix for everything else. Luckily I don’t have to worry about them for centerpieces. We’ll just be using mixed picture frames.
So here are the options:
- Flower district/flower market – unfortunately I was super disappointed when I went. In NYC this is 6th Ave around 27-29 Streets and some streets in between. I was disappointed because I thought there would be more variety and they don’t know what flowers they get every day. For red flowers, they only had roses, gerbera daisies, and some tropical flowers. Prices were ok, but not super cheap:
– Roses are $2/stem– gerbera daisies about $2.50/stem
– Hydrangeas $5/stem
– Calla lilies (saw some beautiful orange ones) – $3/stem - Online wholesalers – I heard about and liked the variety at Fifty Flowers. But they sell in bulk and you would spend at least $150 for one type of flower only. This adds up quickly when there are about 40-60 small to mid-sized flower in a bride’s bouquet. So alas, no to that for my needs. By the way, the big flower sellers: FTD, 1800flowers, and teleflora can have decent sales on flowers, particularly roses
- Local large resellers, e.g. Whole Foods – Small selection of flowers, but the prices are surprisingly good. According to Cheap Wife, Costco prices on bulk flowers are amazing. For example, you can get 100 roses for $99 and 150 carnations for $75.
– Hydrangeas $5/stem
– Alstromeria (peruvian lilies) $8/10 stems
– Gerbera daisies ~$2/stem for the bunch
So I may end up doing Whole Foods for some simple Alstromerias,
and mums (I had no idea these were just chrysanthemums, my birth flower and the ingredient of a very yummy tea).
My mom also insists these pink/purple gardens in her garden are divine paying no attention to my color palette.
I think I could totally be set for my bouquet for $25. I totally advocate just taking a look at your Whole Foods if you end up doing your own flowers.
I’m not beholden to a certain flower (do love hydrangeas but they die in 1 day), just a color (red, maybe yellow and pink) so I’m able to come up with some cost effective solutions.
What do you gals think? Who else is making their own bouquet?
wow $25 is a great price! The flowers that you picked are so pretty 🙂 I plan on making my bouquet too, we have a flower district in downtown L.A that is suppose to be very good, so I will be checking that at soon and comparing it to Whole Foods.
I am planning on DIY-ing all my flowers for the wedding by buying wholesale from theflowerexchange.com and sam’s club. But with 11 months still to go, this idea might change. I thought it would be a great way to save money, but I may end up hiring a florist if things get too stressful in the end. Good luck on yours!
Good information for a DIY bride!
also…check out Costco!!
We got 1/2 our flowers from there. They didn’t have everything, but the prices on bulk flowers are amazing. for example, you can get 100 roses for $99 and 150 carnations for $75. They are send to your house by UPS
Just a tip.
@Bee, @Cheap Wife – great tips! I’ll add that too!
My cousin, who also got married in NYC, had her flowers done by Whole Foods – she still raves about her experience with them!