Florist or no florist

I mean, you can get mediocre quality silk flowers pretty cheap lol but good silk flowers are as expensive (if not more) than real. I’d really just decide if you’d prefer to have real or fake flowers and decide based on that because assuming you’d want good fake flowers, the prices will probably be similar

I'm always team artificial flowers, I just think the prices on real flowers are super expensive, way more than I could justify spending since I don't really care about the flowers. If flowers aren't that important to you, I would go the artificial route. I love Ling's Moments flowers that I got from Amazon.

I'm a big fan of real flowers, I just don't think it's the same with fake ones. If you just need wedding party flowers, you could look at your local grocery store or Costco for better deals on flowers too.

View Quoted Comment Yeah I’m getting my centerpiece flowers at Costco, just stuck on the bouquets!!

View Quoted Comment I know that’s what I’m finding :/ might as well try with real ones, I overall think they are better too

View Quoted Comment Thanks! I’ll take a look!

View Quoted Comment Yeah I feel the same way! I originally was looking at silk flowers and then when I realized how pricey the good ones were I was like well, may as well just get real ones...


Have you considered just buying flowers and wrapping them yourself? We did this for my bridesmaid bouquets and it turned out really well. I got my own from a florist because I was so nervous that the DIY wouldnt turn out great (and I procrastinated to not even figuring out flowers until 2 weeks before the wedding so there wasn’t time to practice 🤦🏻‍♀️😂) so I just got mine from a florist just in case, but if I had known how well the DIY would’ve turned out I would’ve done it for mine too. And we spent $30 to make 4 bridesmaid bouquets.

I’m team real flowers too, at least for the bridal bouquet. You could do a single stem real flower for your BMS, or just greenery. Or they could carry hoops or mini-lanterns, still less than a traditional BM bouquet.

View Quoted Comment Thanks I’ll look into it!!

I personally love real flowers. They're expensive, but they're organic (yay) and smell amazing. However I don't think they are necessary at all, and if you can see yourself keeping your bouquet long term, I think fake flowers can be a great option.

As others have mentioned high quality silk flowers are expensive and I think inexpensive silk flowers and plastic foliage (like where you can see the seam of the mold on the stem parts) look awful. If I were going the fake flowers route, I'd look into sola wood flowers. They're still natural, so less harmful to the environment if they do eventually end up discarded, and they look really pretty. There are so many designs of sola wood flowers out there, and they do have a unique look, which I think I prefer to a fake flower trying to look like the real thing. A sola wood flower will look like a flower from afar, but like art close up, not like a silk flower trying to be a real one. They're also relatively affordable, especially compared to high end silk flowers. They're worth considering if you want to be able to make your floral arrangements ahead of time or keep your flowers long term.

View Quoted Comment I agree with you on the organic and biodegradable part - that’s why I want real flowers! It comes down to budget, and the only flowers I am going to have are the bouquets. I’m getting centerpiece flowers from Costco but the bouquets are what I am getting from a florist if it comes down to it. I would want all real flowers everywhere if I could but it’s not in the budget :/

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We are supplying all of our flowers from a local organic florist/flower grower. All of our flowers will be in season and grown within 20 miles of our venue. The florist will be doing a flower installation on the arbor/arch at our venue, and then making our bouquets and boutonnieres, but will just be supplying bulk flowers for the rest of our decor, which my mom and some friends will help arrange for our centerpieces and decor at the reception and cocktail hour. Doing it this way allowed us to save money but still invest in natural flowers and put money back into our local economy while supporting businesses and practices that are better for the environment. Our florist also is doing another wedding on the same day, so I don't think she would have been able to do ours as well if our wedding was bigger or we wanted her to do all of the centerpiece arrangements decor installation as well.

I will say bridal and bridesmaids bouquets are pricey! Ours are $125 for a bridal bouquet and $85 for bridesmaids bouquets, but both can easily cost more depending on where you live and what flowers you want. If sola wood interests you, you can find them on Etsy for less than half the cost that we are paying for real flowers.

Personal preference, but I wouldn’t dream of doing anything but real. We are paying 5k for our florist. They also handle centerpieces with candles, lanterns, luminaries in the trees, rentals of vessels, accent bouquets for styling photos, service all day, clean up, wrapping flowers to go for guests and donating the rest to local hospitals. All organic, locally grown and in season.

View Quoted Comment Wow that’s awesome!!! I wish I could do that!

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What kind of center pieces I was thinking of buying mine at costco too but i wasn't sure if they had them. I did my invitations from costco

I want real flowers but I was thinking of doing succulents on the tables and only ordering bouquet for me and I only have one bridesmaid and one best man. I only need arrangements for the alter because I am doing mine outside and a mountain preserve is next to where I am having it so I figure it is beautiful enough and I am going to put up a few of my own decorations. I cannot believe how much they charge for this. For example I wanted to do white lights. Rental company out here charges $250 to do that when I bought my own lights for $20. I just have a hard time spending that kind of money.

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Like this but with these flowers

View Quoted Comment That’s a great idea! I know I’m in the same boat with money

I found you can order flowers cheaper from sam's club and thebouqs.com has packages that are DIY. I am only using a florist for ceremony flowers and making centerpieces myself.

I was going to do a lantern with mason jar and either small roses or eucalyptus or babies breath in the jars and candles. That is the plan.