Florist vs. Wholesale Flowers

Financially it pays off. You can get a ton of flowers wholesale for not so much money. What I couldn't figure out was:

- How to store them properly. They have to be kept cold.

- How to transport them.

I liked the fact that flowers were somebody else's problem, but it does cost $.

Mrs.S - I heard that a florist can cost upwards of $2K. I want a lot of full, beautiful, garden roses and I know that those are up there. I didn't realize that they need to be kept cold. I think we could work out the whole transport thing, but I don't have anywhere to store them and we live in San Diego...

I'm interested to hear how other brides have done this.

We did silk for our wedding because it was not a priority for us. We spent our money on food, booze and entertainment.

Since my daughter's wedding was Secret Garden themed, flowers were huge. I absolutely hated her florist's work. OUr flowers were dead. Cate's bouquet is huge because the roses were old and they all opened. I KNOW I could have done better.

However, on the day of the wedding, time flies. Having the time to put together arrangements, bouquets/corsages/bouties; keep them cool & hydrated AND get ready is worth the money you would pay for a florist. However, find one that is reputable and if some reviews are "eh" than move on and find another. I could type 500 words on how horrid my daughter's flowers were and they are not only a popular florist here on WW but also on the KNOT. THey were also THE florist recommended by our daughter's high end venue. UGGGG (Insert major eye roll here).

Oh no, Carole! I'm so sorry that your daughter's flowers didn't come out well. I do have a florist in mind, but I'm certain that they are expensive. I supposed you get what you pay for. I will do some more research and see what florists I can find in the area that have good reviews.

The hotel where we were getting ready was willing to give us one of those commercial fridges to store the flowers, had we decided to go that route. I believe brides have also borrowed coolers from everybody they know :-) OR, put your fleece on and crank the AC like crazy :-)

The other thing that is worth checking out are grocery stores. Many have full service floral departments at really affordable prices. It's worth asking.

Lol @ Amy... I hadn't thought of Costco. I get a lot of beautiful flowers there when I'm in the mood for something pretty!

Great idea Mrs. S, I would have never thought of that. It's definitely worth checking into.

You could pick one room in your house a small room and put a window a/c in it. Yes you will have to crank it to cold but it can be done. We did this to my brothers hotel suite. Once we were done we put the bouquets etc in his frige for the night and turned the a/c to normal.

When you get your roses cut them under cool water. This way they don't get an air pocket in the stem and they will drink and last longer. Don't cut them out of water then put them in the water. Let them drink about 10 min before putting them in a water filled vase. I use a collander in the sink, cut and sit them in it. Rose leaves are poison to roses so make sure there are none in the water, if there are you need fresh water and a fresh cut on the stem.

If you put roses in warm water them will open and die faster.

If you have any questions just yell.

God bless you MJ! YOur brother is lucky.

Courtney....I really wish I had suggested our local supermarket to my daughter. I have had all of their bouquets for dance recitals and graduations done at my local Acme and they were outstanding each and every time.

WOW, MJ...you are incredible.

I'm saving this post and I'm certain that I will need more of your expertise if I go this route (which I think I'm really going to try to do.) FH and I are paying for everything ourselves, so it's really hard to justify $2K on flowers, but I really want what I want in terms of florals.

Do you cut the roses under running water or in a bowl of water?

This is why I'm not a florist, but why do you need to refrigerate roses? I've gotten bouquets and kept them at room temp and they've lived for a few weeks, so why is it so hard for them to make it through one day? Okay, I probably just made some flower experts cringe and cry, sorry! Just curious.

Sandy, that's true.

But did you ever notice when you go to a florist they keep flowers in the fridge? Even our local Safeway has big fridges with flowers. I believe it has something to do with them staying fresh or not opening, but that's just a blind guess.

I am doing wholesale. I have taken several floral classes given by florists and the local city colleges.

I'm hearing that the green stuff I want in my flowers is going to be pretty expensive through a florist. I wonder if I can get it wholesale?

I like that it's more of a seafoam green than green-green. More muted for a more vintagey feel

We did wholesale flowers from Sam's Club. I knew that I wanted daisies in bright colors and that I wasn't going to pay a fortune for something that would die in a few days. They were delivered the day before the wedding (not my choice, I would have preferred two days before) and we immediately cut the stems at a diagonal and put them in water with a preserver that Sam's Club had included with the flowers. Me, three of my bridesmaids, and a couple of family members assembled six bouquets and 21 other arrangements in vases in a couple of hours. Lucky for me, most of my flowers were opened up already. We put them in a room that stays pretty cool and left them there overnight. They were fine the next day. For a couple hours work, I saved a lot of money.

I think that I am going to use 2groses or fresh roses.com they are the same site. I think this company is even cheaper than costo. I called them and some flowers have to be refrigerated and some don't. This company ships them to you about 2 days before the event. I think it really depends on the flower. My MOH is going to do my flowers she went to school for it a while ago but decided that she didn't want to do it for a living. She doesn't really know what she is saving me. I am going to take a photo of what we decide to put together and she what kind of quote i get. Anyway, if you are going simple with the arrangement I would go whole sale, it is a lot cheaper!

Sandy...If your flowers are fresh(closed buds), they will be fine without being in the cold or in water for that matter, however, if they are old, they open full bloom. This is what my daughter's bouquet looked like. Notice how open all of the roses are. They were supposed to be slightly opened buds like the bouties.

Interesting, Carole. I love her shoes, and I actually like her bouquet. You mentioned that it wasn't supposed to look like that, which must have made you both peeved, but I think it's cute for a secret garden wedding. Then again, the only ways I categorize blooms are "pretty" or "dead".

A professional florist is worth every penny.

You can do your own, but they will not look the same. A pro can do wonders.

I am ordering my flowers from fiftyflowers.com, and their customer service ROCKS! I am spending $200 on all my flowers. I am doing rustic baby's breath.