Real Vs. Fake Flowers

I'm glad you found something that fits within your budget. I decided to make fabric flower and brooch bouquets and fabric flower boutonnieres. I did a ton of research and how-to's on pinterest and youtube and they are coming together fabulously. I am excited about seeing it all come together. I think the final cost for 4 bouquets (including mine), 5 boutonnieres, a boutonniere for fathers and grandpops (4) and mothers and grandmoms (4), it all came to less than $100. For my centerpieces, I found a shop that does paper flowers and I think that is $70 for flowers for 10 tables. So less than $200, I have all m flowers done!

We chose real flowers and spent only 124$ For 12 center Pieces and 4 bouquets . We mostly used daisies, carnations, and white roses. I had to get up at 5:00 to beat the Los Angeles Downdown traffic but it was so worth it because the flowers were so cheat and beautiful, they lasted a whole week

I'm with you, Felicia!! Our budget was 5k, we're also spending about 4k, and booked with a florist for real flowers. We were quoted at $475. This was to include my bouquet, my 2 maid bouquets, 3 corsages, groom boutonniere, 2 groomsmen, 2 fathers, and 2 flower crowns for the flower girls. I asked for simple easy bouquets with medium sized sunflowers, wild daisies, and maybe a few roses. I thought I was going to be happy with that but after thinking closer on how many blooms I was actually going to need, the cost per flower seems SO CRAZY.

I ended up checking out afloral.com, and ordered fakies from there. This had a few benefits and a few cons. PROS: 1. Everything is in season, ALWAYS! Yay! 2. FH won't have allergies! Yay! 3. My flowers wont wilt on a hot august day. Yusss. 4. This allowed me greater control over exactly what I would have, ahead of time, and not have to be concerned if they're going to be made the way I want, or if the order would be delivered on time, or any other slip up. My control-freak self is in sheer bliss that everything will be prepared ahead of time. Finally, 5. I really got to customize my maids' bouquets to their personalities better, because I was going it myself. My MOH is kind of alternative, so I was able to slip in some black roses alongside the sunflowers. I ended up wanting something more delicate looking, so I opted for peonies and ranunculus with the sunflowers and rose buds. My sister loves tiger lilies, she got 'em! I ordered what I want, and whatever. Everyone's happy.

Few CONS: 1. Ordering them online could be cheaper, but you can't do a quality check before purchase. I'm sending back the sunflowers I actually got from afloral, because I found sunflowers I loved more (and on sale) at hobby lobby. 2. When they're gone, they're gone. I want more peach-orange ranunculus sprays for my maids' bouquets to tie all of us together better, but they're out of them, because I picked them up on closeout. (But, maybe a few orange roses!)

Anyways, real flowers were going to cost me almost $500 with tip and delivery, and I'll have spent about $200 on all my fake blooms, and I think they look just AWESOME. PROTIP: Spend the extra dollar or two on nicer blooms. I tried a few of the value bunches for like two or three bucks, and they look like total garbage, and are going back. But, the roses-ranunculus-peonies-and some gerbera daisies turned out SO PRETTY cause they were like $3 a flower. Or, you could buy a bouquet ready made and not even worry about it! It depends on how much time you want to invest in learning about silks and what to get and how many blooms to buy per bouquet and how much filler you want and how to wrap them, etc. It's totally up to you, but heres a pic of what I'm going to use in the maid bouquets: (plus or minus depending. lol.)

((OVERALL, GOOD LUCK!))