Updated and pic heavy-DIY Flowers: Sam's Club and HUUUGE centerpieces!

Sam's has packages of assembled bouquet's, bouts and small centerpieces too.

Good luck! That all looks familiar--I did something similar for my wedding. I actually enjoyed it because, like you, I set the time aside to do it without being rushed. I have no illusions that my flowers looked professional, but I was happy with them and actually got a lot of compliments from people who didn't know I had done them. Yes, it was messy--I was finding remnants in my basement for months. But for me, it was worth it. Have fun!

Good luck! You can do this and it will turn out awesome! I have faith!

Good luck, can't wait to see pictures of finished product!

Oh my.. I'm in awe and terrified for you! Good vibes sent your way and can't wait for the after pictures

I am REALLY, REALLY, REALLY curious as to what you asked a florist for using THESE stems in these amounts where quotes came in at 10K.. not slamming you, seriously, I'm trying to figure it out.

Are you saying the stems you listed above, in those #'s and varieties florists were quoting you 10k? If so, please.. I need to see what you were asking for.

I am asking because your list of stems looks like what I order for weddings in the 2k to 3k range.. so from my viewpoint, it doesn't look like money is being saved.. esp. when the 2k you listed doesn't include vases and the dozen of supplies you need... I would love to see the photos you asked them to recreate because I cannot figure out what you could have asked for that used this amount of flowers and varieties that would be much higher than what you paid (plus the cost of containers, flower foods and all the glues/foams/etc.etc.etc) I know.. I'm repeating myself.. I am just so mystified...

ETA: I ran through a few old orders using the same stems to make sure and found this wedding... The same flowers are used here, except we used delphinium as well (this wedding had.. roses..hydrangea...greenery...orchids - more than 70 though, maybe 350 - 400, spray roses, garden roses, several hundred bells of Ireland) and figuring this out per stem used, I don't think her wedding was that much more? (I cannot put up her final bill because... it isn't right... lol.. but is absolutely comparable per piece, and we used way more orchids, several rose varieties.. garden roses, delphinium.. etc..)

Rachel/CP 2

(image is just to show the same flowers -different colors obviously- were used - except we did use delphinium as I said, and two types of hydrangea... the picture is of the sweetheart table - we decorated the cake too obv.)

I...wow. That's all I got.

No, it isn't. I totally get wanting to save money. Especially $6-$8k worth of cash. This is a huge undertaking though, and like @Centerpiece said, with some flowers that can be finicky to work with if you aren't skilled at it.

I worked for one day (ONE DAYYYYYY!) at a florist shop. (Only the one day because allergies about killed me). In that one day I worked my ass off like nobody's business and I wasn't even arranging. I was the one just learning how to properly strip the flowers and prep them for the coolers or to be arranged. What I did wasn't difficult, but it was hard work, and very, very time consuming.

I absolutely can't imagine doing this a few days before the wedding. Good luck to you. I'm interested to see how they come out.

I know you're getting a lot of negativity but I honestly applaud you. If you have planned it to where this if your only project until wedding day with no other help for two days- that's awesome! The flowers look gorgeous and you have done your research so I'm sure they'll come out beautifully! And like you said, it's just decor and you're hosting your guests properly so if they don't come out as planned- so be it! Keep us updated with your BAM, I'm excited to see how these turned out!!

Definitely pulling for you, Weducated! Good luck and I hope they turn out like you envision. Can't wait to see the finished pieces.

The quote I got was from a florist in central DFW recommended by my venue. The quote we had gotten was based on what type of centerpieces (tall, short, number of stems, etc) and how many, and number of bouquets/bouts/corsages, as well as the greenery garland. The only flower specifics that I mentioned to them were hydrangea, roses, orchids, and lillies (which I ended up deciding against on my own). For the garland alone I was quoted $750 for the 50 feet that I needed to create a draped look around the gazebo (yes it is a very large gazebo) and that is nearly half of what I ended up spending total with sams, and the garland I received is gorgeous and lush. Got 50 feet for $250. In addition to just the raw bulk flowers in my price I got a lot of premade pieces so that I didn't have to worry about putting those together. Total of 6 BM bouquets, toss bouquet, bridal bouquet, 10 corsages and 10 bouts. I also got ~10k rose petals that will be used to line the aisle.

Anyway...I didn't realize this would be such a hot topic, lol. Moral of the story for others I guess is use a pro florist? I just wanted to do this myself and for me personally it was the most cost effective. No disrespect meant centerpiece, I usually really enjoy your posts. I was just posting a fun DIY that I'm having a blast with and am really enjoying, and thought others might like to see. I love working with flowers and was fine with the price here. To each their own.

Just utterly shocked at your quotes... do you have pictures of what they were going to do/what you asked for?

Also... wondering if I should quadruple our prices (to our brides on here... I'm kidding.. lol).. because I want to make $10,000.00 on hydrangeas and roses too dammit!

My bed calls... best of luck with the flowers,

Rachel/CP 2

@newlyWeducated! LMAO We're rooting for you but for the love of all things, please get off the site and get to work!! you're already tackling a huge project but I don't wanna see you fail or fall behind cause you're on here explaining yourself! You got this girl, get to it and lets see how this comes out!! Go go gogogo!

I'm making my own bouquets and arranging my own flowers for all 30 tables as well. Please let us know how it goes.

@MNA thankfully the flowers came pre-stripped and prepped! No way I would have been able to swing all that....haha. The only prepping I had to do was trimming the stems underwater so they were able to refeed and avoid getting air in the stems.

Shoot! I wanna drive down from Austin and help you pull this off!!

So the garland was ordered from Sam's too?? I'll need to look into that!

Good luck!

@Gabriela Yes ma'am! It's pre-wired together and literally all you have to do is hang it. I swear I will post more pics tomorrow but I'm in bed and absolutely not getting up lol.

I'm a DFW bride too! Can't wait to see your BAM, and I'm sure it'll be gorgeous in your own way.

Good luck, I'm going to use Sam's too. Can't wait to see your final project