LOVE NOTE #177: DIY Centerpieces - Easy, Fun, and Save a Ton!

Hello Lovelies,

Hydrangeas & roses are my favorite  - My DIY wedding centerpieces!

Oh me, Oh my.  I know.  We still don't have a date yet.  I mentioned the notion of going down the route of JP or just flying off to somewhere exotic...just the two of us... confessing our love for each other for the rest of our lives... with a bunch of sentimentals (I know this is not a real word) spoken right before we both say - I DO!  Wouldn't that be so romantic and sweet?  Oh, and it helps eliminate all the family drama - at least within earshot.  I don't have much patience for that type of nonsense.  My energies are much better spent stewing over clever phrases and completing another chapter of my hopefully one day best seller;)  I seem to have fragments of my book scattered all over the place.  I digress.  Well, my idea of eloping kinda... sorta...really... COMPLETELY got vetoed by the Mr.  He said, "We should have a nice wedding."  Shouldn't I be the one saying that??

(The Fiance and I!  Willis Tower on our 11th year anniversary!  We've been together forever...just gotta make it legal!)

 I guess sometimes things are just meant to be. Afterall, I did win a gorgeous gown from Maggie Sottero (I still can't believe they picked my story out of 5,000 submissions!   10 stories were chosen in total!)  The gown is so pretty, and I always wanted to walk down the aisle in a Maggie Sottero.  I guess it would be nice if guests could be there to see it and not just via photo.  I'm just a bit shy, and the thought of a room full of people just staring at me the whole time as I walk down the aisle makes me nervous!  Not only will my nerves be all wacky, but I'll be even more accident prone as I plan to walk down the aisle in sky-high heels (I'm only 5'1"!)The visual of the classic trip and fall walking down the aisle comes to mind - which is really freaking me out just about now.  On a positive note, I have had my heart set on a beautiful and  intimate location that actually serves bottomless wine, beer, and champagne.  So, it will feel like a party!  In a way, it's destination since I haven't lived in SoCal for over 10 years!  Maybe this will be the best of both worlds afterall:)

The venue isn't cheap but it is affordable.  After factoring in how much is included, it comes out to be a very good value - particularly for Orange County.  The only thing I would need to take care of are my personal bouquets, DJ, Videographer/Photographer, & officiant.  They provide the cake, centerpieces, different linen combinations, silverware, wedding coordinator(s), ceremony and reception areas with NO PROPERTY RENTAL FEE!  So basically everything to alleviate the anything I will surely forget.  The upstairs has an intimate outdoor chapel that is whimsically decorated with flowers, fountains, and lights.  It definitely does feel like another place and time, so pretty but without the pretense.  Downstairs is where the reception will be held.  There is even a charming antique gazebo where the cake will be displayed.  It really has all the elements that I didn't know I even wanted.  I shared photos of the venue to my fiance, and at first he said, "Why is there so much going on?  Weddings do not look like that around here."  Around here being on the East Coast.  I must admit, it is rather eclectic, even for SoCal, but still so very romantic.  The outdoor French Country Garden venue is nestled in the canyons of Laguna Beach.  As I showed him more and more photos, he began to actually like the unique style.  When I told him that they would let Potato attend and it is a venue that has been open to same sex weddings for the past 2 decades (we are very liberal and believe that everyone has the right to choose who they love... but another topic for another day!)  He agreed then and there that it would be the "perfect" place for us to get married. 

After the fiance said no to my idea of JP-ing it to get our love legal (which I'm actually now happy about!), I did some contemplating.  If we were going to go down the more traditional route, I thought maybe having my own centerpieces would be a fun way to incorporate a little bit of my personality into the wedding.  Although the venue provides gorgeous white orchids, I have always been more of a pink roses and white hydrangeas kinda girl.  And did I mention I am also a candelabra kinda girl too?  I guess I just realized it when I decided I really wanted to put some personal touches on an otherwise perfectly gorgeous venue.  Too bad they don't make any deductions if I provide my own centerpieces.  Curious as to what my vision would cost to create, I contacted a florist with very good reviews, and she quoted me $3500-4000.  I'm not even having a large wedding.  Probably around 130-150, at most.  Gah.  I freaked out.  Panicked.  Wanting to walk down the JP route again and just calling it quits.  Just before I did... I started to entertain the thought of DIY flowers.  Could it be possible?  Could my idea actually be translated into reality?  Could my vision of roses and hydrangeas gracing every table still stay within our wedding budget?!?!

Thanks to Weddingbee.com and Youtube, I realized it IS possible!  The brides on Weddingbee mentioned some awesome wholesale flower companies - fiftyflowers.com, Costco, and local wholesale flower marts - to name a few.  I started to get really excited because I have always loved crafting.  When I found out that I could get some "shabby chic" ivory candelabras with some hanging crystals for around $18 a piece online, I couldn't wait to do a mock up of my centerpieces.  I was surprised at how much you could save when buying hydrangeas and roses wholesale.  I called the local wholesale flower mart in Orange County, and she said that two dozen roses would cost around $17.50 and hydrangeas would be $2.50 per stem.  Ummmmm, awesome?!?!  Although you could get better deals at the Los Angeles flower district, I figured after factoring in the hour-long drive, parking fees, and all around headache of the infamous L.A. traffic - paying a little extra for a  flower mart within 10 minutes from my parents home would mean I would end up breaking even...nice.

(Potato wanted to be pictured in the blog today!)

I read reviews on the Orange County Wholesale Flower Mart.  They were mixed on Yelp, but some of it was based on comparing it to the flower district in L.A.  It's like comparing Disneyland to Disney World.  Something you just do not do.  Ever.  The L.A. flower district is like the mecca of wholesale flowers.  Other reviews were based on customer service.  This isn't a huge deal breaker since I just want fresh and beautiful hydrangeas and rose available without paying retail!  When I called the flower mart, the lady seemed very sweet and helpful over the phone.  They recommend you pick your flowers up a day in advance of your wedding, which is convenient because it is located so close to my home and this would ensure that they would be fresh (they are open Monday-Saturday).  One bride said she picked them up the morning of her wedding even and left with a ton of flowers for about $300!  What a gutsy move, but she said it worked out and the flowers were lovely.

 So, I priced everything out and calculated that I could do all my wedding flowers (centerpieces including the cost of the candelabras & candles, bouquets, boutonnieres, floral tape, ribbons, miscellaneous supplies!) for around $500-600.  Amazing!  I really didn't think it would be possible to get the look I wanted or even something close to it, and still remain within budget.  So I never seriously looked into it because we felt it was more important to allocate our funds towards a good videographer/photographer, food and DRINKS.  It's really nice that our wedding package will include a hosted soft bar for the entire reception.  I'm pretty sure the guests will end up enjoying that aspect of our wedding more than the centerpieces... no doubt! 

In order to get a feel for what the centerpieces would look like, I decided to do a mock up.  I ordered one candelabra to see what it would look like, purchased some floral foam, and went to Trader Joe's to get some hydrangeas and roses.  I crossed my fingers and toes hoping it wouldn't look like a complete disaster - hopefully halfway decent.  I held my breath when I opened the box that was delivered with the candelabra.  Although I read overall good reviews, you just never know when you order something online.  And much to my surprise and delight when I did the unboxing, it was exactly what I wanted!  It will tie in so well with the French Country theme of the venue - so girly, romantic, and lends a touch of vintage!  I then turned to the flowers.  I actually assembled the hydrangeas and roses in about 5 minutes.  It was so easy!  Again, I watched Youtube videos and was inspired by a floral designer, Alexandra Lyons, who works with celebrities.  She created a centerpiece with hydrangeas and roses.  It looks so simple yet so elegant.  I loved it.  Taking her tips, I created my own version and was so happy with it. When I showed the fiance photos (he is in Boston working and I am in Chicago finishing my rotations for medical school), he said it was very nice.  I asked him if he thought I needed to add more flowers, but he said it was perfect.  The two side arms will elevate glass enclosed candles.  Since the candelabra is rather ornate with the dangling crystals and the metal has a bit of fancy scroll work, I wanted to keep the floral arrangement simple but still pretty - and to me, roses and hydrangeas are definitely at the top of my pretty scale!

(Floral foam $1 a piece @ Dollar Tree!)

I played around with floral foam and tested to see how long the roses and hydrangeas would last.  They did wilt within 24 hours (I don't know if the Oasis brand will be better as I only used floral foam for the dollar store!)  So if I decide to use floral foam, I would have to do the centerpieces the morning of the wedding.  I only used 1/4 of the cylinder for my flower arrangements.  Extremely cost effective.  Then I thought about using silk flowers because they are so convenient.  They are so appealing  because they will never wilt, you can make them months in advance, and keeping them forever.  However, I always wanted fresh flowers for my wedding centerpieces so I scratched the idea.  It's just personal preference.  I have definitely seen some enviable silk flower arrangements that are amazing and they look so REAL!!

(using floral foam)

Then I experimented with the idea of placing it in a shallow bowl.  The roses and hydrangeas are holding up much better with no wilting.   It's been about 5 days and my hydrangeas and roses still look so fresh.  I most likely will go down the route of reusing candle jars (thinking green!) This way, I can make these centerpieces a couple days in advance instead of the morning of our wedding.  It's much easier too - all I have to do is snip the stems to the desired length and plop them into the "vases" - much less arranging than using floral foam.

Working with floral foam was tricky because I had to take apart the hydrangea and strategically place it on the foam in order to conceal it.  Without the use of green fillers, I would need to use more flowers (which would mean cutting into the budget!)  Also, once you insert the stem, you can't (shouldn't) remove it or air bubbles will develop and reduce the water source to the stem.  Evidently, it was frustrating for me to work with the foam.  I guess I'll leave floral foam to the pros!  Also, I'll be doing my own hand-tie bouquets which will consist of roses - simple and classic.  If I do only roses and 2 dozen of them, it will be less than $20 including the ribbon!  The florist quoted me $150 (with tax and service charge - it would be $191!!)  I should have gone to florist school instead of med school...

(Top View - arrangement placed in glass bowl)

Anyways, if you are contemplating doing your own flowers for your wedding, I highly recommend it.  Watch Youtube tutorials so you can get ideas and learn some basic techniques.  Yes, there is more planning involved, but your pocket book will really thank you later.  It can save you a ton of cash.  In my case, at least $3000!  To be fair, she did use more flowers in her arrangements and she did use floral foam - so her technique did require more skill.

Something else really got to me.  It would be nice to let our guests take home the centerpieces  if they wanted at the end of the evening.  The florist informed me that the candelabras would be a rental so that I would need to return those to her at the end of our wedding.  Not only would we not get to keep the candelabras to give away, she would be charging a service fee of about $600.  This didn't even include one flower, not even a petal.  All parts of this equation weren't really adding up for me.  And for less than $600 dollars with a bit of elbow grease, I could do all the flowers myself.  Thank you anyways.

I'm really delighted at how these turned out and I can't believe they only cost $25 a piece!  And after all was said and done - taxes and service charge, each of the florist's centerpieces would be around $200.  Yes, they were very beautiful, but not $200 a table beautiful...okay, they really were $200 a table beautiful.  However, that would have really destroyed our budget.  And if you have a limitless budget, please stop reading the rest of my post as this will not apply to you <sigh of jealousy>.  I told my fiance the total cost if we did our own flowers, naturally, he was extremely pleased;)  Maybe we can spend more on our honeymoon (perhaps a trip to Paris and London?!) 

For budget brides like myself:  if you had a moment of temporary loss of oxygen to the brain after the sticker shock from your florist's quote, take a moment and just breath.  I did.  Then I ate a rainbow sprinkled donut.  And guzzled my Dunkaccino from DD's.  My senses were restored.  Nothing like some sugar and caffeine to boost my mood!  Clarity and creativity started to flow through my veins.  My candelabra with fresh flowers and candles - all for $25.  The candelabra adds a little bit of drama to an otherwise simple floral arrangement.  Speaking of drama, I'm sure something will happen at our wedding among all our family and friends.  Looking at it from the glass half full, I guess it will just give me more material to weave into my future best seller;)  So behave people, or else you will always wonder if the villainous character was in part, based on you;)

If you want to/have to live frugal but still want to do it fabulously, can't work a florist into your wedding budget, and have your heart set on fresh flowers - please consider DIY!  Definitely do trial runs a few weeks in advance (in my case a few months+ since I still don't have my wedding date!)   This way you will be more confident and relaxed when you are preparing your flowers for your actual wedding day.  I know my centerpieces are a mix of candles and flowers, and the main cost went towards the candelabra.  Some brides may want more flowers, so you can definitely outfit each table with two dozen roses and a classic glass vase for around $20!  You can get glass vases for $1 at the Dollar Tree.  They have standard glass vases, colored vases, and even those short modern square vases.  They are a good weight and look great.  You're only using them for a day anyways, so I don't know why you would want to spend more if you don't have to, right?  DIY does require some more planning and shopping around, but hunting for good bargains can be fun!  If you use less expensive flowers like carnations, you can stretch your budget even more.  So have fun and get creative!

I hope this DIY post was helpful (though long winded!)  I apologize for my  harp on florists and their fees.  I guess I was just trying to drive the message home that it is possible to have beautiful fresh flowers on your wedding day, without having to break the bank! 

Xo,

Marikym