How to Save Money on Your Wedding Flowers

Photo by Brian Lowman

 

Up until the summer of 2011 I had been planning a winter wedding. Long story short that August we decided we wanted to get married the summer of 2012. This was a huge change of plans. So I went from planning an indoor traditional winter wedding to a backyard non-traditional wedding with no time to spare. Before we were even engaged we had decided on the location – my parents backyard – & the date, June 24, 2012. 

 

This meant that I had less than a year to plan a backyard wedding. My parents immediately went to work at their backyard, redesigning the yard, planting wildflowers, planting grass, redoing their back porch, building a fence, ect. Secretly this was my mothers way of getting her dream backyard makeover, but even still we had lots of work to do! 

 

If you are newly engaged & planning a backyard wedding. The best advice I can give you is to stop pinning & starting doing. Your wedding will be here in no time, & there is no time like the present to get things done!

 

So to help you save money I though I would share a few tips on how you can save money on your wedding flowers! 

 

Photo by Brian Lowman 

 

1. Plant Wildflowers.

 

Before we were even engaged my father bought a huge bag of wildflower seeds and started planting them in various locations about our yard. When planting wildflower seeds you need to make sure you follow the directions – planting seeds in the dead of winter would be huge waste of time, money, & might even get you sick! So plan ahead. Know when you are getting married, & when you need to plant your favorite flowers, so that they will bloom at just the right time for your special day!

 

Photo by family friend.

 

2. Potted Plants & Flowers

 

Throughout the spring before my June wedding our whole family set about finding plants & flowers at a good price. We would wait for sales or end of spring clearance & then buy up all of the beauties we loved at a discounted price. Even my grandmother got into the fun & started searching for discounted plants & flowers about town!

 

Just don’t forget that the more planted flowers you buy the more time you will need to put aside for watering them! By the beginning of June my mother & I would spend about an hour each day walking around her house & backyard watering all of the plants in attempts to keep them hydrated in the hot southern sun.

 

Photo by Brian Lowman

 

3. Buy Flowers in Bulk

 

Too late to plant wild flowers or don’t want to spend the time searching for plants & watering them? Why not buy in bulk! 

 

Instead of buying all of your flowers from a florist, why not just buy your bouquets & corsages from a florist & make all of your boutonnieres & centerpieces from flowers bought it bulk!

 

One of the easiest places to buy flowers in bulk is Costco! Then just choose simple – yet beautiful – ideas for the arrangement & put them together yourself or with your bridesmaids!

 

Photo by Brian Lowman

 

4. Pick Flowers Along the Road

 

The day before our wedding Roger & I went for a drive down some back roads & picked many huge armfuls of Queen Anne’s Lace off the side of the road. We used these flowers throughout our ceremony & reception & they were absolutely free & beautiful! 

 

Photo by Brian Lowman

 

5. Borrow from Friends

 

We had a wonderful friend who had several huge bushes of hydrangeas. She clipped them for us & created beautiful flower arrangements for the ceremony & reception. I can not even begin to explain the love I felt on my wedding day from all of our friends & family

 

Do you have a friend who has a beautiful bush of roses or hydrangeas? It never hurts to ask if you can take a few clippings to use on your cake or in a crown of flowers!

 

 ***Note: No matter how beautiful the flowers please do not wander into peoples yards & take their flowers! Who knows maybe they are saving them for a wedding too!

 

 

 

 

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