I knew from the beginning that I wanted to DIY my flowers. For starters I'm the pickiest person when it comes to aesthetic, and at least if its messed up I only have myself to blame; secondly I knew that I wanted lush, big, bouquets and paying for a florist would be much to expensive. The ordering process was a breeze; efficient, effective, and I had no worries about whether or not the right flowers would show up/if they would be on time. When they showed up in groups a few days before the wedding, I set them up exactly as I was told, and they all opened up beautifully, and were exactly like what I expected to receive.
My bridesmaids and I set about putting together ALL of the arrangements on the Friday before the wedding; all in all a smooth process. Having so many hands on deck was surprisingly a blessing. I was able to dictate clearly what it was I wanted them to do, and having them all do their own bouquet expedited the process immensely! We did all 8 bridesmaids bouquets, my bouquet, 11 boutonnieres, and 16 centerpieces that doubled as Aisle decor.
Unfortunately the venue's AC was broken Friday, and it was chalked up to the unit just not being scheduled to be on. We didn't find out until about 1 hour before the ceremony that it was in fact broken... so all 36 arrangements and the leftovers were both made, and left, in an 80 degree room for about 24 hours. The proteas (my favorite flower on the planet) held up beautifully, as did the thistle and all of the greenery. The Anemones and Veronica were definitely dead about 20 minutes into the ceremony, and the garden roses were looking a little brown... so that was a bummer. To be honest, though.... I did know going into it that A) you should try with all of your might to do boutonnieres the day OF... not the day before and B) Veronica and Anemone were not going to hold up all day anyway (it was forecasted to be about 98 degrees that day).
At the end of the day though, they looked beautiful and I loved the whole experience. It was quicker and easier than a lot of people made it out to be, and I think it was well worth the prep time/planning and organizing to get exactly what I wanted (and a lot of it) for WAY cheaper than a traditional florist!
