Anyone their own florist?

ImgonnabeMrsC Posted: Sep 19, 2010 09:25 AM

Anyone their own florist?

Well. Here is the thing. I know alot of people will agree with me and alot will disagree.

Flowers.

they are beautiful. Agreed?

But why spend so much freakin' money on them when they die the next day!?

I am an art teacher, and I realllllllllly want to do something creative for my wedding just to show my personality and, well, I guess talent that I think I have hahaha. So I ordered Real Touch flowers from a site and OH MY GODDDDDDDD

they are absolutely GORGEOUS. GORGEOUS I TELL YOU!!

So I put together some arrangements, played around with the flowers and girls, I am in love!!!!

They not only look, but they feel soooooo real! (hence the name ha)

I have to post pics once I finish them. I'm doing centerpieces too.

and guess what!? I spent under $2,000. (including my bouqet, 11 bridesmaids, 16 boutineers, 4 corsages, junior bridesmaid, flowergirl, and 20 centerpieces so far) Yay me!

Some of my friends stuck their nose up at me and were like 'fake flowers sarah, really?' but I can't wait to see their faces when they have their floewrs on my wedding day =) I think they will be shocked!

A friend of mine is getting married in a few months and she asked me if I would think about doing her flowers bc she loved what I did with mine.

If I agree...how much should I charge?! She's a very close friend of the family, and she is putting a wedding together in 8 months, so they have a really tight budget....

any advice and feedback would be great!

Chanwich Posted: Sep 19, 2010 09:31 AM

Re: Anyone their own florist?

honestly, I am in the same boat about thinking spending tons of money on something that is going to die is ridiculous. If you found an alternative and you love it, then go for it!! Who cares what your friends think anyway, its not their wedding! We didn't want flowers either, but we went with a different alternative with branches and candles.

Do you have any pictures? I'd love to see what they look like!

ImgonnabeMrsC Posted: Sep 19, 2010 09:49 AM

Re: Anyone their own florist?

brances and candles sounds so pretty! I do have pictures of some, I'll post them once I finish!

EmilyandPeter Posted: Sep 19, 2010 09:56 AM

Re: Anyone their own florist?

I agree. Totally do what you need to do to save some $$. Plus, you'll get to keep your bo-k looking stunning for when you get back from the HM!

MrsJPH2012 Posted: Sep 19, 2010 10:01 AM

Re: Anyone their own florist?

Thats awesome, I would love to see photos. I would never consider doing that because I'm not creative at all! I would just be disappointed in myself.

I think for your friend, find out what she's looking at having you do, and see how long it'll take you to do it. The bulk of the cost would be the flowers themselves, and you don't have any say in how much those cost, so as long as she knows how much those are, she's setting her own price. If its going to cost you a few weekends of work, I would probably tack on a labor cost to go along with it, or ask if she'd be doing it with you. If its not too bad on time, maybe consider doing the arrangements as a Wedding gift, with her still paying for the flowers themselves.

halfbaked Posted: Sep 19, 2010 10:09 AM

Re: Anyone their own florist?

Glad you love how they came out!! Are you using the same flowers from your wedding for hers? Are you letting her guests take home the arrangements? If you're purchasing flowers for her, I'd charge her pretty much the cost of the supplies with maybe $100 or $200 extra for your labor. I wouldn't charge much more than that since she's a close family friend.

kfizz Posted: Sep 19, 2010 10:18 AM

Re: Anyone their own florist?

There are some wonderful places out there to purchase fake flower..and they look amazing..dont worry what other people say, its saving you tons of money!! Personally my family has been involved in the flower business for over 20 years (my mom and my aunt were both florists) so to them I NEED to have real. But if I could get away with fake I would lol!

ImgonnabeMrsC Posted: Sep 19, 2010 06:34 PM

Re: Anyone their own florist?

=) I'll post pics ASAP! (maybe in the next day or two) I am giving my girls the flowers as one of their gifts with a pohto of the girl and me in a small frame attached to it so they know which bo-k is theirs.