Tips for DIY wedding flowers

Every year, I get asked for advice on how to go about doing your own flowers for your wedding. So, I have accumulated all my tips and tricks for those of you who are giving your wedding flowers a go.

Sourcing flowers

Sourcing flowers when you are not a florist can be tricky. Most flower and plant wholesalers require an account to access. So, when approaching DIY flowers, it's worth looking at local growers in your area. Not only is this a fantastic sustainable option, but growers often offer smaller amounts with more variety. A great place to connect with local growers is Flowers from the Farm. Enter your postcode, and the website will show you growers in your area.

If you are after lots of stems of a certain flower or floral or foliage that can’t be grown in the UK, I recommend Triangle Nursery. This is an online floral wholesaler open to the public and delivers across the UK. 

Dot and the Dandelion flowers at Fairy Hill wedding venue

Order more than less 

And while we are on the subject of ordering, when DIYing your own wedding flowers, I would suggest over-ordering rather than under-ordering. There is nothing worse than not having quite enough flowers. It's stressful and time-consuming. You end up taking arrangements apart to make the extra arrangements. In short, it's a headache, and it doesn’t need to be like this. Order more; it's always better to have an extra arrangement than to have one less. 

Dot and the Dandelion flowers at Cornwall Manor

Timing is everything 

Like in life, when it comes to creating wedding florals, timing is everything. It’s hard to get timing right when it comes to wedding flowers; if you make everything too early, it might die and wilt. Leave not enough time, and you might not be able to finish designs in time and have to go without.

This is stressful at the best of times, but when you are opting for DIY wedding flowers, you also need time for you to get ready. You don’t want to be faffing about with bud vases when really you should be blow-drying your hair for the big day. 

I would suggest making a good old trusty list with all the florals you want to create.

Have a designated workspace for the flowers that won’t be on show during the wedding day. This way, you can leave the place an absolute tip if need be, and no one will ever know. 

Check with the venue about the access timings. Often, you can’t get into a wedding venue until the morning, so make sure you can transport or make the designs on the morning of the wedding. 

And most importantly …

It takes a village

Whatever you do, under no circumstances attempt to do your wedding flowers alone. I can guarantee it will be a shit show. 

Many hands make light work and all that. It takes a village working with flowers, so make sure you have help physically, emotionally, spiritually—all of it. Floristry is incredibly time-consuming; you can’t skip over a part, and you will be surprised how long it takes to remove stickers from 100 jam jars, load a car with perishable objects, or unload perishable objects at a venue with 10,965 steps. You need help, simple as that!

Dot and the Dandelion flowers at Elmore Court