Real vs. Artificial Flowers
Flowers can cost a lot at a wedding and I thought long and hard about the fake vs real dilemma. Good artificial flowers can often cost more than their real counterpart, but as soon as you use the words wedding bouquet the price will shoot right up and it’s desperately sad when they start to wilt before the evenings entertainment has even finished!
A florist will want you to be completely happy, they should be using the freshest, nicest and prettiest flowers in the bunch for your bridal bouquet and the time that goes into making something so intricate without damaging the flowers is tricky work. I know that my skills do not match that of a florist, and the night before my wedding I do not want to be getting stressed about what the flowers are going to look like or, if I am doing them myself, possibly breaking down after accidentally beheading my 5th rose of the night.
So artificial flowers seemed like the way forward for me personally and they are a great keepsake after the wedding is over. You could even sell them on to make your money back!
Finding the right Artificial Flowers
I initially spend hours searching different websites and adding multitudes of artificial flowers into my basket, all colours, shapes, sizes. Ultimately ending with one of my favourite pastimes, online shopping basket abandonment!
I kept circling back to an Etsy seller who creates amazing looking bouquets but at prices I just couldn’t quite bring myself to justify (approx. £99 for the Bridal Bouquet & £65 for a Bridesmaid)
Eventually I stumbled across silkflowersdecoflora.co.uk, a website that not only sold individual flower heads but also sold ready made bouquets for weddings and home using said individual flowers. The variety they had on offer gave me a good range of prices to work with and had ready made button hole’s from around £3-5 and small posy’s that could be used for table decorations from around £8-15. Their ready made bridal bouquets ranged from around £30 for their very small to £120 for their best. Leaving a great variety of £60 middle ground bouquets.
Where’s the DIY I hear you ask?
So I found one that I liked, and it had matching button holes etc. But the Bridal Bouquet wasn’t quite perfect. At £70 it was just missing that little something. BUT, remembering the website used the exact individual flowers to create their bouquets I was able to hunt through the site and add the individual flowers I wanted to my basket with a few small additions and subtractions to create my perfect bouquet at home whilst already having matching pre-made small table flowers and button holes!
I ultimately spent just over £100 for:
- DIY Bride Bouquet – Individual Flowers & Ribbon
- 1 x Bridesmaid Bouquet
- 2 x Button Holes
- 8 x Small Matching Table Flowers
Personally I was in love as soon as I opened the box. All the flowers are beautiful and realistic enough to look great at a wedding.
Having ordered this waaaaay in advance means that I have plenty of time to perfect the main bouquet, and if I really give up then I can always use the flowers in the Vases I have at home, admit defeat and order the pre-made matching one online 🙂
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