Top Tips for DIY Wedding Flowers
Beautiful DIY bride Charlotte with her gorgeous May bouquet. Image credit: Chris Blackledge.
If you’re getting married this year and wondering about creating your own wedding flowers, this post is for you!
DIY wedding flowers are a wonderful way to make your day really personal, perfect for creative or crafty couples or those wanting a lovely flowerey wedding on a tight budget!
Read on for my 5 top tips for DIY wedding flowers…
1. Sourcing your flowers
If you’re a keen gardener then growing some of your own flowers is such a lovely thing to do, but being green-fingered is definitely not necessary to have beautiful DIY wedding flowers.
There are flower farms and cutting gardens all over the country offering a DIY wedding service, enabling you to source buckets of gorgeous blooms grown in your local area. Just head to Flowers From the Farm and pop in your postcode (or the postcode of your wedding venue) for a list of your local growers.
A bucket of beautiful summer DIY wedding flowers. Grubby shoes not included.
2. A little or a lot of DIY?
If you’d like to give DIY flowers a go but are feeling unsure, you might want to go for a ‘Bouquets and Buckets’ style service, whereby your grower or florist makes some of the trickier pieces for you, such as the bouquets and buttonholes, along with buckets of loose blooms for your table flowers and bud vases.
This is my most popular wedding service, enabling my couples to get involved in creating their wedding flowers without the pressure of doing everything!
Having said that, I’ve worked with lots of super creative brides who’ve tackled some big projects like aisle meadows and arches on their big days - not for the faint hearted, but absolutely possible if you’ve got a strong vision and some floral skills!
Hannah made these amazing aisle meadows with my DIY buckets, while I put together her bouquets and buttonholes. Image credit: James Hattam.
3. Choose the right grower/florist for you
Flowers from the Farm is full of passionate and skilled growers ready and waiting to provide you with DIY wedding flowers - so how do you know which one is right for you?
Look at the photos on their website and Instagram to see if you’re drawn to the flowers and style of floristry they offer. Arrange a chat and talk to them about your vision for the day - you’ll feel that connection when they are as excited as you about your plans!
Different growers will offer different levels of service and advice, but most growers will be happy to chat through your plans for your DIY flowers and advise you on the quantities you need.
And if you’re planning DIY wedding flowers in London, don’t hesitate to get in touch to see if I might be the right fit!
I love to really get to know the sort of flowers and colours my couples are drawn to, and curate a bespoke mix of flowers that feels perfect for them. I look for inspiration in their venue, flowers that are meaningful to them, the feeling they want to create on their wedding - all these things help me choose the flowers that will really elevate your day. And I’m more than happy to give you as much advice as you need on making your arrangements in the lead up to your wedding.
Your friendly local grower/florist is just waiting to make your DIY wedding dream come true! Image credit: A Heart Full of Tea
4. Go with the seasons
One of the most wonderful things about choosing locally grown flowers on your wedding day is how they reflect and connect you to the season in which you married.
From gorgeous meadow flowers on a Summer’s day, to lush greenery and berries for a Winter wedding, leaning in to the season makes your flowers feel really authentic to your day - and every year you’ll get to be reminded of how special it was when you see those same flowers in bloom again.
That does mean that you may not be able to have a particular flower you love if it’s not in season on your wedding day - for example peonies have a short window in bloom around late May/early June, and roses generally only flower in the Summer months.
But chat to your grower about alternatives - big blousy double tulips can be a dead ringer for peonies, and heritage chrysanthemums are a surprisingly gorgeous alternative to roses in Autumn. There are beautiful things to be found in nature in every season, I promise!
Embrace the season - these peony-impersonating tulips will make your April wedding flowers sing!
5. Flower dream team - assemble!
DIY wedding flowers are not a solo venture - you’ll want to gather a team of family and friends to take the pressure off and make it a fun and relaxing pre-wedding activity.
If you’ve got a family member or friend who is experienced with flower arranging that’s a massive bonus (just make sure their style is the same as yours to avoid any awkward moments!), but it’s definitely not necessary. With some photos of the sort of look you want, and some beautiful buckets of flowers, no experience is necessary to create floral magic!
Having said that, there’s no harm in having a little practice beforehand with your crack team - why not talk to your grower about getting a practice bucket ahead of the big day so you can feel super confident when the time comes!
Lucy, Robin and their pals had fun decorating their venue with bunting, paper lanterns and my DIY wedding flowers - how gorgeous does it look! Image credit: Jade Marie Photography
I hope these tips have been helpful for you - if you’re still mulling it over I say go for it! There’s nothing more satisfying than knowing you’ve had a hand in creating your amazing wedding, and flowers really are one of the most impactful parts of the day.
If you’re looking for DIY wedding flowers in London or North Kent, I’d love to help you make it happen - see what some of my past DIY brides have said about doing their own flowers, and what they made.
Or if you’re getting married elsewhere in the country, visit Flowers From the Farm to find your local grower. Wishing you all the floral beauty on your big day!