I am so happy that I used Fifty Flowers to supply my wedding flowers, it was one of the best decisions I made while planning my wedding! I had debated for quite some time before making the decision... should I use a florist? Should I buy bulk flowers from Costco? Or should I use Fifty Flowers for my wedding flowers? I ultimately ended up choosing Fifty Flowers because I love flowers so much and really didn't want Plain Jane, boring flowers for my wedding. I also however did not want to use half my flower budget to pay a florist. It was the right decision!
I was nervous at first...could I really pull this off? I was going for an elegant, mountain wild flower look...what does that even mean?? I don't know how to put flowers together, I don't know how to add depth, texture ...and whatever else you need to make the kind of stunning wedding bouquets and centerpieces I had always dreamed of.
My method may not have been the best or the most efficient but I started off looking at flower arrangements I liked on Pinterest and wedding magazines. I then tried to find the common elements in the arrangements I liked. Next, I went to the Fifty Flowers website and examined all the flowers listed in the wedding colors section of the website, adding my favorites to my cart as I went also incorporating those elements that I had distilled from my previous research on Pinterest. I then would examine my cart and try to distill all the arrangement pieces together, editing the different flower/plant elements together by cost, color and for the overall feel that I wanted. I was pretty much happy with my cart when I reached out for help. That is one of the great things about Fifty Flowers, they are happy to help you create the look you are going for. I made an appointment with the flower concierge, she was invaluable because she has the secret knowledge that a layman doesn't know. She can tell you how to cut costs by substituting a more expensive flower with a less expensive but similar looking flower, whether the flowers you have chosen will hold up in the cold or wilt in the heat, if you have enough texture, greenery etc. So with her help, just like that, I was ready to place my order. If you decide to go this route, just be sure you know generally the look you want, have a budget and come in with an open mind. It is great if you already have a Pinterst board with arrangements that you either really like and that display all the qualities that you are going for or are trying to duplicate so the flower concierge can really get a feel for what you are wanting and be of the most help to you.
Then it is a simple as placing the order, at least until the flowers arrive.
Fifty Flowers is good about giving you resources to develop a plan to arrange your flowers, tips and tricks as well as detailed instructions as to how to care for your flowers when they arrive. I suggest getting the tall orange buckets from Home Depot for storage of the flowers while they rehydrate, they hold a lot of water and are tall enough to accommodate most if not all the different types of flowers that you may order. It must also be stated that processing the flowers can be quite time consuming so make sure you budget enough time to process the flowers upon their arrival as well as all the time you will need to actually arrange the bouquets , centerpieces etc. a few days later. I was lucky in this part as I had a very talented friend and my aunt who works with flowers to help with putting together the arrangements. You will likely need help, but arranging the flowers can be fun bonding time between you and those assisting.
Ultimately everything came together beautifully. There were a few ups and downs with the flowers and it was at times a bit stressful but it was well worth it. I absolutely LOVED my wedding flowers. They were beautiful, unique and somehow, at least in my opinion were able to capture the elegant mountain wild flower look that I was going for. I am so grateful that I was able to get all the flowers that I wanted at a reasonable price, they were unique and exactly what I wanted.
So if you are wondering if you can do it without a florist... Yes, you absolutely can! Make sure you have some help, do your homework and have fun, it is a challenge but well worth it.
Just a few more words of advise:
It seems to be a fairly regular occurrence that one of the elements of your order may go wrong (Fifty Flowers may not be able to fulfill your order exactly as you place it, a particular flower crop may be oversold or blighted, a certain color you were hoping for in a particular flower may be unavailable etc. so don't put all your hopes on any particular flower if possible. Order exactly what you want but have a backup idea for anything you are counting on for your flower look to fully come together.)
Also have a plan when going into flower arranging, know what there is to do and who is doing what. Beyond that good luck and I hope this was helpful.
P.S. I also ordered some silver brunia balls in a separate order which I also absolutely loved and am so glad I included.
