Comments on: Wedvice: D.I.Y. . . . A “What To” Guide

By: Anika

Anika — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 03:01:15 +0000

I have the same question as Andrea. Is the stress/panic due to DIYing fresh flowers? I was thinking of having paper flowers at my wedding (crepe paper ones) which I could make well in advance, that and they’re more environmentally friendly.

By: Anthony

Anthony — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 16:26:48 +0000

I think a what to do list is a great starting point. Once that is done the decision can be made on who and how those things are done based on budget, skills of friends, time available etc.
We have had some couples who have done a lot of the work themselves and they got exactly what they wanted, others found that they took on too much. Pick the things to do yourself (or with the help of others) that you know you can cope with.
One of the most important things is to make sure that on they day you are relaxed and happy with whatever choice you go with.

By: Andrea

Andrea — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:21:59 +0000

Has anyone DIY flowers out of silk flowers ahead of time? I know, all the florists out there will cringe at the thought of not using real flowers…. BUT I am on a very limited budget ($1000 for whole wedding) and have 2 options:

1) Kill myself, my mother & any other unsuspecting friends trying to obtain/prepare/arrange/keep fresh the real flowers in the last couple of frantic days before the wedding OR

2) Go ahead and make silk arrangements, out of the nice, “real touch” flowers, at my own pace, and then store carefully, protected from dust & mis-shaping, for the next 2 months.

However, I’m having a really hard time finding any help on doing this other than the craft stores websites.
Also, if someone has used good-quality silk flowers, is it really that obvious in the wedding photographs?
Thank you for your help… I’m newly engaged, with 4 1/2 months left to go, and a lot of questions. If I could find how to do so, I would set up a blog on here myself, lol!

By: Rose (yes, really)

Rose (yes, really) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:16:31 +0000

Great points from everyone. After a life-long love for flowers and helping a few friends with their wedding flowers, I undertook my own in December 2006. It was a joy and welcome distraction, but my cuticles and fingernails were NOT pretty after all that work. A post-flowers manicure is REQUIRED if you take the DIY route. Also, I would not have survived without the free use of my employer’s industrial-sized kitchen with large walk-in refrigerator!

By: Gerry Francis

Gerry Francis — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 04:47:59 +0000

I loved all the great designs and articles. Keep up the great info.

By: Amanda Auer

Amanda Auer — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 19:17:06 +0000

Michelle [My Wedding Report]: so glad you love it! Grey could be a fabulous addition!! I have a few more pictures and angles of this tabletop over at my website, but really we just kept it plain and simple. So glad we’re on the same stylish page!! xoxo!

By: Michelle @ My Wedding Report

Michelle @ My Wedding Report — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 19:10:21 +0000

Amanda! I just got so excited when I saw this post! I’ve been looking for someone to use this color combination of french blue and burgundy. I think I want burgundy is a little pinker (deep raspberry) and with some navy and gray. What do you think? Do you have any other inspiration for me?

By: Here’s some great Wedvice! « Erika Liz Photography

Here’s some great Wedvice! « Erika Liz Photography — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 15:04:07 +0000

[...] http://www.elizabethannedesigns.com/blog/2009/01/14/diy-a-what-to-guide/#more-5690 [...]

By: Christine Saunders

Christine Saunders — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 05:07:08 +0000

Hi ladies! Thanks for the post and all of the great comments. Christine from FlowerDIYvas/The Spiraled Stem here. I did my own flowers for my wedding, and even with years of experience, my best friend who had more experience than me, the use of a full service retail flower shop, and having done several weddings already, it was not terribly easy and there were a lot of other things that went undone, were late, or didnt happen because my focus was on the flowers. I had done as much of the other stuff as I could before the flower days, but even some of the things I delegated to my MIL a week in advance went undone until the night before (like organizing the placecards according to table assignments…)

There was more stress than there needed to be and many hours leading up to the wedding that I could have spent better (like sleeping!), but as a floral designer I couldn’t have imagined having anyone else but myself do my wedding flowers (I didnt set up the reception BTW) and by the time things didnt go as smoothly as they could have, I didnt care anyways! But looking back there are some things that I think of, some of which showed up in pictures, and am like ‘doh!’

Since I was a DIY flower bride and it turned into a very successful floral design career, I can’t knock DIY flower brides for trying, but of course I recommend that a bride book a pro, especially for flowers! However, every week I am at the flower market, I see the DIY brides with their eyes all aglow, and overhear their conversations, and just cringe. Its painfully obvious that many of them have no idea what they have gotten into, and I’d be so curious to see how their eyes have gone from aglow to bloodshot 24 hours later.

Hence the birth of FlowerDIYvas. We didn’t see anyone in the market who was giving these brides the hands on experience, practice, and instruction they would need to successfully pull of a DIY job. And we realize that many brides who DIY’d their flowers would probably make a different choice after the fact, but by then its too late. Through the FlowerDIYvas workshops brides will get a serious reality check on what they are up for, and if they decide to go for it they will have all the tools they will need to do it as well as possible. We’ve created the cirriculum to force the bride to think of every detail, every constraint on their time, every logistical situation, etc. If they decide they dont want to take it on, they can hire us and apply a portion of their workshop fee to their package.

With the economy the way it is and people trying to save money, we figured this would be a risk free way for brides to figure out ahead of time if DIY’ing their flowers is really worth it or not, before its too late! I hope this helps clear up the intent behind FlowerDIYvas, be prepared if you are going to DIY! :-)

By: amanda

amanda — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 01:02:08 +0000

Thanks for all the kind words! I was kinda worried about this post just because I wasn’t sure I’d fleshed the idea out enough to be helpful, but it seems as though it’s done it’s job! Yay! :)

And Ami- thanks for the compliment on our tabletop. We heart this one too, big time!