Flowers - Fresh or Artificial????

If it's any help, you can now get fresh purple gerberas - my favourite variety is called Picture Perfect....they're a really rich shade and look beautiful!

Really! Thats great news, at least I might have a choice between artificial or real. ?

I'm going artificial for a few reasons...

They can be cheaper than real flowers, and you can also resell them afterwards to recoup some of the cost

I won't have to worry about the florist on the morning of the wedding

The buttonholes won't wilt!

I've gone with artificial for few reasons...

They won't wilt or need any care during the day
I knew exactly what I was getting before I bought
I have them ready and waiting in my cupboard
For me they did work out significantly cheaper
I was able to use out of season flowers

And my favourite reason, I get to keep them forever! I can frame them or have them in a vase in our home ?
This was a real stickler for me, as I definitely couldn't afford the £400 to get a real bouquet preserved!

Here are a few pros & cons for artificial:

Silk or Artificial flowers are becoming more & more popular for weddings & Celebrations due to the superior quality offered. Gone are the days of plastic dew drop roses in Garish colours to be replaced by flowers so botanically correct in every detail it is hard to tell the difference. Available in a vast array of colours and always in season you can have virtually any flower in any colour at anytime of year and unlike Fresh Flowers they are always in season.

If you or your Guests suffer with Hayfever they are perfect and you have no worries about allergies spoiling your big day.

You can purchase your flowers well in advance of your Big Day so no surprises or panic on the morning of the wedding if they are not what you expected.

For weddings abroad they are perfect, lightweight & easy to transport, they can be transported as hand luggage and a tried & tested method of transportation is a large Hat box which works perfectly.

The cost of silk is marginally cheaper than Fresh but due to the excellent quality of the flowers they are now becoming comparable to Fresh. The advantage of silk is that they can be kept indefinitely if they are stored or displayed correctly.

To store your Silk Flowers before your big day always use Acid Free Tissue paper & keep them in the box they arrive in, away from damp & direct Sunlight, which will fade them.

All of our flowers & foliage are of the highest quality and you will amazed at the detail on each flower making them indistinguishable from the real thing.

Having Artificial flowers means you have a lasting reminder of your Big day without the additional costs of having your Bouquet Preserved after the event. This can be costly and add to your floral budget.

Mine were artificial also my bms bouquets were too. x Its easier than having to worry about them wilting and losing shape.

x

I'm seriously considering silk flowers. They seem cheaper for me and we're on quite a tight budget. Also I worry about EVERYTHING so eliminating one stress from the wedding morning is a big plus for me ?

I have gone for the silk option. I was in two minds as

*Both me and my CBM have hayfever, so was thinking it wasn't a good look on the morning of the wedding to have red puffy eyes!

*I like to be organised and know that my flowers will be all that i want before i see them on the morning and that they will last long after the wedding as a momento of our special day.

So luckily i have chosen some beautiful flowers designed by the lovely Sherrie ?

I am really swaying towards silk, I hate wasps so if I have silk flowers then they wont attract any wasps. I also like the variety that you can get in silk and they do seem cheaper.

Plus, like a few people said, you can have them ready before the day - 1 less thing to worry about.

Is anyone making there own arrangements using silk flowers or is everyone ordering them from a professional?

Cheers

I like to be creative but flower arranging for me is definitley a no no- can't imagine what mine would turn out like! ha

My friend has all of her bouquets & button holes - they're artificial, look fantastic and cost only £250 for the lot!

Im having artificial flowers gerbera for my wedding to save on cost and seems im having my wedding and evening do on diferent days they will last and everyone will get to see them.

heres a picture of my flowers only £22.99 i got them from a company called C & L Floral Designs which i actually found through eBay.

hope this can be of help to you.

Harriet

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I am slightly biased here but I say artificial! Not only because we deal with them but for all the points already given. I had them for my own wedding too and love the fact that I still have my bouquet ?

We manage to get hold of purple gerberas quite easily ? but here are some rose bouquets just finished for a wedding next week in your colours.

Andrea

Thanks everyone for your thoughts on this, I have decided on artificial. You all made so many valid points about it, plus it means i can organise them before the wedding day.

I am still toying with the idea of trying to create the bouquets myself........I really need to save as much money as possible. I'm thinking if i have a go at 1 and it doesnt work out them i will get someone professional..... hmmmmm

Frizzball am loving how you done your centrepieces, my colour scheme is Fushia Pink & Purple and something like this would look great, can I ask, did you do it yourself/how much was it? many thanks!

I was just admiring Frizzballs pics, they are stunning!

I know, am struggling at the min for centrepieces ideas - everything i come up with is working out way too expensive for me - but this seems something that may be do-able for me.

Also, am too at the min trying to sort out a florist, getting quotes etc and think am going along with artifical, for the reasons quoted by everyone else, also my colour scheme is Fushia Pink & Purple and i think it will be easier to create a good look with artifical ones x

I thought that I would add my tuppence worth as eveyone here is advocating fake.

I am going with real as I love the feel and smell of them. I love roses and am having a plain bunch of cream and dusky pink roses. My mum is growing them for me for free! If something goes wrong (not enough blooms- should be as she has several bushes) I will go to the florists and buy some roses and make my own bouquet, this should cost £30.

The BMs will have corsages make of 1 rose and a rose in their hair, and the button holes will be roses. Not sure about table flowers yet.

I think its nicer to have real as I just think it's nicer!

I think I was put off fake flowers back in the 80s when I had a peach artificial flower bouquet when I was my aunt's BM. Man they were awful!

If you want to email me I would be happy to put some ideas together for you.

Hi Sherrie, think you may still have my email address as i got a quote for flowers of you the other day, I could re-email you for some inspiration ideas for cheap centrepieces - but that dont look cheap, lol

Those are lovely Lilypond.

I think I'm going to buy some artificial flowers and make my own - I'd really enjoy it and it'll be something me and my W2B can do together

I'm definitely not going for fresh because I don't want the hassle of worrying about them. Once I have them in my house...I have them in my house! Plus I found the florists quotes extortionate and I love that I can keep them forever.

Hi Sherrie,

I sent an email from the website earlier today, hope you got it.

C x

Hi I am on my laptop at the mo and my mail goes to pc so will reply asap.

Sorry only just seen this

Thankyou all for the compliments

Mr Frizzballs aunt did the flowers for us we went to a wholeseller to by the flowers which came to about £300 for my bouquet, 1 bridesmaid bouquet, 10 button holes grooms button hole, 2 mums corsages, top table arrangement and 9 table centres

The vases were from Ikea, the stars were from the 99p shop and the mirrors and gems from ebay all in came to about £400

Hope that helps