Part 3 of Blooms Blog’s “What Types of Flowers Should I Use for My Wedding” Series: The Best DIY Wedding Flowers
We’re back with another important question when deciding what types of flowers to choose for your wedding: What types of flowers are DIY friendly? Even if you’re experienced at arranging flowers or creating bouquets, some flower varieties are just easier to work with than others. Some are hardy, some fragile; some last for weeks while others just for days. Some need very little preparation to arrange, others require a little special care and handling to reach peak condition and be used in bouquets and arrangements. Here are some tips for picking the best DIY wedding flowers for your bouquets and centerpieces.
Flowers that are easy to arrange.
Many popular varieties require little beyond the basic fresh cut and rehydration to be ready to use. These include standard roses, carnations, spray roses, alstroemeria, chrysanthemums, calla lilies, asters, and most greens and fillers. These are all long-lasting and hardy, and and are easy to include in most types of flower arrangements.
The Cushion Pompon chrysanthemum has a long vase life and is very sturdy.
Flowers that require special help.
Some more delicate flowers can be a little finicky to work with – sensitive to heat and cold, blooms that can’t withstand a lot of handling, short vase lives, and occasionally difficult to rehydrate. If you’re loving peonies, hydrangea, garden roses, lisianthus, freesia, and delphinium, be sure to get a few extra stems, and be gentle when arranging them, making sure to follow special care instructions.
Take care working with delicate wholesale flowers like lisianthus, garden roses and peonies.
Flowers that need time to open.
Wholesale flowers are shipped in a dormant state, and for some varieties that means pre-bloomed, but others need time to re-hydrate and open to reach peak beauty. If you’re including roses, lilies, or peonies in your plans, make sure to leave a full day to rehydrate and open before you plan to arrange.
Wholesale peonies usually arrive with very tight heads, but 2 days later will open to full beauty.
Flowers that need wire or tape.
Not all stems are created equal! While a hand-tied bouquet usually provides enough support for most blooms, using some types of flowers in arrangements will require using wire, floral tape or stem straws to support the flower head. If you’d love to include tulips, gerbera daisies, lisianthus, ranunculus or orchids, don’t forget to what you need to wire them. And most succulents don’t actually have stems at all – and you need to create one with wire when arranging. You can look here to see how to wire a flower stem, and here for a video tutorial on how to wire succulents.
Wholesale succulents are a beautiful addition to DIY wedding flowers, but do require wiring.
If you have a time restriction or not enough helping hands, choosing easier DIY flowers can save you lots of stress and time. After all, you want your flower arranging experience to be relaxing and almost therapeutic. DIYing your wedding flowers make your day that much more special!
Up next… What types of flowers complement your wedding theme?
Derian Banzhaf
Derian has worked in many facets of the floral industry, with over 10 years experience in everything from flower arranging to wedding and party planning, She loves to experiment in elements of flower design, color, and texture and is always looking for the latest trends in wedding bouquets.
Beautiful