Part III: Buying Wedding Flowers Rent Your Flowers
Planning your wedding flowers doesn’t have to be overwhelming. If you’re worried about your wedding flowers wilting in the summer heat, the option of renting wedding flowers could be just right for you! Learn more abot faux flower rentals.
If you are looking for a less expensive alternative to a florist, wanting a super easy wedding flower plan, or if you just want to skip all the flower fuss, this option might be for you: renting your wedding flowers.
Yes, you read that correctly. You can RENT your wedding flowers! Psst…you can also rent your wedding dress, but that’s a blog post for a later time.
Renting wedding flowers can be a great option. Now if you’re thinking you don’t want “fake” looking flowers, I want you to look at some of the collections offered by the companies below. The arrangements are stunning, life like, plus they’re put together for you - yes, yes, and YES!
The Pros
Less expensive than a traditional florist
Average feature bouquets with fresh flowers can be about $160
Rented feature bouquets are around $75
You don’t have to worry about sticking to seasonal flowers
Weather won’t impact your floral arrangements (no wilting flowers - yay!)
No mess with petals, leaves, water, etc.
No picking up or arranging delivery - they ship right to you + easy returns post wedding
You don’t end up throwing thousands of dollars of fresh flowers in the trash (beaks my heart every time - if you go fresh definitely donate arrangements to avoid waste)
The Cons
You don’t get that fresh floral smell
You can’t give away arrangements to family/friends
You are limited to the collections and styles available from the company
You can’t dry out your bouquet as a keepsake (note this company offers a loose flower keepsake)
Wedding Flower Rental Companies
Check out the Marlowe collection for a pop of color!
You can order a sample bouquet for $40
They offer loose floral keepsakes so you can keep the memory of your flowers, even though you have to send the arrangements back
I love the Santiago collection!
New company launching in April 2024
Love that they offer floral wall rentals!
Walls range from $175-$400
Love that this company originated in Boise!
Are you feeling surprised by how stunning these faux flowers are? It’s amazing right?!?I really love the option of faux flower rentals.
If you’re not convinced of going full faux. Remember we have other options and you can always mix and match to meet your needs. Consider faux rentals for centerpieces and fresh local flowers for bouquets. Or go faux for bouquets and boutonnieres and order online wholesale for centerpieces.
As we wrap up this 3 part series, all you need to remember for you and your fiancé’s wedding is that when it comes to wedding flowers YOU HAVE OPTIONS!
Chat with your partner and determine what option (or combo) would work best for your big day!
Keep blooming,
Amanda Jean
Part II:Buying Wedding Flowers Buy local/wholesale
Learn where to buy your wedding flowers. The perfect option for newly engaged couples looking to DIY their wedding flowers.
If you are considering DIY-ing your wedding flowers, you have come to the right place!
I know it can feel overwhelming when you’re first considering doing your own wedding flowers, but stick with me and I will help guide you along your way. As a self-taught designer (more on that journey here), I have learned a few things along the way and I want to share the tips and tricks of the trade with you, starting with where to buy your wedding flowers.
Recently, I talked about how to purchase wedding flowers in bulk online. I have used that approach multiple times in my own designs and have had overall good experiences with this option. Read more on how to buy in bulk online here.
As we continue exploring options of where to buy wedding flowers, today we’re going to look at how to buy flowers locally. Now when I talk about buying local flowers, I do not mean going down to the grocery store and picking up flowers (that will get expensive real quick). By buying locally, we’re going to look at farms, wholesalers, and farmer's markets.
Most flower farms allow you to buy flowers by the gallon or bucket
Buy local/wholesale
Farmer’s market
Local flower farms
Wholesale supplier
Farmer’s Market
I have a heart for farmer’s market flowers. You can read more on that here. One of my first “aha” moments with flowers was back in 2011 at the Pike Place Market in Seattle. The colors, the textures, the smells…I was instantly inspired. And those textured vibrant green beauties in the photo below? The Bells of Ireland. I planted some of these in my own garden years later (very pokey) but worth it!
Buying wedding flowers at the farmers market is a great option if you’re willing to be flexible with what florals you have on your big day. Like everything, there are pros and cons to this option - to help you decide, I’ve listed some below.
Pros of the Farmer’s Market:
Supports local business owners
Provides vibrant colors
Allows you to purchase flowers that are in season
Often bouquets are pre-arranged for you, so you can just buy a bunch of bouquets and though them in vases for centerpieces or wrap them with twine/ribbon for bouquets
Cons of the Farmer’s Market:
Most places only have farmer’s markets in the summer and often only on Saturdays, so if you’re getting married in the winter or on Saturday, this option might not be the best for you
There is no way to select the type of flowers that are going to be available, this means being flexible with styles and colors is a must with this option
Pike Place Market - Seattle 2011
Flower Farms
My husband and I have a dream of someday owning a wedding farm. In our dream farm (called Gather Farms), we have a wedding barn, a Christmas tree lot, a pumpkin patch, and flower fields. A lot of my flower farm inspiration comes from Floret Farms. If you’re looking for flower inspiration, it’s worth exploring their website, reading their books, and watching their show. Dreaming aside, flower farms can be a great option to purchase wedding flowers.
Depending on where you live, the flower farms in your area likely have limited operating hours and seasons. Be sure to check online to see what options are available. Usually late summer/early spring is what you’ll see most often. You can often buy from a flower farm by the gallon, which is relatively inexpensive compared to traditional options like a florist.
Some flower farms carry multiple types of flowers, while others specialize in certain flowers only. Do a quick google search to find options near you!
Some great flower farm options in the Treasure Valley:
If you’re down for getting your hands a little dirty, this can be a great way to support local business, get really creative with your design, and have something specific to your area.
Local Wholesale
This is one of the most unique local options. With some planning, this can be a great option for buying wedding flowers. In order to purchase from a local wholesaler, you usually have to have a business or agriculture license. You can secure one of these for around $100 (depending on where you live) through your Secretary of State office/website.
At first you might think $100 seems steep, but once you look at the cost of hiring a florist, you’ll realize $100 for a license, plus the ability to buy flowers wholesale you’ll experience a HUGE savings. With local wholesaler companies, you can get the flowers at wholesale price (similar to online options like this one). The benefit of buying in person though is you get to see exactly what you’re purchasing, how different flowers can go together, and what you might enjoy having at your wedding.
The one we have here in Boise is called DWF (this is a franchised company with locations around the country). Again, look online to see what’s available in your area.
Wax Flower in Orange
To wrap it all up, there are a lot of ways to buy flowers locally. With some planning around time of the year, looking at available options in your area, and exploring potential license ended - buying locally can be a great approach!
Whether it’s the farmer’s market, a flower farm, or a local wholesales - all of these are great options to support local business and have fresh seasonal flowers at your wedding.
Now if you’re thinking this option may not be for you and buying online also doesn’t feel quite right, I have one final option I would love to share with you in the coming week - stay tuned!
Keep Blooming,
Amanda Jean
My own floral creation - designed for a baby shower
Part I Wedding Flowers: Buy in bulk online
This 3 part series will help you explore where to purchase wedding flowers. Part I will show you where to purchase flowers online in bulk to help save cost on your floral design.
If you’re been following along the past few weeks, I’ve been talking a lot about wedding flowers. From my own flower journey to what three wedding flower decisions to make first.
By now you likely have a sense of what your wedding flower style is and if you don’t, be sure to take my wedding flower personality quiz. Once you feel solid on your wedding flower style, you’ll need to take the leap into purchasing. Now there are A LOT of options when it comes to how/where you can purchase wedding flowers. Because of this, I will be doing a 3 part blog series on different options.
You will notice of the different options I share, traditional florists will not be on my list. Please know I have nothing against florists. The reason I won’t be including florists in the series is because this option tends to be more expensive and it’s a more obvious choice for wedding flowers. I wanted to focus this series more on unique options that you might not have thought of before.
Today, I’m focusing on the option of buying flowers online in bulk.
Buy online in bulk
This is an option I have used multiple times myself - both with Costco and with Blooms by the Box.
Costco Flowers
For my wedding, we did a combination of a florist (for 3 bouquets and some boutonnieres) and the rest were Costco flowers in bulk (gerberas daisies). We used the daisies for centerpieces and cake flowers.
Gerberas daisy from Costco bulk order
Our wedding 7/10/10 - cake flowers via Costco bulk order of gerberas daisies
Costco has limited options, so if you’re wanting a very specific flower and you’re not willing to bend, then Costco florals might not be the best option for you. If you’re open to what they have available (carnations, daisies, roses, etc.), Costco can be great. They also have lots of bulk greenery options too. They do have a couple collections (see here and here), if putting together your own arrangement feels too intimidating for you. Though honestly, I feel their collections are pretty limited.
If you’re open to creating and you want to dive into floral design, the next option might be a great way for you to go!
Blooms by the Box
When I did the flowers for my younger sister’s wedding in 2019, I went with Blooms by the Box. I found this company online after lots of searching for purchasing options. I really love how easy they make it to search for flowers by style, by color, by flower type, etc. They also have great DIY guides and videos.
Blooms by the box does offer pre-made options, I just love love love being able to pick all the flowers that go into your design. This is where I first came across lisianthus (the purple flowers in the bucket on the left side of the photo below). I find this flower so delicate yet wild. It’s stunning in purple and white too.
Prepping my sister’s wedding flowers in my parent’s garage - circa 2019
The one downside I will share is there were a few flowers I had ordered that they ran out of and replaced with other ones, without my consent. This caused some issues the day of the wedding, as I had built my design off a certain set of flowers. I will say when I called Blooms by the Box about this, they provided great customer service, were very apologetic and refunded the flowers they had substituted without my approval. In the end, it all worked out - as most things do.
Now you’ll see below I went a bit bananas with color and texture on these flowers, but my sister and her partner were all for it. Dahlias, calla lilies, blue thistle, craspedia - swoon.
A bright + bold bridal bouquet I created for my sister’s wedding
Calla lily from Blooms by the Box - I used in my sister’s wedding floral design
Floral corsage cuff I designed for my sister’s wedding
I hope you’re feeling inspired by all the beautiful blooms above and maybe you’re feeling even a little bit brave to try your hand at floral design for your own wedding day. If you’re not feeling convinced buying flowers in bulk online is for you, don’t worry! I have more options coming your way - stay tuned for next week’s blog where we will talk about buying wedding flowers locally or via wholesale.
Keep Creating,
Amanda Jean
3 Decisions to Make Wedding Flowers Easier
Wedding flowers can feel intimidating, but they don’t have to. Start with these 3 decisions to help make your wedding flower design journey easier!
Remember that thing I said last week about spring being so close? Well…I was wrong. It’s snowed 2 inches over the course of several hours. To help keep the hope of spring alive, I’m keeping with the flower theme for today’s blog post as well.
When it comes to wedding flowers, there are soooooo many things to consider. To help support you in narrowing things down in a way that won’t stress you out, I am going to outline the first 3 key wedding flower decisions you need to make.
Once you make these 3 decisions, I promise your wedding flower design process will go smoothly. Let’s jump into those key wedding decisions together!
Key Decision #1: Wedding Flower Style
There are endless style options to choose from with wedding flowers. You can go bold + bright, loose + whimsical, dark + moody, simple + elegant. When it comes to choosing a style, I like to start with the beloved Pinterest for inspiration.
Use keywords to search for wedding flowers and see what grabs your interest.
If you’re holding a summer wedding, search for “summer wedding flowers”. Or you can search by color, if you have one in mind. Search along the lines of “purple wedding bouquets” (or whichever color you are wanting).
Perhaps you have a style in mind such as bohemian or rustic. Those are also great keywords to use when searching as well.
Looking for even more inspiration? See my wedding flower Pinterest board here.
Struggling to figure out your style? Take my wedding flower quiz here!
Once you know your general wedding flower style, you can start narrowing down which flowers you want to include based on the season you’re getting married.
Key Decision #2: Selecting Seasonal Flowers
Using flowers that are in season is a great way to keep a reasonable flower budget for your wedding. Getting married in the winter? It’s going to be really challenging and/or expensive to get sunflowers (more of a late summer/early fall flower). Dying to have peonies? Late spring/early summer would be best. Dahlias are perfect for late summer, early fall.
Now I know you may be wondering, how do you find out which flowers are in season?
There are lots of great resources to help with this! See this article, this TeleFlora post, or this one.
So what if you are getting married in January, but you just have to have lilies? You can get them still of course, it’s just it will cost you a little bit more…which leads me to my final key decision: budget.
Key Decision #3: Budget - DIY vs. Florist (+ more options!)
Budget plays a MAJOR role when it comes to wedding flowers. I’m going to be real honest here, flowers can get expensive if you’re not careful with your budget. When planning your wedding flowers you have 4 options: do-it-yourself, hire a florist, a combination of the two, or renting your flowers (yes, you read that right).
If you have enough flexibility in your budget and you’re not a control freak like me, then going with a florist might be a great approach for you.
If you’re wanting to try your hand at design, or you just can’t find the budget for a florist, then DIY might be the best way to go. Note, if I had been maybe not a baby (20 yrs old) when I got married, I probably would have DIY-ed our wedding flowers.
The third option, which is the option I used for my own wedding (many moons ago), is part DIY and part florist. Only have a set amount for a florist? Hire them to do the wedding bouquets and boutonnieres, then DIY your centerpieces.
Still unsure about the cost of flowers? Consider renting faux flowers. Yes, that’s an option. See here, here and here for some companies that specialize in renting faux wedding flowers. Not the last one is my personal fave, as it originated in Boise, Idaho - showing Boise some love!
Can you tell these flowers are fake? Neither will your
guests! You can rent faux wedding flowers.
Photo Credit: Indee Blooms And Rentals
Now that you’ve considered your wedding flower style (remember to take the quiz!), which flowers are seasonal, and who will be designing your flowers (you, a florist, a rental company, etc.) - you are well on your way to finalizing your wedding flower design plan!
Next post, I’ll share a little more about where to source flowers if you are going the DIY route. I promise, it’s easier to source flowers than you think. Remember, I went from zero experience to designing wedding bouquets for styled photoshoots to designing the flowers for my younger sister’s wedding. If I can do it, you can do it and I will show you how.
Keep Creating,
Amanda Jean
Flowers, A love story
I started playing with floral design in 2018, but when I think about it the seed was planted more in 2011 at the Seattle Pike Place Market. Learn about a little bit about my journey with flowers and how I plan to help make floral design more accessible to all engaged couples looking to design their own wedding.
It’s been incredibly warm here in Boise this weekend. We’re talking in the 60s, which is highly unusual for February.
I feel like seeing the sun has helped reignite all my creative juices. Anytime I go for a walk lately and I see bulb sprouting or colorful crocus, I can’t help but stop and stare. I must have a dozen photos on my phone from the last week of crocus (evidence below). I just can’t resist the allure of warmer weather…spring is coming!
One of my many photos from my recent walks
It’s this kind of weather that has prompted me to reflect back on my love for flowers and where it all began. If I go waaayyyy back, I think it was 2011.
My husband and I were living in Portland at the time and decided to take the train to Seattle to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary. It was there at the Pike Place Market that I remember seeing the most vibrant flowers.
Dozens and dozens of flowers wrapped in paper lined the aisles of the market. Flowers in every color you can imagine, all different sizes and textures - it was invigorating. I remember being so drawn to them, I had to convince myself it was not reasonable to buy flowers to put in the hotel room for our 48 hour stay.
Seattle’s Pike Place Market -
circa 2011
While my initial infatuation might have been planted in 2011, my love for floral design didn’t begin to grow until the oddest of times - the dead of winter. It was December of 2018, about 10 months after my second kiddo was born. Reflecting back on it, I think I had reached my limit of not creating and flowers were an engaging way that allowed me to create (you know, in between my very glamorous life of potty training on kid, breast feeding another, sometimes simultaneously). I had almost zero energy to create anything that I didn’t absolutely have to - all my energy I put into surviving and trying to make each day as good as I possibly could (note - some days that meant microwave dinner and multiple naps) Ironically, by not creating, I think I grew even more exhausted. Someone once told me “the days are long but the years are short”, which is one of the most true things I’ve ever heard about parenting. In 2018, those were some loooooonnnnnnggggg days.
That time in my life when I had 2 kids under 2…they’re adorable yes and I love them of course, and also it was exhausting
Cue December of 2018.
My first creation was a mini arrangement with pine and a few fill-in flowers. I gave one to a friend, who put it on her window sill above her kitchen sink. It ended up being in the background of the photos to sell her house. This tiny little happening helped breathe life back into what had been a very exhausting period of time in my life (whoever says having 2 kids under 2 is fun, I just cannot relate).
Dec. 2018 - My mini arrangement made a special appearance in the real estate photos for my friend’s home sale
That same month my neighbor had invited me to her baby shower (there were A LOT of babies around me at this time in my life). I wasn’t able to attend her shower due to a scheduling conflict and I wanted to still participate somehow, so I gifted her with multiple flower arrangements to help decorate the shower.
Arrangements for my neighbor’s baby shower
In 2019, I really dove into floral design. I planted my first flower garden, created bouquets for 2 styled shoots for a local photographer, and then held my own styled shoot with multiple florals involved. I designed a few bouquets for local businesses and grand openings, as well as centerpieces for the annual Rotary Club fundraising event.
My first ever bridal bouquet - photography by Megan Ryska
My first bridal bouquet - photography by Megan Ryska
Floral arrangements I did for different community events and give aways
2019 also the year my younger sister got married. She graciously allowed me to design her wedding flowers.
Working on my sister’s wedding flowers - circa 2019
Bouquets I did for my little sister’s wedding (loved the raw edge navy blue ribbon)
This was also the year I officially launched Gathered Here Designs. A glorious year! Creating, designing, collaborating - I was so in love with it all.
The original logo I designed from GHD circa 2019
Then 2020 came...and I’m sure you might remember what an absolute blast that year turned out to be {said in the most cynical sarcastic tone imaginable). Weddings were canceled, my business went nowhere (see previous statement about the canceled weddings), my spouse’s new job rescinded their offer because of the pandemic, and everything came to a halt. So I put the business on pause and went to find a job that would allow me to have a positive impact in the lives of others.
In 2021, I started working full time again and the time and space for creating seemed to get farther and farther away.
In 2023, I just couldn’t take it anymore. I had to get back to weddings. At this point it had been 3 years since I touched Gathered Here Designs and even though so much time had passed, I couldn’t get it out of my head. I found myself designing weddings for people and characters that weren’t even happening. My favorite combo from this time period? Elle Woods marries Avril Lavigne - mood board below (you’re welcome).
My Elle Woods + Avril wedding mood board
So I started to create again - I HAD to create again.
In 2023, I reinstated my business license, designed a new website, and jumped back into the world of design that I love so much. I began to feel like myself again. The design started spilling over into all areas of my life. Designing feature walls, making art, redoing my bedroom. This is when I’m happiest, when I’m creating - it’s my life source.
My living room feature wall - just finished this weekend!
With the “relaunch” of Gathered Here Designs, I really wanted to focus on making design accessible to others. Design brings me so much joy and I want others to not be intimidated to give it a try.
I hear a lot of people say things like “Oh I could never do that…” or “I wouldn’t even know where to start…” when it comes to wedding or floral design. My hope is to channel all my design knowledge into a step by step guide to help couples know exactly what design decisions need to be made and how to make them. Through a multi-module online course, couples will be able to learn about key decisions such as choosing colors, and flowers, and how to pull it all together into one cohesive design.
If you’re wanting to design your own wedding and need some extra guidance, this course will be PERFECT for you and your partner. Get on the waitlist here!
Until the course is live, I’m still here to support with any wedding design help you may need. Check out this page for FREE resources.
Not finding what you’re looking for? Feel welcome to email me directly at gatheredheredesigns@gmail.com.
I am THRILLED to be back in the design space and it is an absolute joy to get to share all my design musings (yes, even the silly ones like my Elle Woods/Avril wedding moment) with all of you.
I dare you to create something this week. If you’re not there yet, maybe just go enjoy a spring-is-almost-here walk and perhaps even spot a crocus or two!
~Amanda Jean
