This is a thread that was started in our old BlissWeddings.com forums by casmom93 on 11/19/05. Feel free to add your comments by pressing Post Reply.
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posted by lilhoney1976
I am thinking about using silk flowers as opposed to real flowers because I was told that they are cheaper.Is this true? Has anyone out there used them and if so, were you pleased? To be honest, I've never actually seen them in person, I'm just trying to do what's cost efficient and if that is the route I need to take then I will. Also, are silk flowers much like real flowers?
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posted by Sereniti71
Hi lilhoney,
My sister and my wedding coordinator both used silk flowers. They looked nice in the pictures and were about half as much as real flowers. However, you could tell they weren't real at the wedding. My personal opinion is that real flowers look (and of course smell) better than silk ones, but silk flowers are a good second best. It just depends on what your budget will allow.
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posted by syringa
Whether silk flowers are less expensive will depend on whether you can make the bouquets and corsages yourself. If you need to have them professionally made, they will cost just about as much as real flowers because of the labor.
As mentioned by the previous poster, unless you choose quality and realistic silks, they will look obviously artifical in your photos and to your guests. For instance, flowers don't come in green and few flowers come in blue, but you can find many silk flowers in green and in blue, thus making it very clear that they are not real.
If someone has allergies, then silk is definitely a good choice. Otherwise, you may want to compare costs. Well arranged silks can look as nice as real flowers.
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posted by TheaterDiva1
I made our bouquets myself w/ silk flowers and it was way less expensive (though I saved more on labor than material) The holders were $6 each (seashells), and the flowers (lilies) were $2-3 each. You also get more variety since fresh flowers only come in certain colors (mine was multi-colored). You can also get a scented spray (sold at craft stores) to put on them to smell real (my wedding was two months ago, and you can still smell the spray!)
-Maggie
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posted by HeatherR
I was able to find a woman in my area that created silk flower bouquets. They were about half the cost and were gorgeous. The bridesmaids were also happy b/c they got to keep them afterward. I asked her to use real flowers for the bouts however, it was just too small and looked fake with the silk.
I had white rose silks and they defintiely looked real...
Heather
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posted by kirstin
My mom did all of the flower arrangments with silk flowers and they are great they look real. She did a wonderful job and they were very inexpensive.
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posted by Marge129
I don't see anything wrong with silk flowers. Just be careful. My sister was in a wedding with silk flowers and the bride had scented them or something so they'd smell real and my sis said it was AWFUL! I thought about using silk for my wedding and she threw a fit. I ended up using real (which was really fine with me, I love real flowers)
Also, be careful, my friend's MIL made her arrangements out of silk flowers and they were by far the tackiest thing I've ever seen. Have a professional use their GOOD silk flowers if you choose to go that route.
Margie
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posted by HeatherR
Yes! Good point Margie. I had the florist make me an exact bouquet of what I wanted before I even hired her. If he or she is any good, they should do this for free...
Heather
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posted by blueyes
Where did you get your flowers?
My mom did all of the flower arrangments with silk flowers and they are great they look real. She did a wonderful job and they were very inexpensive.
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posted by lilhoney1976
I apologize ladies for not posting in my own question forum. I've been going through a lot lately-funerals left and right. Anyway, thanks for the great advice. I'm strongly considering going with the majority and using silk flowers.Oh, by the way, I have this book I purchased from Barnes and Noble.It's called, "Bridal Bargains: Secrets to Throwing a Fantastic Wedding on a Realistic Budget". It is absolutely fantastic! Anyway, in the section for flowers, they list a bunch of websites that you can actually order flowers from for dirt cheap! I want roses and I viewed one of the websites they recommended for roses. At first I wasn't too keen on the idea of purchasing flowers off the internet. However, I have to admit that I was impressed. On this particular website,they even send you a sample bouquet of roses to show you what their work is like. These flowers are a fraction of the cost because I found that you are eliminating the middle man and actually purchasing from the source. Their flowers come complete with baby's breath and everything. The only catch is that on that particular website(not sure about the others) you have to put the bouquets together yourself. But, who cares? If I can get bouquets for my entire bridal party for about $100 to $125 as opposed to $300 and up, I don't mind putting in a little work and I'll have my bridesmaids and honor maids helping too. They ship the flowers Fedex like 1-800-Flowers,complete with instructions on how to keep the flowers fresh. They also offer refunds if service is not satisfactory! So, this is another option for me. But, thanks for all your advice because I haven't ruled that out either.
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posted by syringa
If you have a Costco in your area, they usually have a floral section where you can order flowers and you can see what the quality of the flowers will be before you order them.
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posted by candy022605
The can be cheaper, depending on where you get them and what you buy. My wedding color scheme is shades of blue- my dress has a very pale blue (about the same as the march birthstone), and my bridesmaid's dresses are a little darker than a royal blue. I found flowers at Garden Ridge that range from the blue in my dress to a little darker than the blue in the bridesmaid's dresses. I ended up making 2 boutennieres, 2 small corsages, 3 bridesmaid's bouquets & my throw-away bouquet for less that $20.00, and that includes 3 bouquet holders from Hobby Lobby with the satin around the edges, white roses, small light blue roses, the flowers that fade from light to dark blue (they look like hydrangeas) and some non-floral thins, like small blue and white bows, & some silver hearts that I had left from craft stuff.
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posted by bebe0315
A good website for wholesale flowers online is
www.flowerbud.com If you are going to spend the time putting together 'silk' flowers, you may as well spend that time putting together fresh flowers for your bouquets, or even ceremony/reception arrangements. Their grand boxes are great, or you can go to their bulk pricing page and get pricing there. For another type of flowers, try
http://www.hawaiiflowerlei.com/index.html. They have beautiful orchid and leaf leis as well as loose fresh orchids. I have actually ordered from these folks before so I can personally recommend them, and I can tell you the delivery was on time and in perfect condition. I had a girls get-together and we made orchid lei's from the purple and white orchids - there were more than enough flowers for 8 leis. I am planning to order some of the loose white orchids to scatter down the aisle and the reception tables for my wedding.
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posted by HeatherN
I used silks, and yes, they were cheaper.
Silk Flowers?
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