I made the final decision to take on the “fun” and “stressful” responsibility of DYI’ing my daughter’s wedding florals and I had 11 months to prepare. Aside from that, I also accepted the challenge to make her veil. I was thinking to myself, “what did I get myself into?” However, the excitement of making this project extra special for my only child and my love for surprises and creating new stuff conquered my fear.
Here’s what I was going to make at least during the last 2 days before the Sunday wedding. So I have to keep in mind that during my preparation, I will be able to estimate how much time it takes for each specific item and how many helpers I will need.
Here we go:
1 Bridal Bouquet
8 Maid of Honor and Bridesmaids
1 Groom’s Boutonniere
8 Best Man and Groomsmen’s Boutonnieres
2 Moms’ Wrist Corsages
2 Dads’ Boutonnieres
2 Grandmothers’ Wrist Corsages
2 Ministers’ Corsages
10 Male Principal Sponsors Boutonnieres (Ninong)
10 Female Principal Sponsors Wrist Corsages (Ninang)
4 Junior Bridesmaids and Flower Girls Flower Crowns
1 Eternity Arbour in the garden wedding ceremony
24 Dining Table Center pieces
1 Head Table Center piece
1 Staircase
In summary, there will be 23 boutonnieres, 24 center pieces, 14 wrist corsages, 9 bouquets and one big arbour and one staircase for the most part. There were going to be 240 families and friends.
I established a working timeline and was determined to be able to stick to my goal of making this event a memorable one for me and my team who embarked on this journey armed with only our zest and our drive to make our loved ones happy. As a nature lover, I focused my thoughts on how different blooms and foliage are just scattered in different spots in the forest but there was always order in that diversity. I wanted to fuse the flowers and the greenery whether natural or man-made into a wonderful variegation of just simple but elegant arrangements that reflect the character and personality of my daughter and her groom.
Though the job seemed too daunting, I just hoped that things will just come together and this timeline helped a lot.
TIMELINE:
Month 1: Surfing for tutorials, gathering photos, preparing my checklist for the different projects
Month 2: Reviewing all gathered information and eliminating unwanted ones
Month 3: Checking for resources for all my flower and non-flower supplies
Month 4: Visiting flower suppliers and recruiting helpers
Month 5: Ordering non-flower supplies and scouting for Airbnb
Month 6: Contacting flower wholesale suppliers and local growers; joining bridal shows
Month 7: Reviewing the designs, finalizing the colour palette and finalizing flower orders
Month 8 -10 : Beading the veil and practice, practice, practice
Month 11: Finalizing the schedule of deliveries and the transport of flowers and supplies
Last week of the last month: SHOWDOWN!
The first and most important project that I practiced on was the bridal bouquet.
Read my next post DIY'ing My Daughter's Weeding Florals Part 2 for the details.
