Have you or do you know someone who has grown their own wedding flowers?

We are getting married in the spring and we wanted gerbera daisies at first. But we are trying to spend as little as possible and still make it pretty. We are wanting it to feel and look like an old fashioned country wedding with a small old church and just a few people.





What would be the easiest flowers to grow in pots ourselves that would be ready for cutting in April? Oh, and they have to make a 500 mile trip. lol

Have you or do you know someone who has grown their own wedding flowers?
no, i have not heard of it, but it sounds very sweet and personal. :)
Reply:April will be pretty early to manage to have planted flowers in bloom. There would probably be wild daisies blooming around here (western NC) Roses might bloom in April, hydrangeas not until later. And those types of flowers take a few years to establish. Annuals wouldn't have time to grow big enough to flower by April.





Depending on where you are, you might find some wild flowers. The best bet will probably be the local supermarket. You can buy mixed bouquets and design your own centerpieces and bouquets. The mixed colors would go great with an informal country wedding.





The idea of buying potted flowers is good, and gerberas sound lovely. At a garden center, you could get them for a few dollars a pot.
Reply:LOL..you are asking for a miracle my friend. You do not have to stick with just gerbers...you can use all forms of daisys. Whatever you chose, put them on ice (protect them from the ice but keep them cold) Put the end of their stems in cold water. Use an ice chest to transport them. Very cold temperatures keep flowers fresh and it causes them to lock into whatever state they are in at the time you put them on ice.
Reply:Maybe you should just consider buying potted flowers instead. You can use them, pots and all, as your centerpieces and also as wedding favors. And you can probably buy the potted flowers from a local greenhouse in the place where you're having the wedding instead of transporting them 500 miles.
Reply:I did know one couple that grew their own flowers...but he was a professional gardener and she was an enthusiastic amateur who had a lot of experience.





If you don't have a lot of experience with growing plants, then this isn't a route I'd recommend for you...but I'd say if you still want to try, then go talk to the professionals at your local nursery and get advice from them on planting, raising, and transporting blooms that will delight you on your wedding day.





But if there's the slightest doubt that this will work out, then be sure to have a backup plan in place.
Reply:My best friend did. She had gerber daisies and sunflowers. Sunflowers took no time to grow and grow like weeds. You can't kill them. Gerber daisies take a little more time but if you are remotely good with flowers, they are nothing compared to roses or lilies. Use several pots so they have room to grow. Keep them in the pot when you transport them. Don't cut them until right before the wedding if you can. She used tussie mussie for her bouquet so that the edges didn't have to be wrapped and used the sunflowers as centerpieces.





For a country wedding its great!





I've also had a friend who used hydrangeas. She only cut 6 blooms off each bush that her neighbors had (those bushes had been around forever though). It was plenty for the whole wedding and she said they held up for an entire day since she had them floating in water (with just a tad bit of bleach in--but I wouldn't add the bleach until after I'd transported it.) I have also allowed a neighbor to cut holly off our bush for her wedding. My grandparents have had a neighbor cut off the huge blooms off their magnolia tree for a big event.





Just look at whatever grows easily in your area and perhaps ask neighbors if you could have a bloom or two from their bushes. Most don't care unless you are taking EVERY bloom.
Reply:My thumb is the opposite of green.





I've heard gerbras are decently easy to grow


I know with Hydrangeas one bush can give you quite a few blooms and depending on the PH you keep them in you can get several colors.


You could do any fruit tree and decorate with something like cherry blossoms





Honestly though, you are taking a big, big risk and you won't be saving that much. You don't have to go to a "florist" there are online wholesalers that send the flowers whever you want, and places like sam's club or the grocery store have beautiful flowers you can make easy arrangements yourself (just give them a heads up that you are going to clear out the department)





For us we're going to the nursery a few days before to get some flowering bushes or perhaps a few flats of the annuals like petunias they always sell on the cheap. We may accent with some fresh cut flowers or silks but I'm leaving the stress to the pros on that one.
Reply:Do you like geraniums? I grew these in long terra cotta pots in my condo in Chicago-they were gorgeous. When I moved to Germany, my realtor asked if she could have them, they were that pretty. Just put them on a window sill that gets plenty of sunlight.
Reply:I don't know what flowers to tell you to use. But I think this is a very romantic wonderful idea.
Reply:thats funny