This will probably be the last post about my wedding. And I am sure a lot of you will let out a sigh of relief, because “How much longer do we have to sit here and listen to you blabbering?”

Anyways, this is going to be a tip that I read in “Priceless Weddings Under $5,000″. And the tip is going to be about flowers!

I know every bride wants her wedding to be a place where flowers come to die. As sarcastic as I may sound now, this was a true fact about me as well. I wanted flowers, loads of them, and I knew I couldn’t afford to pay more than $200 dollars for them. So off to Costco I went. (If there is a Sam’s Club in your area that works too) Now, Sam and I don’t have membership, but his parents do, so we convinced his mom to take us a couple weeks before the wedding, so that we could buy some food and also scout for the flowers. In Minnesota Costco carries bunches of roses (24 count) for $16.99. Needless to say I got the woman’s phone number (because there is a separate person who is in charge of the flowers!) and called her a week before the wedding to place an order for 7 bunches of red roses. We came to pick them up on Saturday morning, and I also got a bunch of ivory ones.  So there we go 8 x 16.99 plus tax came around to about – $140! And there we go – I didn’t go over budget or anything. Now I made my own bouquet, and the center pieces. Here are some pics of what I managed to put together the night before the wedding:

Now for the center pieces:

I got the smaller bowl-like vases at my favorite Salvation Army (Yes, the one in Warehouse District) and they were all either 99 cents or 50 cents. The vase fillers came from Family Dollar – clear ones were 60 cents a bag and red ones were a dollar a bag – I got 2 bags of each. Ribbon cots 50 cents and came from Michael’s, I used 2 spools.

Now about the pearly while inserts I used in the girls’ bouquets. I made them all by myself. Here is what you need:

1. Beads – I used Crystazzi from Michael’s – there is a ton in the pack for only $3.99 and I knew I would use them for my future craft projects.

2. Then I used floral wire in silver – I think it was $1.99 from Michael’s

3. All you got to do is cut the wire into pieces (about 10-12 inches long – or depending on the hight of your bouquet), pull it through the bead and wrap it around a few times. Now the wire will either give you blisters, or you are gonna end up scratching yourself a few times. So I suggest either truing to be very careful, or making these a week before the wedding – so that your hands have time to heal! And you are done!

Now for the bouquets I also used floral tape (3 spools for $1.99 and wide ribbon – 2 spools – one red and one ivory – $2.99 and pins – the ones I am now reusing in my sewing projects )

So here you have it – I have told you all about my DIYs for the wedding. I can honestly say that from all the wedding experience that I had, I can’t help but agree with my friend Bri – Always, I repeat ALWAYS, hire a good photographer!