floral: budgets low to none
Beautiful events can be made from very little. Truly. Organization is the key, really. Do you have time? You can do a lot. Do you have a little money? You can do more. Neither time nor money? This is where things get interesting.
Beg, borrow, by all means. Do NOT steal. (Okay. well. except for IDEAS. Steal ALL of those!) Start an assessment: What is the event and where? What do I have? Friends? Neighbors? Relatives? Recycle bin? Garden? Yard? Free Shed? Thrift Store?
All of these things can be called into use for low to no budget creations. Remember to plan for the time needed for amateurs to pick, process and create. It takes more time than you think to do flowers. And more room. And more space that is waterproof. Water, water, EVERYWHERE are the watchwords for floral creation. Buckets and buckets of water and stems cutting, so trash. Wet trash. Then more buckets of water and then spraying things with water. Then more buckets of heavy water…. cool rooms, water— this time for the group who is ostensibly doing arranging, but are actually chatting and looking for snacks. Coolers for finished flowers. These could be the empty coolers formerly housing wine, beer, and waters of the group you pulled together "to do flowers for free.”
Are you laughing? We are laughing. Honestly, if you plan well, hosting a floral arranging party is really super fun. But do your research about what is needed to make your sesh a success.
We do caution to think carefully about asking friends or family to do the flowers as the effort can be more trouble than it is worth. You, yourself, may not have the time to manage a group and it is usually best to leave the flowers, especially the most delicate jobs, to professionals!
If you have been in the floral biz for awhile, you probably have a collection of equipment and containers to draw upon to reuse for events. If you are just starting out, and have a place for storage, start accumulating usable items to reduce the time needed when prepping for events. Stacks of floral buckets in different sizes, sturdy plastic liners, editions of vase types (matching or similar), candle holders, risers… having a stable of these items to draw upon can cut your time and expenses considerably. For some ideas, check out our DIY on a Dollar board on Pinterest.
If you have time and very little to no money, the recycle bin is a great friend. Paper products, string, coffee cans, glass bottles, and glassware are all great candidates for decor for events and weddings. Have you SEEN what they are doing with paper flowers these days? AH MA ZING!
Obviously, thrifting is the way to go for lots of containers and/or vases— plus, also, it is the most sustainable way to go for these items. We encourage all budgeteers to go this direction. Reusing containers saves them from entering landfills and the resources needed to create these items have already been used, so better carbon footprint.
When flowers, destined to be discarded at the conclusion of an event, are flown in from all over the world, it comes at a great environmental cost. For a deeper dive into the impacts, check out this TED Talk: The Environmental Impact of Cut Flowers? Not so Rosy
Handmade tissue paper flowers.
