Georgina Clatworthy

Get with the biggest trend for weddings this year and go with DIY wedding flowers for your reception. DIY details are everywhere at the moment, from flowers to stationery and one of the easiest ideas to undertake is your centrepieces.

Table centrepieces form an integral part of your wedding reception decorations and as your guests will likely be sitting in front of them for some time during the day, you can take great pleasure from all their comments about your beautiful handiwork! Creating things yourself can be immensely satisfying and one of the best ways of introducing unique and personal details into your day.

There is of course a wealth of choices when if comes to DIY wedding flowers, from pretty daisies in jam jars to hand tied posy’s of roses and peonies. Here are some tips to help you create stunning centrepieces to be proud of:

• Pick Wisely: choose flowers and foliage that do not require any expert trimming techniques such as roses or orchids. Some flowers can also drop or wilt very quickly, gerbera’s, tulips and stephanotis can all be tricky flowers to work with.

• Find a Wholesaler: don’t buy flowers direct from a florist as they will cost a fortune, but instead find a local flower wholesaler whom you can work with to get the blooms you want. It is important that you strike a good working relationship with them to ensure you have the wedding flowers you want within a week before the wedding day. If your choice of flowers need time to open make sure you buy them around a week in advance to give them time, but if you have anything with a short shelf life then arrange to pick them up the day before. If you have to store flowers at home for any length of time then choose somewhere cool and dry and if some flowers still need encouragement to open, move them somewhere sunny.

• Production Team: as with other details of your day like wedding favors, DIY elements will probably need a team of helpers to ensure everything is made in time. However, whilst you will no doubt have an army of willing volunteers, do make sure everyone knows exactly what they should be doing and how it should be done. Give everyone a specific task and get a production line going so that each centrepiece comes out looking more or less the same.

• Transport: moving flowers around is a delicate business so you need to think about how you will transport your DIY creations to the reception venue. I recall my mother in law sitting in the back of my mother’s car with a large floral arrangement on her lap! When we arrived at the venue she was covered in pollen from the lilies!! (tip: cut the stamens from lilies as the orange pollen can stain). It maybe an idea to hire a van or use a car where you have plenty of boot space to ensure your flowers arrive in one piece and to avoid you having to make lots of trips backwards and forwards getting them all there!