Should You DIY Your Wedding Flowers? — What One Bride Learned (and How It Changed Everything)

The romance of DIY vs. the unexpected reality.

As a Dallas-Fort Worth wedding florist, I see this question from many couples. For many, DIY wedding flowers start with a simple thought: maybe I can save money while creating something meaningful and personal. Wedding budgets are real, and flowers often feel like one of the easiest places to simplify. 

Many imagine quiet evenings arranging blooms and creating something deeply personal for their wedding day. What they don’t realize is how much time, energy, and mental space floral design takes — especially when life throws a wrench into the works in the final weeks leading up to the celebration.

So let me tell you a story.

Once upon a time in 2021, there was a woman who was planning her wedding for April 2022 that would be at her mother-in-law’s lake house… 3 hours away. Her future sister-in-law, who lived in the same city, had reassured her and volunteered to help her with anything and everything she might need. 

The bride had looked at faux flowers, looked at real flowers… and decided she wanted real flowers. She went to a few florist consultations, not knowing what to expect. And she knew what colors she wanted for her wedding palette, but not much else. So when the florists asked “Well, what do you want?” …she didn’t have an answer. “I need a bridal bouquet, a boutonniere for our officiant, a flower crown…” Basically, they were doing inventory. They said, “What flowers do you want?” I don’t know! I don’t know what flowers come in these colors! I just want it to be pretty… They asked about quantities and logistics, not the feeling or vision the bride was trying to create (This is exactly why I now guide my couples through a collaborative design process - helping them discover their vision even when they don't yet know how to describe it). Then when the estimates came back… well, she went Forget this, I’ll do-it-myself!

So she was on Fifty Flowers and Flower Moxie and Pinterest and YouTube constantly.  She had spreadsheets for EVERYTHING - flower recipes, stem counts, supplier comparisons, delivery timetables… She had read every  blog post, watched every YouTube tutorial… she was convinced she had thought of everything. 

Then, in January, her sister-in-law rescinded her offer to help with anything. 

Suddenly, what had felt exciting and creative started to feel heavy — like she had quietly taken on a second full-time job without realizing it.

That’s okay! I’m a teacher! I herd kittens all day even when there’s a fire drill and one of them throws up in the middle of a lesson! I can do this!

And besides all that… she was EXCITED! She loved flowers and always had. She spent all night every night for months learning about flowers, analyzing arrangements she liked, and even consulted with professionals to find out the information she couldn’t find readily available on the internet. She finalized the recipes she would use. She placed her orders. She bought all the flower food, flower snips, stem wire, floral foam, lomey dishes, chicken wire, ribbon, floral tape, finishing spray, floral glue, boutonniere pins, jars, and BUCKETS (so many buckets. Buckets for DAYS.). She was READY!

Then, at the beginning of April (2 weeks left util the big day!), her fiance was in a motorcycle accident. He had a shattered collarbone, a concussion, torn muscles, bruises, lacerations… but he was alive and would fully recover. Yet, recovery was ROUGH. After a week of barely-sleeping (his medications had to be taken on weird schedules)... it was one week until the big day and she hadn’t looked at any wedding stuff AT ALL.

The officiant was calling asking for finalized vows. The dogs needed to be kenneled. All the final bills were due. Timelines and logistics had to be figured out (who was picking up the cake? Who was going to get the chairs and tables set up? How many cars were being driven from point A to point B, and once the bride and groom left the wedding, would there be an extra vehicle somewhere and no one to get it back to where it was supposed to be?). She hadn’t finalized time off work because of the motorcycle accident. She had to work the whole week until wedding day and had little time for flowers. 

Yet, the flowers arrived Tuesday, as ordered. She ran home after school Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday to cut, and clean, and refresh water, and re-cut, and soak foam, and green out arrangement vessels, and get things ready to go in the cars to drive 3 hours… PLUS all of the wedding things too, not just the flowers! The dress, the honeymoon baggage, the ceremony things, the reception pieces, printouts of all the contracts, the marriage license, the rings… 

She told herself It’s okay, it’s under control - even when she knew she was running on adrenaline. 

By the time it was wedding day…

1. The bride hadn’t slept more than 5 hours a night.

2. The groom was still in loads of pain from the motorcycle accident (he insisted on keeping the same date and not delaying) and also probably hadn’t slept more than 5 hours a night

3. Only half of the table arrangements were made. The bouquet still had to be done. The flower girl crown was finished! But the arch also hadn’t been decorated yet.

On wedding day, an hour before the ceremony was to start, the photographer showed up and the bride was still in her pajamas (hair and makeup done, but in pajamas), finishing the arch (everything else but the other half of the table arrangements were finished). God bless that photographer, because she dragged the bride down, got her an energy drink, and got her to PUT ON THE DRESS AND GET ON WITH IT! 

And the wedding was beautiful, even without half of the table and aisle arrangements. It was beautiful, even though it wasn’t perfect, and the bride and groom lived happily ever after. 

Epilogue: Whatever happened to the bride? 

Still, to this day, the bride kicks herself a little over all of the lost hours upon hours of time, energy, stress… and not being able to pull off the flowers 100% like she wanted! She did the math and figured out that she spent:

• Over $2,000 on flowers. She way overspent, because 1) she overbought, because she was not sure how many flowers she needed for each arrangement and worried she wouldn’t have enough, and 2) she didn’t even make half of the arrangements she intended to make because she ran out of time. For the arrangements that were actually produced, she had purchased about 3x the amount of flowers she actually needed.

• Easily over 350 hours of time researching everything she needed to learn, planning, checking her work, sourcing flowers, and placing orders. And that’s not including the amount of time the week-of, which was…

• 38 direct hands-on hours with the flowers - picking up, unboxing, cleaning, hydrating, conditioning, arranging, transporting, unloading, more arranging, and setting-up.  And it wasn’t enough time for everything she wanted done. Plus 64 additional hands-off hours of $2000 worth of flowers occupying over 200 sq ft of space. 

• $0 on the arch - her father-in-law made it. 0 hours on teardown and clean up, because her family was nice enough to do it. 

TOTAL:  Over $2,000, over 380 hours of active time, and over 100 hours of time housing over 200 sq ft of flowers. 

Looking back, the flowers she actually created would have cost less through a florist — and achieving her full vision would only have been slightly more.

And yet, in the midst of all the chaos, something unexpected happened.

Even after the exhaustion, the spreadsheets, the late nights, and the chaos of wedding week… She loved it. She loved the design process. Working hands-on to create. The way the movement and scent and natural beauty of fresh flowers transformed the atmosphere of the day. So she decided to pursue floristry. She started her own wedding & event florist business. 

That bride? It was me. 

And that’s how Emilee Blooms began. 

What I Learned

Loving flowers is different from managing wedding florals.

Flowers require significantly more time than most people expect.

Logistics multiply quickly - and become overwhelming - especially in the final week.

Wedding week energy matters more than perfect details.

Unexpected life events change priorities.

I don’t share this story to discourage creativity or meaningful personal touches. And while DIY can be meaningful and beautiful for the right celebrations, I learned firsthand how easily the logistics can pull you out of the experience you’ve been dreaming. Weddings are filled with moments you can never recreate. When your vision becomes more complex — or when life throws unexpected moments your way — having a professional allows you to stay present instead of carrying the weight of every detail yourself. 

Today, my goal isn’t simply to create beautiful florals — it’s to give couples the freedom to be fully present. To laugh, to breathe, to soak in every moment, knowing someone else is carrying the details with care.

Whether you are dreaming of a fully-custom floral design experience or a simplified approach like Mini Meadow, my goal is simple — to help you be present for the moments that matter most.

Begin Your Floral Story