CLICK HERE to jump to instructions on how to make each type of arrangement
Planning your Arranging Day & Collecting Your Materials
The process of assembling all of your flowers is a big undertaking, and will require preparation on your part to make sure that instead of a stressful last-minute frenzy, arranging is a well-planned and exciting activity in the final days leading up to your wedding!!!
We will cut your flowers either the day before or the day-of your pickup, so they will be at most 24-hours old. They’ll be stored in optimal conditions to stay looking fresh as long as possible. We recommend picking up and arranging your flowers no sooner than 3 days before your wedding.
We’re providing you with flowers that are as fresh as they come to start with, but remember you must protect them from heat and wind as you’re transporting them from the farm; and you must have access to a cooler, an empty fridge, or a dark, air conditioned room to keep everything in until the day of your wedding! More detailed care instructions below.
How long will it take to arrange my wedding flowers?
Longer than you think!
When Dan and I were planning our Friday wedding, I thought we’d cut our flowers on Tuesday, arrange them Wednesday, and be done. Despite my mom's wisdom that it would take longer than I thought, I really didn't know what I was getting into. We wound up arranging flowers in small windows of free time that we could fit in on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday! My husband got recruited into making the groomsmen’s boutonnieres last minute.
The reason the process stretched out so long for us was that, even though I knew exactly what arrangements I wanted, we hadn’t practiced making what we wanted ahead of time, so we were figuring out how to do things during crunch time. I also hadn’t arranged for enough help from the bridal party, because I didn’t have a good idea ahead of time how long it was going to take to make each arrangement. (A big thanks to our friend Amy at Wild Floweress Design Co for all of her last minute help and instructions.)
How to avoid this being a stressful part of your wedding?
If this is your first time doing flower arranging, it’s crucial that you practice ahead of time to get a feel for how to do what you want to do with your flowers; how long that takes to accomplish; and how many hands you’ll need to do it in the time you have available (for example, four hours on one afternoon before the wedding).
We spent many, many hours finding some of the clearest and simplest tutorials out there for the most common DIY wedding arrangements. All of those links are below. Spend some time learning and practicing yourself by following those, and you’ll have a much better sense for how much time and how much help you’ll need when it comes to crunch time.
Collecting Everything You Need!
It will be very important to have gathered all of the other materials you need so that when the big flower arranging day comes, you and your team of family and/or friends are ready to go. Here’s your checklist!
A team of helpers!
Whether this is your bridesmaids, family members, or other friends, having lots of helping hands that work well together and want everything to go smoothly will be part of the memories of how everyone came together to make the day so special.
Practice ahead of time
We’ll say it again! If you have never arranged flowers before, buy some silk flowers or cheap/discounted flowers ahead of time and practice things like assembling a bouquet in a spiral and wiring flowers for corsages. Learn how in the collection of videos below - this will help you get a feel for the process and will remind you ahead of time if there is anything else you need!
A plan for arranging day and for storing your flowers
See “How to Care for your Dahlias” below for advice for your timeline and for DIY storage requirements to keep your flowers looking fresh for the big day!
A clear checklist of all of the arrangements that need to be made.
Having a list written out will help you ensure nothing is forgotten. You don’t want to forget anybody’s bridesmaid bouquet or boutonniere and leave them feeling slighted!
A clean workspace.
A garage, kitchen, or backyard where the flowers will be stored is ideal (see below for storage/care instructions). Set up as much table or counter space as possible.
Prepare the vases or other vessels that you are using to store bouquets and build arrangements in.
Make sure all of your vases/floral vessels are clean and watertight ahead of time.
Be creative - bouquets can be stored in vases or other dishware that you already have on hand and take out the morning of the wedding. You can find lots of inexpensive vase options or dishware that can be used as vessels available online as well as at thrift stores.
Collect all of your flowers and greenery
Pick up your Dahlias from Sunset View Farm!
Plan to purchase/pickup/cut your filler and greenery on the same day that you are doing your arranging.
Like preparing all of the ingredients for baking a cake, having all of your focal flowers, filler flowers, and greenery clearly organized will help the process go smoothly.
Collect any other special materials specific to your floral plans
This includes things like stands/pillars to place altar arrangements on, church pew aisle floral clips, fabric or drapery, anything else that is part of the floral display that is not the flowers themselves!
Collect all of the other floral supplies needed
Floral Supplies Recommended
Vases/vessels
Including those used for display during the wedding and vessels used for storage. This may include compotes, bud vases, bowls, tall vases, glasses, jars, etc…
Chicken wire
We recommend the chicken wire method as the base structure for building arrangements. Read step-by step instructions here https://www.thehidencollective.com/blogs/news/chicken-wire
Wire cutters
Sharp, clean floral snips
Floral tape
Florist wire
Ribbon to wrap Boutonnières and corsage stems
Ribbon/fabric to wrap stems of bridal bouquet and bridesmaid bouquets
Rubber bands
Spray bottle
Boutonniere pins
Large tupperware or plastic storage bin to create your “hydration chamber” (see details for making this in care instructions below)
Paper towels
Buckets
Bleach
Water
Arrangement Guide
Dahlia Bridal Bouquet
Amount of Dahlias Needed: Bridal Bouquets typically contain 15-20 focal flowers.
If you are using primarily large dinnerplate varieties in your bridal bouquet, you will need fewer dahlias (3-7).
To Note:
For your DIY wedding, this will likely be the most photographed and most treasured arrangement of the day! While this may be the first thing you want to make, we recommend waiting and making this bouquet after you have gotten more practice and skill while making bridesmaids bouquets!
Resources:
Good, clear instructional video on how to create a bridal bouquet in the spiral method: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h32KjkHbphQ
Guide for a Large Dahlia Bouquet with approx. 20 focal flowers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mp8muzVgC8Y
Dahlia Bridesmaid Bouquet
Amount of Dahlias Needed: The amount of dahlias in your bridesmaid bouquet can vary widely depending on your style choice.
If you are opting for a single large bloom bouquet, you could have as few as 1 dahlia. With smaller blooms or more traditional bouquet styles, plan for 7-10.
To Note:
Bridesmaid bouquets are traditionally a smaller version of the bridal bouquet, but whatever you think will look nice, goes!
Keep your bouquets in water up until the ceremony, but make sure to pack a towel to dry off the stems so that no water drips onto your bridesmaids’ dresses!
If your bridesmaids help on floral arranging day, it can be lots of fun to design their own bouquet with your flowers!
Resources:
Very good video with professional florists giving easy-to follow tips on how to hand-tie a bouquet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3b9UnDK1fQ
Tutorial with advice for making bridesmaid bouquets specifically: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RaQfBiRfNk
Dahlia Boutonniere
Amount of Dahlias Needed: 1 Dahlia per Boutonniere
To Note:
Depending on your wedding style, your groom can have a unique flower color in his boutonniere or he can match his groomsmen.
While “pocket square boutonnieres” have been recently on trend, these take much longer than traditional boutonnieres to create and can be fiddly to make! If you plan to do this, plan to take around 30 minutes getting the details to look exactly how you want them! (You will also need floral glue and cardstock.)
Resources:
Boutonniere-making tutorial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vZ7sNfWkrs&t=38s
Pocket-Square Boutonniere tutorial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TphXESyjbKo
How to pin on a boutonniere
Dahlia Corsage
Amount of Dahlias Needed: 1-2 Dahlias per corsage
To Note:
The simplest way to make corsages is the ribbon/tie on method - no floral glue or cuff required!
Resources:
A wonderfully simple and clear video showing every step of how to make a ribbon corsage
Dahlia Bud Vases
Amount of Dahlias Needed: Bud vases are a great way to use blooms sparingly with maximum impact! We recommend 1-3 blooms per bud vase
To Note:
Bud vases are easy to find in bulk online, both new and used.
If you are using bud vases in your ceremony aisle, choose vases with a large opening lip and tie them on to the pews or chairs using ribbon!
Resources:
Bud vase-making video with and without greenery, as well as guidance on how to style bud vase centerpieces
Bud vase tutorial using dahlias. Instructions begin at 7:05 in this video!
Dahlia Centerpiece (Round/Compote style)
Amount of Dahlias Needed: Larger round compote styles call for anywhere between 10-15 focal flowers, but you can use less if you have more filler or larger blooms!
To Note:
Use this round style if the tables at your venue are circular. For longer rectangular banquet tables, use rectangle vessels or bud vases as centerpieces instead.
Get creative with the vessels you use to hold your flowers - if it matches your style, things like teapots or ceramic bowls can make a great replacement for more expensive floral compotes
Resources:
Tutorial for building a round centerpiece using a flower frog (could also be done with chicken wire)
Centerpiece arrangement with 10 focal stems
Centerpiece arrangement with 15 focal stems
Dahlia Statement Arrangement
Amount of Dahlias Needed: Depending on the size of a large arrangement, this could be anywhere from 10+ stems.
To Note:
This would include large arrangements for the entryway of your ceremony, standout arrangements at the altar during your ceremony, a large arrangement on your sweetheart table, and anywhere else you want a large show of beautiful blooms to decorate the space!
Resources:
Professional florist tutorial for building a large statement arrangement with approx. 15 dahlias using chicken wire method and large greenery https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-pBPhXlJrM
Dahlia Flower Crown
Amount of Dahlias Needed: This is very style-dependent, and could range anywhere from 1 to 10 depending on how delicate or how much of a statement piece you're making!
To Note:
Dahlias hold up well for flower crowns!
Choose from either large blooms for a large "Frida Kahlo" style or smaller pompon varieties for a more delicate look. If you are wanting small pompon (1-2” blooms) please specify and we will try to include smaller blooms in your order.
Resources:
Tutorial for a simple and easy adjustable, ribbon tied flower crown https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltqjzx69ogM
Bonus inspo... Dahlias on your cake!
Dahlias are edible and food safe, and are a great option for adding flowers to your wedding cake!
Ready to start planning your DIY wedding floral arrangements with dahlias? See the Full Guide to answer any of your other questions, or reach out to Emma at 303-929-6386 or emma@sunsetviewfarm.com.
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