Table of Contents
Dahlia Arrangement Resource Guide
Planning your arranging day
Floral Supplies and Other Materials
Arrangement Guide
You might think that marrying a man who grows thousands of dahlias for a living would make DIYing your wedding flowers is a no brainer, but Dan and I learned the hard way that growing dahlias and arranging them are two very different skills! This guide will share some of the lessons we learned from doing our own wedding flowers with dahlias while answering any questions you have about using these gorgeous flowers for your own wedding.
How many bloom buckets do I need for my wedding?
This depends on how you plan to use the dahlias in your arrangements! Each bucket is filled by volume rather than by stem amount, but we ensure they always contain 16-25 stems! We have tips below on how to make what you get stretch as far as possible even with a small floral budget.
The simple answer is that you’ll need to put together a list of what kind of arrangements you want first, and then decide how many dahlias you want in each arrangement.
We put together this spreadsheet to help you organize and plan your flowers. On there, you can fill in amounts of each arrangement and the amounts of dahlias per arrangement - it will total up how many overall stems you need, the total amount of buckets, and the cost.
See the Dahlia Arrangement Resource Guide below for recommended amounts of dahlias in each arrangement, and a list of great free video tutorials and blog posts with step by step instructions on making different arrangements, created by talented florists.
What colors or forms of dahlias will come in my Bloom Bucket?
While the specific blooms in your bucket will ultimately be farmer’s choice from what we have available in our fields, they’ll all be in line with the specific color family you’ve ordered.
Color Options
For our bloom buckets, we have grouped our blooms into four color families for you to choose from:
Lights & Blushes
Contains dahlias ranging in color from white to light pink
Shades of blush, pastel pink, cotton candy, bubble gum, pearl, powder…
Purples & Pinks
Contains dahlias ranging in color from bright purple to complementary hot pinks.
Shades of violet, mauve, lilac, lavender, magenta, raspberry, fuschia…
Reds & Pinks
Contains dahlias ranging in color from our deepest reds to complementary hot pinks.
Shades of scarlet, merlot, crimson, cherry, rose, magenta, fuschia….
Oranges & Peaches
Contains dahlias ranging in color from a citrus orange color to softer pink/yellow peach.
Shades of tangerine, amber, apricot, salmon, coral, ochre…
Mixed
Contains an assorted mixture of dahlias combining any of the above color palettes based on what is available in our fields!
Size & Form Options
We have more than 350 different varieties of dahlias in our fields, that all come in unique forms, colors, and sizes. In your bloom bucket, we’ll include a variety of both sizes and forms based on the color family you have selected.
If there is a particular form that you would like more or less of in your bucket, we will do our best to accommodate requests, but this again will be based on what we have growing out in the fields!
To see the different types of forms we have available, look through the categories listed on our dahlia tuber shop:
If you do not request a specific size, most of the blooms in your bucket will be between 4-6” wide, but can range anywhere from 2.5" to 8".
The largest blooms, known as “dinnerplates”, like Cafe Au Lait (pictured below), usually grow up to 8”.
Floral Arranging Basics
Growing flowers and arranging flowers are two very different skills! We will share the basics here, but we encourage you to spend time watching the free professional quality resources we have collected in the Dahlia Arrangement Resource Guide below!
Making your own bouquets yourself or with your wedding party can be one of the most fun and memorable parts of the lead up to your big day, but if you’ve never done something like this before, you’ll need to learn a few basic principles ahead of time, and practice!
If you are putting together all of the arrangements for your wedding without much floral experience, we recommend practicing ahead of time with silk flowers or discounted grocery flowers.
To note - if you're wanting the simplest & easiest arrangements, jump here for options without filler or foliage.
You’ll learn more watching the tutorials we’ve included, but here are a few universal points to get you started:
The three basic floral arrangement ingredients
When you're planning your DIY arrangements, you'll want:
Focal Flowers: the large, standout blooms that your eye is most drawn to.
Dahlias are focal flowers! They are highly versatile, and can be used in any type of floral arrangement.
Filler Flowers: smaller, cheaper, complementary blooms that add more color and shape and to fill in any empty visual spaces.
Greenery: foliage serves as the foundation for most arrangements and adds texture and fullness.
Three Acre Farm has a great post about how FOCAL + FILLER + FOLIAGE = COMPLETE BOUQUET. "Most beginners... wonder why their bouquets look nothing like the full, lush arrangements they see on Pinterest (Three Acre Flowers)."
Photo Credit: Three Acre Farm
Add ingredients to bouquets in odd numbers
When putting together arrangements like bouquets, centerpieces, or decorative pieces, odd numbers of stems make bouquets look more natural and aesthetically pleasing. For example, when making a small centerpiece, we would recommend using 5 or 7 stems of greenery (depending on how full/leafy it is), 5 filler flower stems, and a minimum of 3 focal flowers.
Don’t forget to strip and cut your stems
DIY arrangers often miss this step, but it makes a big difference for the vase life of your flowers!
When preparing all of your ingredients (focal, filler, and greenery) make sure that all the stems have been fully stripped. If there are any small branches, leaves, or thorns on any part of the stem, they must be removed in order to be stored in water. Any foliage that has not been pruned off will contaminate the water during storage and your flowers may prematurely wilt.
Make sure to cut all of your stems at a 45 degree angle so they do not have a flat base touching the bottom of a vase, which will prevent them from taking in any water. Don’t assume all stems cut in the fields were cut at an angle - always check them, and recut them if necessary!
See the Dahlia Arrangement Resource Guide below for examples and instructions for the arrangements at your wedding.
Getting the Most Bloom for your Buck
If you're looking for ways to save money when building your arrangements, there are several options to reduce overall costs. We made use of all three of these ideas for our wedding, but pick and choose what is right for you!
Option A: Plant your own filler flowers 💐
If you are planning well in advance and have the space to do so, we recommend planting your own low-maintenance, easy to grow filler flowers that you can harvest come wedding-time (ex: zinnias, cosmos, celosia, snapdragons, black-eyed Susans).
However, this is work! If you’re already an experienced gardener, go for it! We did it for our wedding, and it was a blast. But we planted a lot of flowers we had no experience with, and it took a lot of time and effort to learn about those flowers, find seeds, then prep and care for the beds. If gardening is already your thing, this can be a really fun thing to add to your engagement season, but it may not be worth the hassle for someone new to growing.
Option B: Don't be afraid to forage for filler and foliage! 🌿
If you can find wildflowers growing in an area nearby, learn more about who owns the property and if you can pick some of the flowers. Plants like goldenrod, asters, and Queen Anne's Lace are easy to find in the fall in New Jersey and pair well with dahlia bouquets.
If you have access to leafy trees, flowering bushes, berry bushes, or even many types of tall grasses - you have your greenery for free! So long as you like the look of the leaves and have tested a cut branch in water for a few days ahead of time to check for any wilting - you can use most anything for your greenery. The key is to test your greenery ahead of time! Some plants don’t hold up well after cutting
In NJ, Autumn Olive grows prolifically and is a sturdy and beautiful option. Read more about types of foliage to use in bouquets here: https://www.threeacrefarm.net/blog/2020/8/18/foliage-the-secret-to-fabulous-bouquets
Option C: Go for a less traditional wedding floral design: Choose floral designs that require fewer overall stems🌼
Depending on your style, there are several options that allow for less overall effort with an end result that is still striking and unique. Dahlias are uniquely gorgeous blooms that lend themselves very well to single-ingredient bouquets (dahlias only), single-bloom bridesmaid bouquets, and bud-vases. These are all simple, beautiful options that require far fewer flowers than massive, intricate arrangements.
Dahlia-only bouquets and arrangements:
Single-bloom bouquets:
Bud Vases:
Dahlia Arrangement Resource Guide
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!
How to Care for Your Dahlias
To make sure you’ve got as much time to work with your blooms as possible, we’ll cut your flowers within 24 hours of your pickup time and store them in our cool room. In order to keep them fresh until your event, here are a few principles you’ll need to observe.
Good Timing.
Dahlias last on average from 4-8 days in cool indoor conditions, depending on the variety. Generally speaking, smaller blooms last longer, and bigger blooms fade faster.
In order to make sure that your dahlias look the best for your event, but that you still have enough time to arrange everything, plan to pick up your dahlias and all of your other flowers/greenery 2 or 3 days before your wedding. Ideally, if you are planning a Saturday event, pickup Thursday morning, arrange your flowers that day, and store until Saturday!
Good Storage Space.
Your flowers will look the best if you keep them in a cool and dark area like a basement, garage or any other dark A/C cooled room.
The ideal temperature is around 36 degrees F for storage. You can also invest in a small portable A/C to lower the temperature.
If your wedding is at a venue with a walk-in cooler, ask to store your flowers there!
Keep it clean!
Make sure that you are changing the water every day, keeping the water clear of any leaves or other debris that will cause early wilting, and that you have thoroughly cleaned all of your vases/containers ahead of time to avoid introducing any bacteria.
Bleach your floral scissors and any other hand tools that you will be using to arrange!
Make a Hydration Chamber
For small pieces like corsages and boutonnieres, put together a hydration chamber to keep everything as fresh as possible.
Use a large tupperware or plastic tub. Lay a layer of wet paper towel down, spray down all of your flowers with water, then carefully cover with another layer of wet paper towel.
This method will help rehydrate blooms if they have slightly wilted as well.
Quick example of making the hydration chamber: https://youtube.com/shorts/5poeKAsXkO8?si=Ei-X3v-lDZ6fZ7dt
Any questions we didn't answer here?
Read the Wedding Flowers FAQ on our site or feel free to reach out to Emma at 303-929-6386 or emma@sunsetviewfarm.com. We're excited to cut flowers for your wedding and can't wait to see how you use our blooms!
External Photo Sources:
https://www.kamillesflowers.com/dahlia-csa/p/dahlia-bouquet-subscription
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cr-iKotym0P/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
https://en.paperblog.com/30-wonderful-dahlias-wedding-bouquets-1975973/
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1891721017660539&id=439783779520944&set=a.451967284969260
https://www.brides.com/single-flower-wedding-bouquet-ideas-7098710
https://www.weddingsonline.ie/blog/15-dreamy-dahlia-wedding-bouquets/
https://www.stylemepretty.com/2014/05/07/whimsical-chicago-wedding/
https://en.paperblog.com/30-wonderful-dahlias-wedding-bouquets-1975973/
https://mikalh.com/mustard-seed-gardens-wedding-inspiration/
https://www.womangettingmarried.com/wedding-flowers-dahlias/
https://www.instagram.com/p/B28lH-clteh/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
https://theweddingplaybook.com/romantic-berries-and-cream-wedding-inspiration/
https://www.instagram.com/p/B1xTf_sHJOY/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
https://www.instagram.com/p/C_diVkWOyNL/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
All other photos credit to Jorge Garcia Photography https://jorgegarciaphotography.com/
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