As established in the previous article, when you plan your wedding decorations, you will soon realize that flowers can be expensive. One way you can save a lot of money is to arrange the flowers yourself. Though some places offer free arrangements for bulk orders, other places may charge extra. If this is the case, it may be worth considering creating your own arrangement, and doing the bouquets and table flowers yourself. This can definitely work for a small wedding.

      If you are considering this, the first thing you should do is look for various flower arrangements online. Some websites will even guide you through a step by step process of how to arrange flowers. Once you've found an arrangement you are happy with, you will know how many types of flowers you need, and how many stems of each type you will need. This will give you a ball park figure (once you start inquiring and visiting the farmer's market and flower farms) of how much you will be spending on flowers.

      Arrangements are usually easily done. You don't need to buy vases for the tables. You simply have to buy the green foam that you soak with water for the flowers. This green foam can be wrapped in plastic wrap (so it doesn't wet the table), and the plastic wrap can be covered in a large ribbon or tulle. When you stick your flowers into the foam, people are unlikely to notice the base, since flowers often spill over it in an arrangement.

      Doing this is usually much cheaper than buying vases, and hassle free because you can throw the base away once the wedding is done. However, there are some ridiculously cheap vases in some stores. If you come across some and you like them, you can consider buying them as well. Just remember, you may not need ten or twenty small vases for the rest of your married lives! So think about this option well.

      If you are throwing a fairly large wedding, you may need some extra hands to help you make the flower arrangements. Of course, you don't want to do them, and any of the guests attending your wedding may not want to do them either because they would like to focus on getting dressed, staying clean, and so on.

Page 2: Plan Your Wedding Decorations: How to Arrange Your Own Flowers