Wedding Wednesday: Fabulous Flowers For Free (-ish)

My husband loves getting things for free--or more precisely, he likes to find free things. He'll drag home wood, dirty clothes, tape measures, even plants pulled from sidewalks. I find his Freegan tendencies endearing as I've been known to save perfectly good furniture from garbage piles.

But today, we're talking about weddings and more precisely, flowers. Of all of the areas in the wedding budget to get for free (or really cheap), this is a good one. Here are some ways to save:

1. Have your wedding in a botanic garden or park with public flower gardens.

2. Have a gardener friend build flower pots and boxes filled with plants grown from seed. This is especially good for outdoor weddings.

3. Build bouquets with grasses and wildflowers you find in nearby fields. You could even let your own grasses grow and then harvest.

4. Supermarket flowers make great bouquets. Using carnations and rose sprays will stretch a small budget without sacrificing style. Expensive blooms such as orchids and lilies are overused anyway, this is a perfect way to show your individuality.

5. Use fruit, candles, and natural elements such as branches and pine cones make great centerpieces. Add flowers as necessary. (Or what about feathers?)

6. Make your own corsages. This is super easy and the materials are readily available at Michaels: florist tape and pins. Take a bloom, add an accent foliage, tape them tightly together, and voila! You've saved your money!

(Photos: Real Simple, Shelly Huynh Lewis, Southern Weddings, Our Labor Of Love)