DIY Wedding Flowers with Kukka Flowers
If you’ve planned a wedding, you know that flowers are freakin expensive. Like many aspects of our wedding, I decided that we could totally tackle this ourselves. We DIYed our wedding flowers using Kukka Flowers.
I searched all over the internet for a place to buy wholesale flowers and found a few but it still wasn’t going to save that much money. And as we planned a 20-guest wedding (thanks COVID), having elaborate flowers seems less important. BUT I had to have real flowers. I just love them and was willing to spend a bit more to get the real deal.
When I found Kukka Flowers, I was so excited — it was exactly what I was looking for. I’ve gotten SO many questions about my experience, so I thought I’d share!
Choose From 30 Collections
Kukka Flowers has 30 collections you can choose from, with the option to customize. They range from tropical to romantic, rustic to classic. You can really get EXACTLY what you want.
Choose Your Package Size
In addition to a variety of flower types, they have a range of packages to choose from based on the size of your wedding. Most collections begin around $330 and go up based on the type of flowers in the arrangement. They have six size options ranging from “Intimate” to “Large” weddings. Their website gives you a clear idea of how much each of these packages will make, however, keep in mind that when you get the flowers, YOU arrange them, so you can create whatever you want! For reference, the “Intimate” package creates 1 bridal bouquet, 3 bridesmaids bouquets, and 5 boutonnieres. The “Large” package creates "1 bridal bouquet, 8 bridesmaids, 15 boutonnieres, and 15 centerpieces.
Placing Your Order
Once you order, you select the day you’d like your flowers delivered. I ordered our flowers about three months ahead of our wedding. This was mostly because, due to COVID, it was one of the only things I could check off my list. Kukka Flowers needs at least five business days to process an order, but they recommend you order 1-6 months before your wedding.
The flowers have to sit out for 24-hours to allow the buds to bloom, so plan accordingly. We got married on a Saturday and ordered our flowers to be delivered on the Wednesday before and arranged them on Thursday.
We work with the world’s best flower suppliers. We are one of the only wedding flower shippers that insulates our packaging and include hydration packages at the bottom of our stems. These methods ensure that the flowers look beautiful way beyond your wedding date. When you receive your package, you should cut the stems at a 45 degree angle and fully submerge the bases in water. Flowers only require room temperature water and do not need to be refrigerated.
— Kukka Flowers, FAQ page
The real flowers arrive in a huge box and then need to put into large buckets of water. I was so impressed by the quality of these flowers. I think maybe ONE broke. The rest were stunning and had vibrant colors and smelled incredible. They ship directly overnight and the shipping cost is built into the price you pay.
Our Flowers
We selected the Wild Hearts collection because it fit our color scheme and had a wildflower feel that was casual and fun like our wedding. It would have been impossible to make a “bad” bouquet out of these flowers. I had never arranged flower before and neither had my awesome team (my mom, sister, and aunt). It took us about 4 hours to put together all the flowers arrangements but we also had so much fun doing it.
We selected the Standard package, which came with enough flowers for 1 bridal bouquet, 3 bridesmaids bouquets, and 5 boutonnieres. Even though it didn’t include “centerpieces,” we had more than enough. I only needed 1 bridal bouquet, 1 bridesmaid bouquet, and 2 boutonnieres, so I was able to use the rest for centerpieces. We had 8 tables that needed centerpieces.
I did purchase the addition “DIY Arbor kit” which gave us extra greenery to decorate the arbor we got married under. In hindsight, I probably could have done without the arbor kit or gone down to the Intimate package, but I figured, you can never have too many flowers.
I also payed for the $40 DIY wedding kit that includes everything you need to put the flowers together. You will need:
Vases
Buckets
Green Floral Tape
Scissors/Shears
Ribbon or Twine
Pins
All of these come in the kit!
We have a DIY flower kit available which includes all these items except vases and buckets that you can add to the order. We recommend 5-10 large buckets (5 GAL). Vases in our catalog are 6” glass bubble vases, but we suggest vases that are not transparent. You can also consider using floral foam to make specialty arrangements like a tear-drop bouquet or a floral arch.
— Kukka Flowers, FAQ page
The Verdict On DIY Wedding Flowers
This was one of the best decisions I made about our wedding. I had originally planned to spend $3000 — $4000 on flowers and instead I spent $728.98. If you’re someone who gets stressed out by deadlines, it may be worth it to you to invest in flowers that you don’t have to worry about. But for me, it was a fun project that helped us save a ton of money.
In addition to the quality of the flowers, the customer service was outstanding. I was blown away by how helpful the team at Kukka Flowers was.