Making the decision to do your own wedding flowers should not be taken lightly, but with a little preparation and some practice, designing your own wedding flowers does not have to be as daunting as you might think.

For my own wedding, I chose to go this route, and I found that there were several things I could have done differently to make the process easier. Here are a few quick tips for doing your own wedding flowers on a budget.

First, start looking for a wholesale flower distributor early in the process. Make sure that you are allowed to purchase from them, as many wholesale distributors only sell to businesses with a tax ID number.

Second, start practicing with real flowers as soon as you can. I recommend that you choose flowers that are easy to work with, such as roses or other flowers with a defined head shape and sturdy stem. I chose Alstromeria as my main flower and found that making bouquets and centerpieces was difficult because the flowers were delicate, had lots of greenery and had weak stems.