My sister made roses out of ribbons for her favors. They were lovely and inexpensive. There are lots of crafty options that can be very inexpensive. Craft stores may have many options and suggestions.
My sister has done silk flower bouquets for family and friends’ weddings and they are not cheap. Michael’s charges a fortune for silk flowers – even with their frequent sales I still find them pricey. I did silk for my wedding and interspersed them with some dried filler.
If you’re looking for less expensive flowers, Costco or a local floral wholesale market would be my recommendation. If you’re having an outdoor wedding, odds are that flowers will be in season. A PYO farm may get you some simple, lovely flowers – going rate around us is $1/stem. Our local grocery stores do boutonnieres and corsages for much less than a floral shop, but not as much variety in terms of flowers.
For S1’s wedding, I used ivy and greens from our yard for filler and swagging and went to a wholesale market. Total cost: $199.95. OTOH, it was a LOT of work and had to be done late in the game. Took three of us most of the day before the wedding. Had I realized it would take that much time, I think we’d have bought a few things already made up.
I’ve seen bouquets using flowers made from book pages, scrap fabric, etc. If she wanted to do things well in advance and likes creative projects, there’s Pinterest porn for everything!
Having done serious wedding DIY, pick a couple projects that will pop. Keep it simple. An outdoor wedding in your yard or a park will be beautiful simply because you’re outside. Just pray it doesn’t rain. 
We went to a lovely wedding. One way the bride economized was the bouquets for the bridal party and herself. They carried blue hydrangea with a LOT of baby’s breath too…tied with nice ribbon. She said it was a bargain. They got the hydrangea and baby’s breath at a grocery story. Not expensive at all. No boutonnaires for anyone. Moms didn’t have corsages. Tables had candles.
Really…it was lovely.
Some artificial flowers are beautiful and very natural looking. I happen to like them. We put a white rose nosegay as the top piece on D2’s cake.
Bff’s DIL used all artificial. Also lovely. The idea only real will do is past. (Just don’t save money as they did on the cake. Her friend made it, no experience, 4 layers with no internal support and it was obviously sagging on one side.)
But the high end can be crazy expensive. See if you like what’s out there, if she’ll DIY.
Agree fake flowers can be more costly. To reduce the cost of bouquets, consider Costco etc. as flowers sources and create a simple one that friends could help duplicate. Another idea is to have the bride carry real flowers and the bridesmaids/flower girls something else: lanterns, etc. Saw flower girl ideas including wands, pinwheels, tiny birdcages with a couple of flowers, etc. Also, if a very small wedding party is possible, that will greatly reduce a variety of expenses, including flowers.
Dear friends can do readings, etc.
Attended a wedding where the bride carried several protea tied together. Very architectural, simple and beautiful if they work with their backdrop. Similar to how the hydrangeas thumper mentioned would be. Also attended a wedding where a bridesmaid’s allergy had the bride choosing artificial flowers all around. They worked. Our wedding florist is very focused on what flowers are in-season on the wedding date; impacts quality, availability and pricing; she seems to view this approach as the floral equivalent of the farm to table one.
Have fun! Their are so many ways to avoid the wedding madness and it starts with choosing your venue and its location carefully. As DD is getting married two hours from our home and 4 hours from hers, much DIY became impractical. Some settings require much less in the way of extra decorating and that is worth considering.
Will be checking with DS#2 and fiancee what their flower plans are for their wedding. I personally prefer fresh flowers and not sure what people do with the silk ones (eg the attendants nosegays, etc) after the event. Do they want to keep them?
I am supposed to pick up roses from Costco for next weekend’s engagement party (just 2 dozen- not enough to pre-order). Was planning to go Friday morning, but now have to go Thurs afternoon. Not only mightthe selection be limited at the end of the day,but its the day after Valentine’s day and the pickins’ might be slim 
If I cant get them Thurs, I guess I’ll either go befor the first airport run (and be a bit late) or go with fiancee’s momafter I pick her up. I am really glad the event isn’t this weekend, as the travelers from Chicago and Detroit wouldnt be getting out today with the snowstorms and cancelled flights.
@jym626, when my grandmother died in February many years ago, there were no roses to be had because of Valentine’s Day. We had to use carnations. I think you are correct that the pickings will be slim.
So sorry @musicmom1215
Jym- to keep the roses at their best. Place in iced water and top up the ice as it melts. On Sunday add some sprite to the vases you are using. The buds will open and be beautiful.
My bridesmaids carried a small lantern with a wrest of silk and dried flowers around the base. I still have mine! (but that’ a dilemma for the Sentimental Items thread…)
S and DIL had blue hydrangeas with a variety of white flowers as accents. The hydrangeas were in season and therefore very reasonable at the wholesale market.
I have tried the St. Germain/champagne drink. I like it!
We had a tasting at the venue last night - D, FSIL, future in laws, H and I all got to sample the food. Oh, my - they gave us so much! Wine, appetizers (1 each of each kind available), salad, rolls, dinner selections (small serving each of the choices, along with potatoes, rice & vegetables that come along with the meal selection), desserts (1 each of each type available). I was absolutely stuffed, and it was all wonderful. The kids made a great choice of venue!
If you’re looking for other places to buy last minute flowers, in our area, Trader Jo’es has a very nice selection of flowers. I am not a big fan of most of their made-up bouquets, but the loose stems are great. Whole Foods has possibly even more, but I think their prices are higher.
Both stores have a much nicer selection than the supermarkets. BJs’ flowers are usually in poor condition, and limited.
Alas, no Costco yet. 
That’s too bad, because Costco has great flowers at reasonable prices.
Well the first RSVPs are coming back. A woman we invited as a single added her two teenaged sons to the RSVP. Oh well, I’m not going to make a big deal of it. It’s just exciting to be starting to find out who is attending. Actually, more than I thought would!
@TatinG you are a nicer person than me. If the sons were not included on the invitation, I would have called or emailed the woman to let her know you are so sorry, her children will not be able to attend. You can blame it on numbers, or that if her sons attend, that will cause a problem with others that their offspring were not included. Now if you really don;t care, or want the boys, that is one thing, but I find it rude when people assume they can include others.
Trader Joe’s usually sells daffodils from Ireland that don’t look like much, but when you give a fresh cut to the bottom and place them in water they open up the next day. Something like $2 for a small bunch. They should be around soon.
"Well the first RSVPs are coming back. A woman we invited as a single added her two teenaged sons to the RSVP. "
Ballsy move.
Plan to try Costco first for the roses. TJs, Fresh Market and yes, even Wal Mart are back up options.
Had a few interesting things today… Bought a dress that I may wear to the Bridal shower next Sunday, then went to look for flowers for outside the front door. Its a little early, but finally found some that will work. Got home to make my scheduled call with the caterer to discuss upping the quantity of some things and when I closed the garage door… THUNK- it slammed down. The spring (coil) on the garage door opener broke. I am stuck in the house. DH just got home. Repair guy will come tomorrow between 11-1.
Oh and I worked out the #s with the caterer, and the cost only went up by $200 AND they decided to add a second on site chef at no cost to me. Thats great!! So thats all set. Working out with the lawn guy to freshen up the flower beds (whatever he plants will probably get hit with one more freeze anyway, so his first proposal was way too high).
Then, a friend who was coming solo to the brunch Saturday and had broken up with her boyfriend several months ago (and he was already dating someone else) says she spent yesterday with him (we ran into them at a film festival with Gilbert Godfried) and he wants to come to the brunch. In reality I believe its because (1) her ex-H is coming with his wife (if they show up- he tends to forget to show up for these things or late cancels) so she doesn’t want to come solo and (2) her on-again-off-again Bf is a caterer and we suspect he wants to scope out what our caterer is doing and/or market them. Per my DH’s suggestion, I told her we had planned for 75 and were at 94. She already knew this as I’d mentioned it previously. I feel kinda bad, but really… if we weren’t so over capacity I’d say sure, no problem. But the weather forecast for next Sat. is not good, and its going to be like sardines if everyone has to be in the house.
I cannot even imagine having so many people in my house! Actually, I am pretty sure it would be impossible. But you seem to be handling it very well, @jym626. I would be a hot mess about now.
Your friend will understand (if she really is a friend) - people will ask, but they don’t necessarily expect.
As for the garage door, at least it was today … and not the day before the brunch!!
Agreed @kelsmom. So we have handled the basement flood last week and the garage door this week. I really, really hope next week is smooth. We have an extra person staying over Saturday after the brunch. Sigh. Wine more body. Oh well