How to DIY a summer wedding in Texas

6 bouquets for my market bride

I'll never forget one day at the farmer's market when a young lady came up to me and asked if I'd be willing to set aside 6 bouquets for her the following Saturday. She was having an impromptu backyard wedding and wanted a bouquet for her and her five bridesmaids and simply wanted whatever I had to bring.

Many people don't realize that the cost of wedding flowers come from the intense logistical work to get a bride the right flowers and colors to suit the style she requires. But when the request is simply "whatever you have", the doors blow wide open. I asked her a quick question or two (any flower you hate? any color you hate?) and whether she wanted the flowers wrapped tightly or loosely and then promised I'd set aside 6 bouquets. The upside was that if she never came, I knew I could still sell them at the farmer's market. They weren't filled will fancy, high-dollar blooms that are fussy to grow - but simple, easy, summer staples like zinnias, scabiosa and cosmos. When she picked them up the next week, she cried. :)

Since pivoting to florist sales, I miss making magic for the ordinary person. But my dear friend got married last August and I found myself using the same summer staples for her florals. Cosmos, Zinnias, Scabiosa. And I thought to myself, that with a little bit of work and some friendly farmer guidance, anyone can pull off a fabulous DIY wedding in a Texas summer.

First, allow yourself at least 4 months of lead time to grow your flowers. It usually takes that long from seed to bloom. Second, get quality seed so you can be sure they'll germinate or start with plants at your local nursery. Johnnys Select Seeds are my go-to for quality seeds. Third, know what grows. If you want blooms by the end of this summer opt for flowers that don't need a cool beginning. Zinnias and cosmos are perfect. For dimension, feathery celosia is perfect. Echinacea is a perennial best bought as a plant but it comes in many different colors. Easy-to-grow grasses like explosion grass add sparkle. You can easily use glossy foliage from landscaping plants like abelia, magnolia, and hedges of Elaeagnus.

If you have a whole year to plan, even better. Many flower seeds thrown into the soil in the cool of Autumn or Winter will flower mid-summer. This group includes yarrow, clary sage, scabiosa, larkspur, ammi, bachelor buttons, and corncockle. They don't need covered when the freezes hit and provide lots of whimsical blooms in a range of colors. Plant them pretty tightly, 9 inches apart, to get tall straight stems as the blooms stretch toward the sky.

Whenever you plant the seed, be sure to keep the soil moist until the seeds pops up. Some seeds need covered lightly with soil but some prefer not to be covered at all. My favorite thing about Johnny's seed packets is that they'll tell you on the back which one that flower needs.

If you want to get a little fancy with your DIY, you can also order very small batches of flowers like lisianthus, eucalyptus and foxglove (digitalis) to grow from my friends at Garden Club. Some of these fancy flowers are pretty hard to start from seed, so you can just order a few "plugs" (tiny plant starts) and plop them in the ground. The best news is that the website tells you whether if they need a cool start (autumn planting) or a warm one.

The trickiest part of growing for a wedding is figuring out how many plants of each flower you need. My biggest recommendation is to create a recipe: For one big bouquet it might be:

5 round focal flowers

9 smaller flowers

5 line flowers

5 tiny bits

5 outside framing greenery

Count the number stems per flower you want in each bouquet then multiple that times the number of bouquets and you have a rough estimate of how many flowers you'll need. To be conservative, estimate 3 blooms per plant. I have spreadsheets for every wedding I flower.

Once your flowers are planted and blooming, a few more tips will get you over the finish line.

You may want to do a quick internet search about when to harvest some of your flower varieties. For instance, wait until the zinnia stem is stiff before you harvest it. Harvest scabiosa and celosia when they're just starting to open. If you harvest too late, they'll shed petals and leaves everywhere. Floret Farm's A Year in Flowers book has an excellent guide in the back for the perfect harvest stage for many cut flower types.

Harvest very early in the morning, strip off most of the leaves (you want the water going directly to the bloom up the stem) and place immediately into water. Then, set the flowers in a cool, dark place to drink up water for at least 12 hrs before arranging. You can start harvesting and saving up your flowers 2-3 days before you arrange them. I've found that arranging them the day before the event ensures a fresh bouquet. Once you've arranged them, trim the ends even, rubber-band, wrap with green floral tape and then tie a ribbon around them. Then keep them in water under the last possible minute. NEVER put them in the fridge - they can easily brown or freeze. A dark place inside (cool-ish if possible) is best.

Figuring out how to arrange flowers can be tricky. I recommend watching a video or two from Amy Nicole on youtube. Her tutorials are easy to understand and very helpful. They helped me quickly master bouquet making for market in my early years. Plus it's fun to practice with flowers that bloom in the weeks following up to the wedding.

On my instagram, I'll often list "ingredients" in the caption below the picture, so you know exactly what flowers to grow for that bouquet. It's a great place to start your gardening DIY journey and there's nothing more satisfying than growing your own wedding flowers!

Happy Growing!

Sarah Jo