Flower question for Bahama Brides

[DGG]

Hi, there don't seem to be many of us here - but hopefully a few to answer my question

I was told that all of the florists in the Bahamas import all of their flowers, which seems crazy to me.. There are such beautiful flowers there, but I was told none of them work well in bouquets..

Has anyone gotten their flowers done or ordered their flowers yet for a wedding in the Bahamas - is this really the case

Now that I see how expensive flowers are, I finally understand why so many girls here are getting silk flowers..

[monkey]

I will be getting married next weekend in Nassau and I plan to go to the florist shop and buy my own flowers to make my bouquet. More than likely the 'wild' flowers will wilt once cut but just because they have to import their flowers should not justify the cost quoted ($60 for a boutonniere)! I live in Manitoba - we don't grow anything here and a dozen roses only cost $9.99. Also, I did not care for any of the bouquets I saw in photos - cascading and way too large.

 

I will let you know the cost in a few weeks.

[Tropical Imaging]

Our islands are just south of the Bahamas and geologically speaking are the same chain, just different countries. The islands are limestone based rock and really all that grows naturally is cactus and small leaf bushes. The resorts tend to have (like the Bahamas) bouganvilla and hibiscus as well as plumbago (which are not native) and some other flowering plants all of which aren't very good after cutting.

 

I do see a lot of bouganvilla accents in bouquets and also as boutonnieres. In fact on more than one occasion I have clipped a few and put a pin through it for groomsmen when the order came up short and nobody was the wiser. Hibiscus wilt almost immediately and plumbago (they look similar to blue hydrangias) is extremely sticky...I mean you brush up against it and it will stick to you like glue. Other flowers aren't very full and you would have to have something to flesh it out. You may be able to get a deal on a bougenvillia and baby's breath bouquet but that is about all I have seen that used native flowers.

 

However if you want to make your own boutenierres, bring some florist tape and pins and you can probably do those easily.

 

hope that helps.

 

As for the cost. The florists can't truck in flowers, they have to be flown in on airplanes and stay refrigerated which certainly adds to costs.

 

Krys

[monkey]

I have answers! Flowers are expensive down there - each flower would be about $10 each (so 6 roses would be $60). They did have some selection though such as calla lilies, roses, lilies in white or pink and hydrangea. What I ended up doing was buying a large stem of hydrangea for my bouquet (for $10) and a smaller stem for my MH for $8. So, my advice would be if you wanted roses or a larger bouquet, you probably aren't saving much by doing it yourself. I wanted a very small, simple bouquet so I saved a lot of money by doing it myself. If you do go this route and use hydrangeas, make sure they give you the stem tube since they will wilt without it.

 

Here is a bad photo of me but you can see my bouquet:

 

http://s434.photobucket.com/albums/q...ction=organize