Do It Yourself Wedding Flowers

For Do It Yourself Wedding Flowers, do you have a good suggestion on how to transport a 20 inches vase plus the arrangement on top?

I will rent a van but I'm so worried about the vases falling all over. Do florists have special vans?

The primary colors for the wedding I'm doing are off white and eggplant.

I would like to add another color and I was just wondering if you think that a light lavender will be pretty. Any other suggestions?

Per my oasis filled with carnations: is it normal that the oasis weights so much after soaking or, could I drain it over night?

I plan to soak it thoroughly, but I wonder if there was a way to make it less heavy.

Sorry for the many questions! i do hope however, that the answers can help other people that checks out your site regularly.

Thank you so much again!



Hi Maura,

Glad you came back!

Okay, so the first question...transportation. Are the arrangements in the vase or will they be sitting on top (made up on a plate or in a container and then placed on top of the vases).

In either case, I would use boxes and then pack crumpled newspapers or other paper/tissue between the arrangements to hold them in place but far enough from each other so that the arrangements don't get "smushed".

Check for large boxes at your local grocery store after canned goods, etc. are unpacked.

Depending on how many arrangements you have to transport, you might need a fairly large van or make a couple of trips.

If it is a fairly short trip, you shouldn't need a special van (ie. refrigerated) to transport your floral arrangements.

They will be fine in an ordinary van, but if it is especially warm I would use the air conditioning ;-)


As for colors, off white, eggplant and lavender or mauve would be very nice.

Sticking with puples in all shades would go great or if you would like, sometimes if you throw in the complimentary color to purple...yellow, would make those purples really pop!

Always check with your bride as to colors before going ahead with them.

As for the foam, yes Oasis foam does hold a lot of water and that is a good thing for keeping your flowers fresh.

Carnations are an awesome choice by the way, they keep going forever!

Make sure that when you prepare your Oasis, you start with water that has some floral preservative in it. That will also help keep your flowers fresh.

When you float your Oasis in the prepared water, just place it on top of the water and let it soak in the water by itself.

Whatever you do, do NOT help by pushing the foam into the water to hurry it along; you will only get air pockets into the foam.

If you put your flowers in the foam and hit an "air pocket" then they would wilt faster than you can imagine.

Just before transporting them to the reception/ceremony site, tilt the containers and pour off the excess water so that it doesn't spill during transport.

After everything makes it to their respective sites, I would probably top them off to keep the foam adequately wet. If you allow the foam to dry out, your flowers will surely wilt.

Hope that it helps, if there is anything else you can think of, please do ask,

Diane, admin for My Wedding Reception Planning