Bridal showers don’t have to just be about opening gifts, mingling, and taking pictures! You can set up interactive and enjoyable activities, like a bridal shower flower bar, to spend time with your guests and give them something beautiful to take home with them.
After all, who doesn’t love flowers? If you’re searching for a fun and unique activity to add to a bridal shower itinerary, look no further than a flower bar.
Below, we will discuss what a flower bar bridal shower is, provide a step-by-step guide on how to set one up, and provide suggestions for fun add-ons to inspire even more creativity!
What is a Flower Bar at a Bridal Shower?
Think of a flower bar as a DIY bouquet station! You purchase flowers and supplies to create and mold a bouquet, and any add-ons you may want.
Your guests will choose flowers, ties, accents, etc., and build their own bouquets based on their personal preferences or a specific theme.
It’s a lovely and personalized activity you can provide your guests that allows the conversation to flow, fun to be had, and a creation they can take home and display.
You can use this as a stand-alone activity at your bridal shower or incorporate it as the “final send-off” of the event after traditional games are over.
You can even incorporate this activity into a flower or plant-themed bridal shower, like a “Let Love Grow” bridal shower or a garden-themed shower.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Flower Bar at a Bridal Shower
Create a Budget
Whether your budget is big or small, it’s important to allocate a certain amount of money toward your bridal shower flower bar.
When you create a budget for this activity, you set realistic expectations of what you can offer to your guests and what you can purchase without cutting into the budget for food, decorations, or drinks.
This budget should include costs for all flowers, bouquet-making supplies, add-ons, signage, and any additional table or display rentals.
2. Choosing Your Flowers
What is a flower bar without beautiful blooms? The next step to creating a flower bar at your bridal shower is to select the flowers you want to use. This includes your main flowers, accent flowers, and any greenery.
Before you select your flowers, you should have an idea of what types of flowers you want to incorporate into your flower bar. This will help you stay within budget and select flowers unique from one another.
To create a good selection, you’ll want to select and purchase four to eight main flower types. This could include eight unique types of flowers or a few unique types and one type in several different colors.
Your “main flowers” will be the larger, more stand-out flowers that usually attract your eyes to a bouquet. They are also going to be the most expensive flowers to purchase. Some main flower types include:
Roses
Peonies
Gardenias
Lillie’s
Tulips
Carnations
Hydrangea’s
Gerbera Daisy’s
Dahlia’s
Chrysanthemum’s
Zinnia’s
Sunflowers
Camellia’s
Freesia’s
Hibiscus
Poinsettia’s
Next, you will need two to four accent flowers for your bridal shower guests to choose from. These are going to be smaller flowers that create contrast and separation between the larger, main flowers. Some accent flower types include:
Marigold’s
Azalea’s
Delphinium
Lavender
Snapdragon
Poppy’s
Hyacinth’s
Coneflower’s
Forget Me Not’s
Jasmine
Baby’s Breath
Finally, you cannot complete a proper bouquet without some greenery additions to your vase. Since greenery is mainly a contrast filler element, you don’t need a huge variety of these. Two to three types of greenery should be plenty. Some popular greenery types include:
Ivy
Lemon Leaf
Dusty Miller
Leatherleaf Fern
Myrtle
Eucalyptus
Sage
Boxwood
Be sure to select the flowers you like and nail down a place you want to purchase them from ahead of time. Gather prices, check reviews, and make sure their flowers always look fresh.
Try wholesale or bulk-buy locations first. They will most likely offer the best deals and allow you to purchase a wide selection and amount of flowers at once.
When you have selected your flower dealer and the specific flowers you want, schedule a day within two days before the bridal shower to pick them up. This will ensure your flowers are fresh and stay vibrant through your shower and after your guests take them home.
This step is going to make the biggest difference in the outcome of the activity and your budget. Flowers can get expensive quickly if you don’t know where to look, and getting low-quality flowers could result in wilted bouquets.
So it’s best to find a middle ground of affordable flowers that don’t sacrifice quality.
3. Supplies Checklist
Once you’ve chosen your flowers and flower dealer, you can begin to itemize and purchase the supplies needed to make the bouquets. This will vary slightly depending on a few factors. Do you want to provide vases to your guests? How many guests do you want to share supplies?
If you want to provide vases without accruing a huge bill, buy some cute ones from the dollar store or check out a craft store like Hobby Lobby. They usually have good sales on these items. Supplies you will need include:
Floral shears (Scissors work too) - These will trim your flowers.
Floral wire - This will bind your guests’ flower arrangements together.
A spray bottle - Put some water in the bottle and spritz your flowers to keep them fresh.
Vases (optional) - If you want to give your guests something cute to put their flowers in, add vases to the list!
Ribbon (optional) - If you want to provide your bridal shower guests with something a little prettier than floral wire to tie their bouquet together, grab a few rolls of ribbon in different color shades.
Main flowers
Secondary flowers
Greenery filler
“Flower Bar” sign (optional) - To create an even more stunning image of your bridal shower and to alert guests of your flower activity, pick up a “flower bar” sign.
Flower food (optional) - Flower food will ensure your blooms stay bright and vibrant during and after your shower.
You must decide how many of each supply item you want to purchase based on the number of guests you are expecting. Feel free to have multiple guests share supplies so you don’t have to purchase as much.
4. Creative Add-Ons for Your Flower Bar
Add-ons are a great way to provide your guests with unique and fun additional items to incorporate into their bouquets. If you want to throw in some extra fun, think about picking up some of these items:
Custom stickers for their vases
Twine or fabric for vases
Fairy lights to intertwine into their flowers
Custom paper tags
Seasonal elements, like maple leaves or mini pumpkins for a fall bridal shower
Additional decorations, like paper hearts or plastic wedding rings
5. Setting Up Your Bridal Shower Flower Bar
Once you have all the supplies you need, you will need to set up your flower bar bridal shower activity at the venue. This is simple enough since it can be done in so many different ways!
Most bridal shower hosts create a designated table for all the flowers and supplies to go on. If you want to do something different, you can add flowers and supplies to each guest table instead of dedicating one table to all the items.
Once you have allocated all flowers and supplies to their designated area, it’s time to set up your flower labels. These can be stickers on their vases or name tag-like labels that provide the names of each floral piece.
This is not only a cute decorative addition, but it’s a good measure to take for safety reasons as well. Providing the names of each flower or piece of greenery will help guests distinguish and stay away from any plants they are allergic to.
Now you can begin building beautiful bouquets!
Caring for Your Flowers
Your flowers are the star of the show, so you want to make sure they stay fresh, healthy, and well-displayed throughout your bridal shower. To keep your flowers fresh, try these tips:
Mist Your Flowers - Spritz your flowers once before the bridal shower starts and once during the event. This will prevent your flowers from wilting and keep them fresh.
Keep Them in Water - Whether you are caring for them before the bridal shower or displaying them the day of, always keep your flowers in a vase with water. Do not lay them on a table or keep them in their wrappings without any water or flower food. Doing so will age your flowers quickly, leading to unhealthy flowers during your shower and bouquets that will quickly die afterward.
Don’t Get Them Too Early - As mentioned previously, don’t pick up your flowers and greenery too early. You want flowers that are as fresh as possible, so pick them up one to two days before the shower or the day of.
Pick Up Flower Food - Flower food will help your florals stay bright and lovely for a long period of time. Purchase some extra flower food if your lot doesn’t come with any. This will ensure they stay vibrant through the shower and give your guests a long-lasting bouquet.
