carnations can be very cheap. buy in bulk. if i ever get married, i'd consider getting my flowers in the city from a street vendor--they have great prices and gorgeous fresh flowers.
Yeah, but keeping them and transporting them is the problem. You need to keep flowers refrigerated and in fresh water, or they'll wilt. You can't handle them out of water until the day you're going to use them, and I don't know what you're planning for your wedding day, but I'm going to have a lot more to do than spend the morning making bouquets and flower arrangements. It's not really practical to do that.
this is why brides have friends.
But brides like to spend time with their friends the morning of their wedding, not turn them into slave laborers. I've done my share of work for friends' weddings, but I would never ask one of my friends to do that.
well hey it's different in each situation. to each her own.