Need to cut costs on wedding flowers without compromising style? Yes, that may also work. Because of fluctuations in supply and demand, flower prices can vary greatly from one season to the next. Finding flowers that are in season, selecting your florals carefully, and thinking outside the box are the keys to getting wedding flowers without breaking the bank. Flowers are a wonderful way to decorate for your wedding, but they may also significantly increase your budget.
A wedding's floral budget can easily reach tens of thousands of dollars between the bridal bouquet, bridesmaid bouquets, boutonnieres, corsages, flower girl's petals, pew and cake decorations, altar arrangements, and reception decor.
However, you need not break the bank to host a beautiful wedding. Flowers are an essential part of any wedding. Your wedding and reception will be more vibrant, colourful, and beautiful with the help of professional arrangements.
Flowers are a beautiful addition to a wedding, but they can drive up the cost by thousands of dollars when you include in bouquets, corsages, boutonnieres, altar pieces, and centrepieces. Your wedding budget may not allow for a professional florist, in which case you may want to look into cheaper options.
FAQs About Weddings
You can definitely use faux flowers instead of fresh ones (especially if you're highly allergic to the real deal), but don't go this route if you're looking to save some money. In fact, good artificial flowers (the kind that look real) are usually made of silk and can be more expensive than their natural counterparts.
The most expensive flowers include peonies, gardenias, and hydrangeas. If you're on a tight wedding flower budget, using lots of greenery is an affordable (and on-trend!) way to decorate your reception. Other inexpensive flowers include freesia, baby's breath, roses (not garden roses, though), daisies, and carnations.
How long before the wedding can you make a bouquet? Fresh flower bouquets should be made within 24 hours of the wedding in order to keep everything perky and beautiful. However, some blooms can last 48 hours after being cut.
The groom's family provides the flowers involved in a wedding ceremony. That includes the bride's bouquet, the groomsmen and usher boutonnieres, and the corsages and mini bouquets for the both mothers and grandmothers.
Red wedding flowers - a white wedding dress and a classic red bouquet says all the right things – romance, passion and sensuality. White wedding flowers - a classic choice for your big day. White symbolizes purity and innocence. White flowers go great with all dress colors.
Move Flowers from the Ceremony to the Reception
We didn't want to blow the budget on flowers, so we reused the arrangements from the ceremony at the reception hall. The person in charge of this assignment had no trouble snatching up the floral arrangement for the altar, transporting it to the reception, and handing it off to the wedding planner, who brought it inside the reception hall before any guests arrived.
Repurpose the Bridal Bouquets
Your ladies won't be needing their bouquets for the reception, so why not utilise them as decorations for the cake table or as part of the wedding centrepieces in vases?
Choose In-Season Flowers
In the same way that purchasing food that is in season can help keep the cost of your wedding reception down, the same holds true for your floral arrangements. Tulips, for instance, are stunning, but they only bloom in the winter and early spring. If you can find them outside of their peak season, you may have to pay up to five times as much as you would during the peak season.
Get Cheaper Flowers
The cost of a flower might vary greatly. There are possibly no more affordable flowers than carnations. Gerbera daisies are also very reasonably priced. Use them for some things, like alter bouquets, even if you're not a fan, and then splurge on something fancier for the bride's bouquet.
Discuss Your Budget With Your Florist
Tell your florist the truth about your financial constraints. Leave as many or as few guidelines as you like; your florist is the expert, after all. Give your florist some guidelines on colour scheme and design aesthetic, but ultimately let them choose the flowers based on their economic viability.
Stay Local and Seasonal
The best flowers to use are seasonal ones from your area. This will ensure that you receive the most recent flowers, and the stems will be cheaper as a result. Flowers like roses, calla lilies, and orchids are available all year and are a good second choice. Tulips from Holland aren't inexpensive, but if you buy locally, you can save money on shipping.
Choose Big Blooms
Centerpieces with cymbidium orchids will cost more than those with spray roses, but they will make a far more impressive impression. Discuss using some more expensive stems in your arrangements with your florist and she can figure out the best way to price them for you. You may need fewer of these flowers because each one has a greater impact. As a result, you could receive the expensive flowers even if you have a limited flower budget.
Swap Out Costly Stems
Find out which flowers are similar to others, and switch more expensive ones for cheaper ones, such peonies for roses. Find a reputable florist you like, and put your faith in her skills to help you achieve the aesthetic you want. Send pictures to help narrow down flower choices, and then let the florist choose affordable blooms that complement your vision. Your bridal bouquet will be photographed numerous times, so if you have your heart set on a specific flower, talk to your florist about including it in your bouquet and finding a suitable substitute for the centrepieces.
Don't Immediately Count Out a Flower
In spite of the fact that you may have heard the bride say, "I don't like ordinary roses" or "I don't like carnations," there are many beautiful alternatives that your florist can provide. The beauty of spray roses in a vase or a group of vintage carnations could be foreign to you. If you're open to your florist's suggestions and ask to view examples, you just could be blown away.
Order Your Flowers Online
Shopping for wholesale flowers online is a great way to save money compared to buying from a traditional florist. However, you'll need to prune the stems, arrange the flowers, and care for them yourself before the ceremony.
Be Simplistic
The adage "less is more" often rings true. Being minimalistic at your wedding can help you save money and may even improve the event's overall impact. When it comes to wedding flowers, keeping things simple by ordering just boutonnieres, bouquets, and an altar arrangement is a great option.
Don't Be Too Picky
If you're trying to save money, you might have to skimp on the décor. Indeed, this is most evident with your floral arrangements. When it comes time to make a selection, be flexible and consider a variety of options. Tell the florist your price range and be receptive to her suggestions if you want to purchase flowers from her shop rather than online.
Have a Christmas or Easter Wedding
Flower arrangements at churches are already stunning for the holidays. Put that to good use by having your wedding around the holidays.
Have a Small Bridal Party
Since bouquets and boutonnieres will consume a sizable portion of your total flower budget, decreasing the size of your wedding party is one way to save money on your wedding flowers. Dresses, tuxedos, and gifts for the bridal party can all be purchased cheaper as a result of this.
Use Flowers from Your Own Garden
Is there going to be a chance that any of the flowers in your yard will be in full bloom on the day of your wedding? If you don't have any, you could want to plant some before the big day so you can pick them. You don't need a lot of money to get started with a little garden.
Keep An Open Mind
Pinterest is a great source of wedding flower ideas, and we've all lost track of time saving some pictures of elaborate arrangements. It is acceptable to show a flower consultant a handful of the ideas you have saved on your wedding board. However, keep an open mind and consult a specialist to find out how feasible it is to get the desired effect within your budget. If you need recommendations or alternatives, a floral designer can help you choose ones that won't break the bank.
Take Advantage of Statement Blooms that Fill Space
Flowers with higher visual impact, such as garden roses or hydrangeas, can be used sparingly in floral arrangements without increasing the overall price. These flowers are sometimes referred to as focus flowers because of the way they capture the viewer's attention.
Only Use 1-3 Flowers so You or Your Florist Can Buy in Bulk
You or your florist will likely still have to make large purchases if you want a wide variety of flowers. The additional effort required to implement these things into other areas is worth it. Preparing and caring for each flower individually is required before they can be placed. Check out our do-it-yourself combo packs with exactly the appropriate amount of flowers, or use just one or two focal flowers to make an impact.
Corporate More Greenery
There is a wide range of low-cost foliage available for use in making a beautiful bouquet. There are several kinds of foliage to consider, such as parvafolia, silver dollar eucalyptus, and leather leaf greenery. Whether you opt for a bouquet with more foliage than flowers or no flowers at all, you'll get the many benefits of this trend. One is the cost, which is an apparent factor; another is the length of time that plants stay alive.
No matter how hot or cold it gets, the plants will remain lush and healthy. You should exercise caution, though, because the cost of greenery varies widely by species and can easily rival that of cut flowers.
Alternatives to a Florist for Your Wedding
Visit the Floral Section at Your Grocery Store
Whole Foods, Vons, Safeway, and Publix are just few of the supermarkets that provide flower sections. Many workers are already familiar with creating centrepieces, and others may even have experience as florists. Inquiring with a few other establishments may reveal that they, in fact, can give the same centrepieces and bouquets as the typical wedding florist, and at a much more reasonable cost.
Boutonnieres, corsages, and arrangements for the wedding are just some of the other items that florists might sell in bundles. You can save time and money by having your cake baked in the supermarket's bakery. However, some supermarkets may not deliver your flowers, or they may demand a hefty fee to do so, so you may need to arrange for someone to pick them up on the day of the wedding.
Buy Wholesale
Florists charge a premium, but you can save money by ordering flowers in bulk and arranging them yourself. If you reside in a large city, you can obtain cheap, high-quality blooms at a flower market.
Understanding that floral arrangement calls for study, skill, and the right equipment is crucial. You'll want to get some floral pins, colourful wrapping paper, flowery tape, and flower shears to make the bouquets look their best. There must be a container for the flowers and floral foam to keep them fresh and help them keep their form for the centrepieces. If you don't have experience arranging flowers or a keen eye for design, you might wish to consult a lesson you can find online.
You should practise a few weeks or months in advance so that you're not rushing about on the big day, and you should also get more flowers than you think you'll need in case some of them end up dying or falling apart. Before you take them to the ceremony site, make sure the flowers are kept in water and a cool place (like a refrigerator). Flower arrangements take time, so ask for assistance from friends, family, and even the wedding party.
Order Online
It takes a lot of effort to get your flowers ready. Choose ready-made bouquets and table centrepieces instead. This is more expensive than buying flowers in bulk, but it saves time and effort compared to learning and practising floral arrangement techniques.
Using a premade online service has several advantages, and one of them is that you can see an example of what your flower bouquets and arrangements will look like before you buy them. Because of this, it will be much less of a hassle to arrange the wedding party's attire and choose complementary colours for the reception's table settings. On the other hand, you won't have the freedom to tailor your arrangements to your tastes in this way. In the same way that you would with wholesale flowers, these bouquets should be kept in water and stored in a cold, dry place as soon as possible.
Ask a Friend to Help Arrange
Find a friend or family member to assist if you don't want to take on the time commitment of arranging the flowers alone. It's likely that at least a couple of your friends and family members have done their own flower arrangements at some point.
Keep in mind the effort and money that goes into creating your bouquets and table decorations. Don't just say you'll pay for the flowers if you don't intend to. Also, think about how you may repay your friend or show your appreciation; a gift certificate and a card of thanks are usually appreciated. For example, you could offer to help organise the wedding or arrange the flowers if your buddy is planning a wedding in the near future.
Be Tactical
Favor flowers like hydrangeas, peonies, and dahlias that have a huge, showy bloom head. Your florist may then make a beautiful bouquet with fewer stems, saving you money.
Flowers Between Venues
If you're having the ceremony in one location and the reception in another, designate a member of the wedding party to be in charge of coordinating the flower transport.
You can save money on flowers by reusing the ones used at the ceremony site for the reception. This includes the arrangements at the altar, the entrance, and the chairs.
Grow Your Flowers
You could grow the flowers during the time spent arranging the wedding and then collect them the day before to use in the centrepieces.
Make sure you've had some time to prepare, either by practising or attending a session. Don't take any chances with your bouquet, though—leave that to the experts.
Use Silk Flowers
Artificial flowers have several advantages over their natural counterparts. They are resistant to wilting, bruising, and breaking. You can buy them in advance and transport them easily because they don't need to be refrigerated or kept wet. Silk flowers are a great alternative to real ones if the flower of your dreams is either out of season or prohibitively expensive.
It's important to remember that not all silk flowers are made the same. The artificial flowers sold in hobby stores often have a rough plastic or cloth feel.
Silk flowers are more convenient than fresh flowers, but they often cost more than a more conventional table centrepiece. However, you can try to resale them after the wedding to recover some of your investment. In addition, some flower shops let brides rent silk arrangements and then return them after the wedding. The beauty of real flowers is enhanced by their incomparable aroma and velvety freshness, which are unfortunately lacking in even the most lifelike silk arrangements.
What measures have you taken to lessen the financial burden of wedding flowers? Were any aesthetic compromises necessary, or were flowers substituted for something else?
Inexorably high prices are often charged by the traditional florists who are hired for weddings. Of course, they also provide ease, knowledge, and confidence that your flowers will arrive fresh and in good condition. You can save time and money by contacting an up-and-coming florist for your wedding instead of an established one. Don't lie about your financial situation while inquiring about your choices. They'll figure out a method to give you the look you want at a price you can handle if they want your money.
Conclusion
The cost of flowers for a wedding can easily run into the thousands. However, a stunning wedding does not have to cost a fortune to plan. If you want beautiful wedding flowers without breaking the bank, the secret is to use flowers that are in season and to think creatively. The flower arrangements in the main hall were recycled from the prior event's reception. In some cases, the price of a single flower could be significantly higher than in others.
Carnitines are the most cost-effective floral option. The cost of shipping items can add up, so it's best to do your shopping locally if possible. Let the florist know that you want to use some more pricey stems, and she can help you determine how much they will cost. Keeping your wedding simple might help you save money and make a bigger impact. One strategy to reduce the cost of wedding flowers is to have a small bridal party.
Before the big day, you might wish to plant some flowers in your yard if you don't already have some. Finding wedding floral inspiration on Pinterest is a breeze. A flower designer is the perfect person to consult for advice and alternatives that won't break the bank. Make your own bouquet with the perfect amount of flowers from our pre-packaged, do-it-yourself bundles.
As it happens, many employees probably know their way around making centrepieces, and some might even have floristry knowledge. Wholesale flower orders might save you money compared to buying from a florist. In order to visualise the final product of your flower bouquet or arrangement before making a purchase, use a prepared online service. If you don't want to spend all that time on flower arrangement by yourself, enlist the help of a friend or relative. Reusing the ceremony flowers during the reception is a great way to cut costs.
Content Summary
- Need to cut costs on wedding flowers without compromising style?
- Finding flowers that are in season, selecting your florals carefully, and thinking outside the box are the keys to getting wedding flowers without breaking the bank.
- Flowers are a wonderful way to decorate for your wedding, but they may also significantly increase your budget.
- Use them for some things, like altar bouquets, even if you're not a fan, and then splurge on something fancier for the bride's bouquet.
- Tell your florist the truth about your financial constraints.
- The best flowers to use are seasonal ones from your area.
- Discuss using some more expensive stems in your arrangements with your florist and she can figure out the best way to price them for you.
- Your bridal bouquet will be photographed numerous times, so if you have your heart set on a specific flower, talk to your florist about including it in your bouquet and finding a suitable substitute for the centrepieces.
- Since bouquets and boutonnieres will consume a sizable portion of your total flower budget, decreasing the size of your wedding party is one way to save money on your wedding flowers.
- Dresses, tuxedos, and gifts for the bridal party can all be purchased cheaper as a result of this.
- Is there going to be a chance that any of the flowers in your yard will be in full bloom on the day of your wedding?
- It is acceptable to show a flower consultant a handful of the ideas you have saved on your wedding board.
- If you need recommendations or alternatives, a floral designer can help you choose ones that won't break the bank.
- There is a wide range of low-cost foliage available for use in making a beautiful bouquet.
- Whether you opt for a bouquet with more foliage than flowers or no flowers at all, you'll get the many benefits of this trend.
- However, some supermarkets may not deliver your flowers, or they may demand a hefty fee to do so, so you may need to arrange for someone to pick them up on the day of the wedding.
- Understanding that floral arrangement calls for study, skill, and the right equipment is crucial.
- Flower arrangements take time, so ask for assistance from friends, family, and even the wedding party.
- Choose ready-made bouquets and table centrepieces instead.
- Using a premade online service has several advantages, and one of them is that you can see an example of what your flower bouquets and arrangements will look like before you buy them.
- Find a friend or family member to assist if you don't want to take on the time commitment of arranging the flowers alone.
- Keep in mind the effort and money that goes into creating your bouquets and table decorations.
- Don't just say you'll pay for the flowers if you don't intend to.
- If you're having the ceremony in one location and the reception in another, designate a member of the wedding party to be in charge of coordinating the flower transport.
- Artificial flowers have several advantages over their natural counterparts.
- Silk flowers are a great alternative to real ones if the flower of your dreams is either out of season or prohibitively expensive.
- It's important to remember that not all silk flowers are made the same.
- The artificial flowers sold in hobby stores often have a rough plastic or cloth feel.
- What measures have you taken to lessen the financial burden of wedding flowers?
- You can save time and money by contacting an up-and-coming florist for your wedding instead of an established one.
- Don't lie about your financial situation while inquiring about your choices.