Real Cost of Wedding Flowers

It doesn’t matter whether or not have planned a wedding or attended one before, I am sure everyone knows that flowers cost a lot of money. Personally, I don’t think that florists and suppliers are out to “get” you (financially) when you tell them you would like to purchase some flowers for a wedding.

The cost of flowers (not necessarily just for weddings) depends on two factors. The first factor is the actual price of flowers. Prices of flowers fluctuate depending on a lot of factors. The most recent example would be the flights and cargo shipments that were cancelled or delayed from Europe due to the volcanic ash. What this means to the floral industry is: Holland could not ship out any flowers to North America. Probably the only thing I learned in my University Economics 201 class (that was taught on the first day) is when supply goes down, demand goes up. Subsequently, the prices are also driven up, up, up.

The second factor that affects the pricing of wedding flowers is the labor involved. To the untrained eye, the bride’s bouquet looks like a bunch of flowers just gathered together and tied with a pretty ribbon. It is not quite that “ta-da!” easy. Putting together a bouquet requires a lot time to prep the flowers. In case you haven’t noticed, roses have thorns on them; roses in bouquets don’t. Guess what happened in between? The florist removed all of them, they didn’t just fall off. After the flowers are prep, they have to be arranged and held into place. Three steps sound easy, but it is not!

Some tips on saving costs on your wedding flowers:

1. Choose flowers that are in season. If you want tulips (a spring flower) for your wedding in December, it can be done, but at a cost to you.
2. Choose common flowers. By no means am I saying you have to choose a bouquet that everyone (and I mean everyone) has. Similar flowers can have entirely different looks when used with other complementary flowers. No two bouquets will look exactly the same.
3. Choose a common color of flower. Ok, hear me out on this one. White, pink, red roses are readily available. A black rose, not really. However once again, it can be done, but at a cost to you.
4. Choose a simple bouquet design. Posy bouquets are less expensive as compared to a cascading bouquet. The more intricate the design, the more of a cost to you.
5. Choose a florist that likes you. He/she will have more a reason to help you with your wedding budget.

Here are some beautiful bouquets from The Knot for you to drool over and guess the price and labor involved in making them. Enjoy!