A wedding is not complete without flowers. They are used for the bouquets of the bride and bridesmaids, toss bouquet for the reception, corsages, church altar flowers, flower girl flowers, and reception centrepieces. They make the wedding even more enchanting, beautiful, and magnificent. The choice of wedding flowers have a huge effect on the overall theme and style of the wedding. However, it is also true that the wedding flowers eat a huge portion of the wedding budget. Studies showed that the average cost of flowers in a wedding in America ranges between $1,000 and $2,100. There are various factors that can significantly affect the cost of wedding flower. These are the following:
Type of flowers
Number of flowers
Location of the wedding
Season/time of the year
Size of flower arrangement
How soon you place your order
If you are on a tight budget or you want to allocate a huge part of your budget on other important stuff, then you need to think of ways to keep your wedding flower budget under control. Feel free to follow these tips to significantly lower the cost of wedding flowers.
1 – Choose a flower inspired wedding venue
Some venues are totally bland and naked, which means you have to design it as per your wedding theme and style. Designing a totally naked venue can be fun because you get to style it the way you want to. However, it can also eat a huge part of your budget. You need to fill it with as many flowers possible. That’s okay if you do have unlimited budget. But even so, it is not worth it to spend a lot of money on the flowers alone. For practical reason, why don’t you just consider choosing a flower inspired wedding venue? There are already flowers available and all you need to do is to add some touch-ups.
2 – Be creative and resourceful when it comes to centrepieces
Centrepieces are expensive, especially if you have a lot of guests and you need to fill the tables with centrepieces. As with centrepieces, you are not only paying for the actual flowers, but as well for the vases and arrangements too. You can cut the cost to almost a half if you are going to use jars instead of vases. Make it more presentable by adding styles and textures. An experienced florist knows how to do it. He/she can improvise things just to meet your budget without compromising the quality of flower arrangement. You just have to discuss to your florist what you really want and whether she can achieve it without having the need to spend more.
3 – Be open to new ideas
You probably have chosen the flowers you want to have on your wedding day, but unfortunately, your budget can’t accommodate it. Just because your budget is on the low side does not necessarily mean you can’t have your preferred flowers. Sometimes, all it takes is to be open to new ideas and a bit of compromise. Florists can still use your favorite bloom but they need to add small flower details just to achieve a fuller flower arrangement. Sometimes, you need to compromise to cut the expenses. Do not worry as a professional and experienced florist got it all covered for you.
4 – Choose flowers that are in season
Choose flowers that are in season. They are easy to find and available in huge number. By shopping what’s in season, you get to save a lot of money. Getting flower that are not in season can be very expensive. Your florist needs to order it from other city or from other country when deemed necessary. That alone will cost you a lot of money.
5 – Repurpose your flowers
You don’t need to buy separate flowers for the wedding and reception venue. Talk to your florist ahead of time about your plan. With thorough and smart planning, you can repurpose your flowers. For an instance, the flowers you design in the wedding venue can be used as decorations on your reception venue. It just needs some tweaking and creativity to do that. You can give away the table centrepieces to your wedding sponsors. The flowers used by your bridesmaids can be used as decorations for the gift tables. With a bit of creativity and imagination, you can repurpose your flowers in many different ways.
6 – Choose larger flowers
A bouquet or a flower arrangement needs to look full to appreciate its beauty. A flower arrangement that looks empty isn’t attractive to the eyes. If you are going to use regular sized flowers, you need to purchase a lot of them in order to achieve a fuller look. If you have a lot of money, then this couldn’t be a problem. However, if you are working on a tight budget, then you need to choose larger blooms. They fill more space so you don’t need to buy a lot of them.
7 – Try other alternatives
Some flowers look exactly the same but one is more expensive than the other. If you prefer peonies as a wedding flower but your budget won’t allow you to do so, then why not consider ranunculus? They look exactly the same but the latter is cheaper and more practical. The florist knows exactly what types of flowers look the same and they will help you come up with the most reasonable choice.
8 – Patronize local flower shops
You will be able to enjoy a huge saving if you patronize local florists. The flowers are readily available and they are just within the town. They don’t need to travel that far, which means that the savings are passed on to the clients.
9 – Plan ahead
You should contact your florist at least six to eight months before the wedding. By doing so, you and your florist can thoroughly plan the steps you need to undertake to make your vision of wedding flowers come true. The earlier you plan, the more money you can save.
10 – Avail wedding flower package
Some florists have readily available wedding flower package. All you need to do is to choose the package that suits your needs and budget. Wedding flowers are beautiful, but they aren’t cheap. They could eat 10% to 15% of your budget. By simply following the steps mentioned above, you will be able to keep your wedding flower budget under control.
