Fourteen Tips for Saving Money on Your Wedding Flowers

by Kim McMullen

 
As an experienced wedding and special event florist, I'm often asked for floral advice. One of the most frequent questions I'm asked is, "How can I save money on my wedding flowers?" Over the years I've given a number of money-saving tips to brides, their mothers, their wedding planners, and anyone else involved in the budgeting and planning of their weddings. I've compiled a few of the most common ways to cut wedding floral costs and listed them below.

Money Saving Tip #1 - Keep the number of bridesmaids and other attendants to a minimum

I'm always amazed by the number of brides who say they have a very tight floral budget yet they have a very large number of bridesmaids participating in their weddings. One of the most effective ways to immediately reduce floral expenses is to keep the number of attendants, particularly bridesmaids, to a minimum. For an example of how the number of attendants can quickly inflate or reduce your wedding floral costs, take a look this comparison. A bride who selects an average $65 bouquet style for her 8 bridesmaids will spend $520 in bridesmaid bouquets alone, whereas, a bride who selects the same $65 bouquet for her 3 bridesmaids will spend only $195. That's a savings of $325!

Money Saving Tip #2 - Select a florist who offers, and is accomplished, in both fresh floral and silk/artificial floral design

One of the biggest misconceptions a bride or wedding planner can have is that silk/artificial flowers are always cheaper than fresh flowers. That is not always true. The least expensive flowers for your special day depends upon a wide variety of factors, and a florist who works in both fresh and faux mediums can recommend the most cost-effective solution for your budget and floral preferences. If your preference is for silk flowers or if you feel there's a strong possibility that silk will work best for your wedding, it is very important to select a florist who works with both fresh and artificial mediums. Silk florists familiar with the properties of fresh flowers can better select and arrange silk/artificial floral and foliage to make your bouquets and other wedding flowers look highly realistic and most like fresh floral designs.

Money Saving Tip #3 - Consider selecting flowers that are in-season

Fresh flowers that are in-season at the time of your wedding are always fresher, more vibrant, plentiful, and much less expensive than out-of-season blooms. Seasonal flowers produce the most consistent and reliable results, and they are often grown locally, significantly reducing shipping/transportation costs as well as providing revenue to local growers and the local economy. Specialty and out-of-season flowers are more expensive and must be imported, traveling long distances with high shipping/transportation costs. There is always the risk they may arrive too mature or in wilted condition and the costs for the flowers themselves, not including the shipping, can be very expensive. If your heart is set on higher priced, specialty varieties that must be imported or on out-of-season blooms that are unavailable at the time of the year when your wedding takes place, silk/artificial flowers may be the most cost-effective option for you.

Money Saving Tip #4 - Be flexible when selecting flower varieties

Season aside, certain varieties of fresh flowers are consistently more expensive than others based on a number of factors (how they grow, how fast they grow, where they grow, how many are grown, how they are harvested, etc). Use this guide as a general rule of thumb when selecting fresh flowers for bouquets, centerpieces, and other wedding arrangements:

Lower Cost Chrysanthemums Daisies Carnations Gladiolus Button Mums

Average Cost Roses Gerbera Daisies Hydrangea Dendrobium Orchids Asian Lilies

Higher Cost Calla Lilies Mini Calla Lilies Stephanotis Orchids (most varieties, incl. Cymbidium) Stargazer and Casablanca Lilies

Money Saving Tip #5 - Avoid scheduling your wedding on or near a holiday

Fresh flowers are more expensive near holidays due to supply and demand. For example, florists stock more flowers to meet the demand for Valentine's Day orders. However, flowers are a natural, perishable product and only so many are ready to harvest at the time they are needed. Because there's only so much supply available but demand is greater around a holiday, wholesale prices rise as wholesalers and retail florists all "compete" for a share of the limited supply. If your wedding is scheduled anywhere from two weeks before to a week after a major floral holiday, such as Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, and Sweetest Day, fresh flowers are typically higher in cost and varieties are more limited in supply at that time. If your heart is set on a wedding date close to a holiday (particular one of the three mentioned above), silk flowers may be the most cost-effective option for you.

Money Saving Tip #6 - Choose simple vs complex designs

The price of flowers is only one part of your total floral costs. Labor is another factor. Larger, more complex designs, such as cascade and waterfall bouquets typically are more labor intensive and costly than simple, round designs long-stemmed flower varieties. Also, flowers that require tedious wiring and taping (stephanotis, orchids, and thin, short, or brittle-stemmed floral varieties) prior to placement in designs are more labor intensive and add to your floral costs, whether fresh or silk/artificial.

Money Saving Tip #7 - Know when to select a hand-tied bouquet vs one created in a holder

If you're looking for the illusion of larger bouquets and more "bang for your buck," choose bouquets created using hidden, slant-handled, holders. The holder places flowers at the proper angle for full visibility, the bouquet is lighter in weight (no heavy, bulky long stems), and all the flowers comprising the bouquet are visible with the viewer's focus on the flowers and not on the stems.

Hand-tied styles are very popular right now for both fresh and silk bouquets, but the style makes petite and smaller-sized bouquets look even smaller to the viewer because not all flowers comprising the bouquet are seen at the same time. The viewer's vantage point is of the side of the bouquet so the viewer's focus is split between the stems and the half dome shape of flowers.

Money Saving Tip #8 - Minimize bouquet accessories and "bling"

The past few years have seen an explosion of bouquet designs featuring jewels, crystals, pearls, rhinestones, crystal butterflies and dragonflies, feathers, bows, ribbons, and other add-in accessories. When used in moderation, the additional detailing and sparkle are beautiful, but if you're on a super tight budget, this is one easy way you can reduce costs. If you're trying to make a small budget stretch further, go for the natural look and let your bridal jewelry be the "bling" that sparkles. If your flowers are well-designed and of top quality, they will command attention all on their own, without the use of add-ins.

Money Saving Tip #9 - Reuse bridal bouquets

After all formal photographs are taken, reuse your bridal and bridesmaid bouquets to decorate your head table, gift table, guestbook table, cake table, cocktail tables, bar, etc. This is an excellent way to stretch your budget and ensure that your bouquets are seen and enjoyed at the reception as well as the ceremony.

Money Saving Tip #10 - Reuse ceremony arrangements at the reception

To save money on decorating costs, reuse ceremony arrangements at the reception. If designed properly and in a style that will transition well, your ceremony flowers can perform double-duty at both events. Many florists, including Something Spectacular and Something Floral, will safely transport your flowers after your ceremony and set them up at your reception location so they can be enjoyed and photographed in both locations.

Money Saving Tip #11 - Use fewer, but larger arrangements

Larger, but fewer, floral arrangements offer more visual impact and "bang for the buck" than lots of smaller arrangements scattered around the reception facility that are likely to be overlooked. This is especially true if you'll be having a dimly-lit or candle-lit reception. A qualified floral professional can assist you in finding the most visually strategic locations at your reception facility, and will place your large arrangements there.

Money Saving Tip #12 - Use flowering plants as centerpieces

During the spring and summer when they are plentiful at home and garden shops, purchase and use flowering plants in pretty, decorative pots for your reception table centerpieces. As centerpieces they will contain both flowers and foliage, and the plant is likely to be larger than an equally-priced, formally arranged centerpieces. After the reception, guests can take the centerpieces home as a living favor, always to remember your special day.

Money Saving Tip #13 - Skip the bouquet and garter toss

The bouquet and garter toss, once popular in the 1970s and early 80s, are fast becoming antiquated wedding customs as times change and fewer single guests feel comfortable participating in the activity. As such, increasing numbers of couples are opting to skip the bouquet and garter toss altogether, eliminating the worry that few, if any guests, will participate when the event is announced, and you won't need to purchase a separate toss bouquet and garter.

Money Saving Tip #14 - "Do-it-yourself" often costs more

Sometimes brides think if they do everything themselves, they'll save money. However, that's often a false assumption and frequently "do it yourself" projects end up costing much more with less than professional results. Do-it-yourself costs really add up, especially when you're purchasing items as a retail consumer and are forced to buy quantities on supplies (do you really need a gross/144 of boutonnierre pins?) when you may need only a few. Add to the tool, equipment, and material costs the immense stress and emotional pressure, the last-minute design of all flowers the day of the wedding, the ticking clock as the deadline approaches, the dirty and chlorophil-stained hands that ruined your manicure, the logistics and stress of who will deliver and setup everything since even the best intentioned friends and family members may not setup properly, on time, or without damaging your bouquets and arrangements. When you hire a professional floral designer, there's no risk, no stress, no worries, and you know that everything will be designed, delivered, and setup properly. By hiring an experienced, qualified floral professional, you never have to worry that your guests are noticing, and the wedding photographs are capturing, not-quite right, lopsided, do-it-yourself bouquets, wilting corsages, and bruised boutonnierres that were well-intentioned in the name of saving a few dollars. 

I cannot tell you how many frustrated, stressed, and time-crunched brides, mothers of the bride, and wedding coordinators have contacted me over the years, requesting that I "fix" their do-it-yourself attempts with either silk or fresh wedding flowers. Unfortunately, every single "fix it" job resulted in higher material and labor costs to correct than it would've to hire a professional florist in the first place.

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By Kim McMullen, owner and lead designer
Something Floral and Something Spectacular Custom Floral Design
www.SomethingFloral.com and www.SomethingSpectacular.com
586-778-4624