How much do wedding flowers cost?
If I had $100 for every time I get this question I could retire. And its not an easy question to answer because there are simply so many variables that go into how much your wedding flowers are going to cost. This guide is meant to give you a GENERAL idea of how much select elements of your floral design might cost. Looking for a wedding florist that will bring your Colorado wedding dreams to life? Petals is the answer! Get in touch!
Why Most Florists Don't Itemize Their Proposals
This is an excellent question with a very easy answer : Florists don't itemize their proposals because it is impossible to do. Want to see an example of a Petals Proposal? Click Here.
Let me give you an example: Let's say you order 4 large centerpieces for a total cost of $1000. This exceeds your budget so you drop that to just 2 large centerpieces expecting it to save you $500. Except that the two large centerpieces now cost $700, not $500. Why doesn't the math check out here? Its because of economy of scale and the time and skill required to design the pieces.
First of all, Your florist may have to purchase the same amount of flowers for two arrangements as they would for three or even four. This is because florists can't just buy the exact number of stems they need but must buy bundles of flowers. Sure they may be able to repurpose some of the leftovers but its not certain and as flowers are perishable materials, any overage can be a financial loss for your florist.
The other part of the equation is design. It takes a lot of skill, practice, and planning to design a floral piece. Your florist may even sketch out the design before beginning work on it and this process can take hours and a great deal of skill. This design can then be used four times over when you buy four centerpieces but only twice when you purchase only two. Want to see some of the fabulous designs Petals has been a part of over the years? Check out our Portfolio.
What variables contribute to how much wedding flowers cost?
There are too many to list them all but here are three of the most common:
Location : If you live in Italy, Mexico, California, or Florida your wedding flowers might cost a lost less than if you live in say Alaska, Colorado, or Montana. This is all because of climate. The easier it is to grow flowers year-round where you live, the more cost effective they are going to be. Of course a lot of other local market considerations go into the actual cost of wedding flowers in your area, including how much taxes are, how expensive labor is where you live, the time of year and the flowers you want, how labor intensive your design dreams are, how many florists are available in your area, etc.
The Flowers you choose: If you want peonies in May and it was a good year for peonies, you will probably get a lot of peonies in your wedding design. If, on the other hand, you want those same peonies in late July, you may be out of luck. There might be a producer in Alaska who can ship them to you but they will cost an arm and a leg and may not even be usable on the day of your wedding. Your best bet is to choose seasonally and locally appropriate flowers to avoid spending all of your budget on the jet fuel and air conditioning it took to get out of season flowers to you.
Complexity of Design: If you want a ten foot floral arch in the middle of the mountains its going to cost a lot more than the same amount of flowers in urns on top of whisky barrels at your local hotel. This is because for the ten foot arch your florist has to put major design work into the architecture of the arch, bring a crew along to move that delicate design into the mountains, mount it in a way that it won't topple or wilt and then remove the arch and florals from the area at the end of the event. The manpower, hours of labor, and design skills involved in this scenario are MUCH greater than in the option with the whisky barrels. Though the pictures you get in that mountain scenario make the arch well worth it, let me tell you!
General Costs of Wedding Flowers:
Again, these are estimated item costs of the most popular designs and services we are asked to make at Petals. This list serves just to give you an idea of how much things cost. Actual wedding proposals can vary widely for any number of reasons as explored above.
I don't know a single florist who does weddings to get rich. We do them because we love flowers, and parties, and pretty things. But weddings are also stressful and time consuming and labor intensive. We also do weddings to pay our employees and our mortgages. Moral of the story is: whatever your florist is charging you, they probably have very good reasons that went into coming up with that total. So, pick a florist you trust and then...trust them! Want to check my list against another? I looked this up after I wrote this and was surprised at how close a lot of the estimates are to mine!
Wedding Bouquet: $200-$450
Bridesmaide's Bouquets: $100-$150
Boutonnieres: $20
Corsages: $45
Flower Crowns: $125+
Rose Petals: $40
Flower Arch: $1000+
Large Aisle Arrangements: $350+
Large Centerpieces/welcome arrangements: $200+
Medium Centerpieces: $100+
Small Centerpieces: $70+
Bar arrangment: $45
Budvase trio: $40
Table Runner Greenery: $20/ft+
Cake Florals: $45+
End of aisle chair decor: $35+
End of aisle floor decor: $50+
Proposal Design: $250+
Consultation: $100/hr
Set up & Delivery: $150
Tear down: $150
Taxes: 5-15%
Looking for ways to save on your wedding flowers? Check out our guide to getting the most
bloom for your buck!
