When it comes to wedding flowers, some brides cringe. It’s
difficult (we know and understand) to spend money on something that will only
last for a few hours – no matter how beautiful or necessary. However, since few
weddings are entirely flower-free, it’s usually a necessary evil to open the
wedding budget to include flowers.
Fortunately, this does not mean that wedding flowers need to
break the bank. In fact, there are several easy ways to cut down on the cost of
flowers.
Go small: small bouquets and boutonnieres show up just as
much and as well as larger ones during the ceremony and in photos. Usually,
cutting down on the size of a bouquet and boutonniere can reduce their cost by
$2-$3 each.
Don’t provide for everyone: sure, your bridesmaids may need
a bouquet, but does each of your groomsmen really need a boutonniere? What
about Aunt Ida and your grandmother, do they really need a small bouquet?
Chances are that they’ll be just fine without one, especially if you explain
budgetary restrictions to them.
Repurpose: altar arrangements look great on bars, bouquets
can be used on the cake table or as centerpieces, and boutonnieres can actually
be used to surround the cake or on buffet tables. Guests love seeing the
bouquets and other flowers up close, so don’t hesitate to allow those costly
blooms to work double time.
Use more than just flowers to decorate tables: long ago,
brides discovered that non-floral arrangements on tables looked just fine, if
not more interesting. Mirrors, candles, and photo frames can often be bought in
bulk, reducing the per-table decoration cost.
However, if intricate or large, alternative arrangements can
become just as expensive as flowers. To avoid this, make sure to do a total
cost calculation of the items you would like to use as centerpieces prior to
purchasing them. Once you have the total cost, divide it by your number of
tables to obtain a per-table cost. If this cost is approximately the same as
the estimate provided to you by a florist (usually around $200 per table), consider
scaling down your design.
Buy used: if you’re in love with non-floral arrangements
adorning your tables, consider buying used décor. Websites such as NextWed have
vases, mirrors, and even gently used candles for a fraction of what they cost
new.
I recently discussed a newlywed’s wedding flowers and fell
in love with how she purchased her flowers:
First, she found a local floral wholesaler and visited them
during the day. While there, she wrote down the names and per-stem cost of the
flowers that she liked that fit her general color scheme.
Next, she went home and calculated the per-item bouquet and
boutonniere cost for the flowers she liked the most. When she found that it was
too high for her liking, she substituted cheaper flowers from her previously
created list. This way, she tweaked the cost of adorning her wedding party
until it coincided with what she wanted to spend.
Third, she researched the cost of vases for her table
centerpieces by checking Craigslist and NextWed. On those sites, she found she
could obtain vases and other glass flower holders for a dollar each. She then
calculated the total amount having three vases of each type and cost that she
selected on each table.
Fourth, finding the per-table vase cost acceptable, she
returned to her floral list and chose a single or two blooms to insert into
each vase. She tweaked the list of what she wanted for each table until it met
her budget.
Fifth, after having created her bouquets, boutonnieres, and
table arrangements, she turned to her ceremony site. With what remained of her budget she decided
upon using a single bag of rose petals (which she had priced at the wholesaler)
for the aisle. She also liked the idea of roping off the aisle, and returned
once more to the web to find cloth for that purpose. The cost of the cloth was
$10.
Next, she detailed where flowers would be repurposed to ensure
she had enough. Bouquets were sent to the cake table while boutonnieres graced
the space between buffet stations.
Seventh, she calculated the total cost for all of her
flowers and items required to display or use those flowers: $600. Finding that
acceptable, she placed an order at the wholesaler for the items she chose and
asked her maid of honor to assist with creating bouquets the night before the
wedding. The maid of honor’s thank-you gift for helping was dinner and a nice
bottle of wine to imbibe while piecing together flowers from the bride’s list.
Finally, when all was said and done, she returned to the
Internet and NextWed to re-sell the items she could. Overall, she recouped
$200.
Viola! The bride spent $400 on flowers for an outdoor
wedding for 150 people. How impressive is that?!
