Are you a bride on a budget?
I know I was when I got married. I was trying to find every single little way to cut the cost of my wedding and keep things simple. It was so hard to do! I couldn't believe how easily the cost of a wedding could get out of hand. I got a few flower quotes from various vendors and I was shocked at how expensive it was going to be! I did not have that kind of money.
I've had my business,
Wedding Flowers by Emily, for over 3 years now and have discovered lots of different ways to cut down your floral cost and still have beautiful wedding flowers.
"Emily did such an amazing job on my wedding flowers. She helped me keep it in our budget and they were still exactly what I pictured! My bouquet was everything I always dreamed it would be..." -Lindsay Tanner
Why on earth would I be sharing this information with you!? After all, I do run a wedding flower business and every florist loves it when a bride's budget is infinite, right? While that is true, I was in your shoes once and I wish someone had shared these tips with me while I was planning my wedding.
Here are 5 simple money saving tips when it comes to wedding flowers.
1. Do Them Yourself
Hah, I probably shouldn't be encouraging brides to do their own flowers because that might put me out of business...but I'm not really worried about that. Plenty of brides do their own flowers and I am still doing fine :-)
Doing your own wedding flowers is definitely not for everyone but can really help when you are on a tight budget.
DIY wedding flowers is by far the #1 way to cut cost. I chose this option when I got married and I was really pleased with how everything turned out. If I were to do my flowers over again, I would DEFINITELY create something different but at the time, I liked it. Looking back, I think I settled for the flowers I had available to me at the time instead of getting exactly what I wanted.
This was the bouquet that I made for myself 6 years ago. I've learned quite a bit about floral design since then and would love to go back and do it differently. (One advantage of having a professional florist is their experience and expertise)
If you decide to do your own flowers, keep the following in mind:
- You will need to arrange your flowers 1-2 days before your wedding date. Do you have time for this? What is the schedule like 1-2 days before your wedding date? Most of the time, it's pretty packed with fun things. Many brides simply just don't have the time to do their own flowers and so they hire a florist to do it.
- Do you have access to the flowers you want in your bouquet?
- Do you know how to construct all the bouquets, boutonnieres, corsages etc?
- Do you have the supplies you need to make all the items you want?
- Can you make it look good? I think a lot of brides decide they can do their own flowers and then soon find out that designing flowers (especially bridal bouquets) is a lot harder than they think. I have had many brides call me up and ask me to rescue them from a floral disaster they got themselves into.
2. Choose the Small Business Owner
Larger florist shops or chains have quite a bit of overhead. They need to pay rent for their facility, utility bills, employee payrolls, business vehicles etc. Because of these overhead costs, they can (and often do) charge more for your wedding flowers.
If there is more than 1 employee at the shop you want to design your wedding flowers, you run the risk of doing the consultation with one employee and then having a different employee create your bouquet just by reading the order form. No! Don't let this happen! You might not get exactly what you want.
I have one employee (me!) running my business out of my home. I don't have other employees, additional storefront rent/utilities to pay, or have a company car. This helps me to keep my prices low. I still have access to wholesale prices (the same wholesaler that supplies the big companies) and I don't up-charge at all for the cost of flowers like the majority of flower shops do.
3. Less Variety of Flowers
When I got married, I wanted a million different textures and colors in my bouquet. Again, I would design my bouquet differently now but I think that was why the floral quotes I got were so high.
Flowers come from a wholesaler in bunches of (usually) 5-10 stems. When you add more varieties of flowers in your bouquet, your florist has to order in 1 or more bunches of that type of flower. You will cut down on price if you stick to about 2-3 types of flowers for all the items you are wanting. If you use less variety, your florist will be able to use up more of the bunch they bought and, therefore, cut your cost down.
Also, ask your florist if there are less expensive flower substitutions that will give you the same "look" you are going for.
4. Choose Seasonal Flowers
Do you want peonies for your October wedding? Well, there is a slight chance your florist will be able to get them in but you will pay a very pretty penny for them. Also, when flowers grow out of season they end up smaller than normal and are much lower quality.
Ask your florist what flowers are in season in the month of your wedding. If the flowers are in season, then there will be a larger crop which the growers will sell for less to the wholesalers.
There are a lot of flowers that are in season year round and generally have a smaller price tag. Ask your florist about those flowers too.
5. Pick Up the Flowers Yourself
Delivery fees are an extra expense that can be avoided if you or someone you know goes to pick them up. Will you have a uncle with nothing to do the morning of the wedding? Send him to go pick up the flowers!
Keep in mind the following:
- If you do pick them up yourself, it will then be your responsibility to keep them fresh and prevent anything from getting damaged.
- Will you need flowers for 2 different times of the day? Some couples get married in the morning and have their reception that evening. Can you keep the flowers for your reception fresh until that evening?
- Will you have time to set up the flowers before your reception? If it is going to be tight, you might want to stick with having the florist deliver them.
Every bride has to find the balance that works for them. We all love saving money, but think about the cost (in time and stress). These 5 tips can help guide your decision as you find your own personal balance that will keep your wedding within your budget without stressing you out.
