10 Floral Tips Every Bride Should Know
1. Don’t skimp on the flowers and décor.
Florals and décor aren’t just an after thought (or at least shouldn’t be). These two things should be one of the MAIN things you focus on and budget for your wedding. Florals, décor and personal touches help to create the mood and ambiance of your wedding. These things are highly photographed and live forever in your photos! You’ve hired the best and most expensive photographer in town so give them amazing things to capture!
2. Plan your floral budget around your venue budget.
If you plan on getting married at the most gorgeous 5-star resort, then your florals and décor should be just as opulent and amazing. Spending all your money on your venue and going small and on the floral and décor because there is nothing left in the budget will make your venue look cheap and unimpressive to your guests.
3. Let’s talk budget!
I ALWAYS ask my clients when we meet for our consultation what their budget is for their flowers. I ask this so I can help create something for you that you love and fits within what you can financially handle vs. making you feel bad because the money doesn’t align with that incredible Pinterest arrangement you fell in love with. Budget is an important topic for any couple getting married and its recommended that you set your wedding budget BEFORE you meet with any vendor! The answer I get most often after I ask how much the budget is, we are working with is, “I have no idea! I don’t know what flowers cost!” Wedding blogs/articles all recommend you spend between 8-10% of your weddings budget on florals. Having a ballpark number in mind when you meet with your florist makes the consultation much easier for all those involved.
4. What’s your vision when it comes to your wedding flowers?
If you have no clue what you like its going to be much harder during your consultation to tell your florist what you want. Before meeting with a florist do some homework (a.k.a. turn to Pinterest). Create an inspiration board and show your florist. The more you pin the more you start to become aware of what you really love because you’ll notice you’re pinning the same type of arrangement repeatedly! Pinterest is an incredible resource for inspiration and ideas BUT it is also a vast land of dreams vs. reality! Please note that many of the incredible pieces you see on Pinterest were created for either a stylized photo shoot to be featured in a magazine and thus budget wasn’t an issue OR they were created for clients who had no budget (think celebrity wedding). Don’t let this discourage you from using Pinterest and its incredible arrangements as inspiration, just be realistic with your budgetary expectations.
5. The bigger the bridal party, the more you have to spend on flowers!
Of course we would all love to have all our best friends stand up with us as we marry the person of our dreams, but if you have 15 best friends that means on top of the bridal bouquet and grooms boutonniere (if he is wearing one) you’ll also be needing 15 bridesmaids bouquets and 15 groomsmen boutonnieres! With an average boutonniere being $7+ (depending on what flowers are being used) that over $100 for just boutonnieres! Bridesmaid bouquets can average anywhere from $35+ (depending on what is being used and size) which means your 15 BFFs just cost you over $525 for flowers alone- that doesn’t even include the gifts you have to give them!! Your friends will still be your friends even if you don’t ask them all to be in your bridal party! My tip, smaller budget wedding…keep your bridal party small!
6. Okay so you just can’t narrow down your bridal party to less than 10 of your BFF’s and you don’t have a celebrity budget, what do you do? Everyone still needs flowers! I always encourage my clients to be selfish! This is THEIR day and the photos are going to last on their walls, NOT all the walls of their friends. If you’re on a budget get what YOU want for your bridal bouquet and scale down for the bridesmaids. If you LOVE Lilly of the Valley and Peony yet know they are expensive flowers use them for you and your groom ONLY! Your bridal party won’t care that they aren’t getting the big price tag flowers, but you’ll be thankful and happy you did when you look at those photos on your wall day after day and year after year!
7. DO NOT DIY your wedding flowers! I repeat DO NOT DIY your wedding flowers!
Yes, it can help save you money BUT it can also create a lot more stress and drama than you already have. Trust me when I say leave this to the professionals. I was my own florist and bride the day I got married and I up early working on my flowers the morning of my wedding and running around like a chicken with my head cut off setting it all up! It was stressful, and I’m a professional and know what I’m doing! Pay someone to do this for you! Enjoy the time spending with your family and friends who are coming to town to celebrate with you! Enjoy the night before your wedding with your guests at your rehearsal dinner and relaxing with your bridesmaids NOT stressing out about making the centerpieces and bouquets! Trust me, you DO NOT want to be awake at 3a.m. the morning of your wedding tearing apart your bridal bouquet for the millionth time crying because you can’t get it just right! Let someone else do that and get some shut eye; the next day is going to be a whirlwind and you’ll be happy you got your beauty sleep!
8. Silk flowers aren’t always cheaper!
Just because they aren’t real flowers doesn’t make them less money (unless you buy them from The Dollar Store). Good quality silk flowers cost money! Good quality silks are so good you can’t tell they aren’t real and that’s why they are pricey! Walk into Hobby Lobby and some of those stems are $15+ per stem!!! Often the real flower isn’t even that much! If you’re thinking silk flowers because you’d like to keep your bouquet talk to your florist about making a silk lookalike for you or chat with them about floral preservation.
In the same idea as silk flowers aren’t always cheaper, just having greenery for your bouquets or centerpieces doesn’t always make it cheaper either. Unless you just LOVE the all greenery look (and there is nothing at all wrong with that), don’t just do greenery because you think it will be less money. Make sure you get what YOU love!
9. If it isn’t listed on your final contract it won’t be at your wedding!
Please make sure you check and re-check your final contract to make sure everything you need is on there! Even though you told your florist six month ago you need another bridesmaid’s bouquet, life happens and sometimes we forget. Please double check! Its easier to add another bouquet to a contact and add the necessary flowers/supplies to our orders then it is to try to make one the day of without the proper supplies!
10. When you hire a florist to create your wedding flowers you aren’t just paying for the flowers!
In addition to the cost of the flowers and supplies you’ll also be paying labor/time for your florist and their staff to create all your arrangements. This not only includes the time it takes to make all the pieces for your wedding, it also includes the time it takes to research and create your quote (often at least a few hours per quote), time spent creating the flower/supply order and actually ordering them, time on the phone to the flower vendors trying to find the best pricing for your flowers, time to answer all texts/emails/in person consultations etc. You’re also paying for their expertise and experience. At the end of your quote you’ll often see additional fees for delivery/set-up, tear-down and maybe even room flipping.
It’s important to understand that a team of trained and experienced staff are working sometimes all day behind the scenes of your wedding to ensure that the entire design is executed perfectly and to your specification. When you hire a florist you’re also paying and ensuring you have the freshest/best quality flowers that have been expertly cared for, so they are opened to the perfect amount for your wedding! When you hire a florist, you aren’t just paying for the flowers, you’re paying for all this AND the peace of mind hiring a professional you trust brings!