General Advice
Everything To Know For Your Floral Wedding Budget
19 Mar 2024 •10 min read
From bouquets to boutonnieres and corsages to centerpieces, you’ll likely have more flowers at your wedding than you ever imagined possible. Or, you might just decide to go minimal and not need nor want as many as you first thought.
You may already have your mind set on a few varieties, but before you decide on the particulars and set things in stone, it’s good to have the floral budget taken care of. We also suggest scoping the venues or locations (either in-person or photographs) so you get a better idea on how many flowers are necessary to help amplify the brightness of your wedding day!
How Much Do Wedding Flowers Cost?
If you happen to be wondering what the average cost of a few of the essential wedding flowers are, then here you go: Your head table centerpiece will run around $120 to $600; $250 for the bridal bouquet; $80 for the bridesmaid bouquet; flower girl petals are about $25 per bag; and boutonniere is $20 each.
Above all, we know couples are constantly looking for new ways to save money on their weddings, and flowers can get expensive if you opt for fancy blooms and massive arrangements. Here are a few money-saving tips to think about before locking in your flower budget!
Best Tips to Stay Within Your Wedding Flower Budget
Wedding flowers are a staple for many weddings across various traditions and cultural practices. However, not all couples can afford to splurge thousands on expensive flowers or complex floral arrangements--and that's okay!
Instead of sacrificing a big chunk of your wedding budget on floral decor, here are some surefire ways to stay within your budget but still have a beautiful venue:
Find A Wedding Florist Who Understands Your Budget Constraints
To start things off on good footing, be honest with your florist about your wedding floral budget. If you can only spend $35 per table, say so in your initial email and see what they suggest. Or if you want more cost-effective wedding flower arrangements, ask for affordable recommendations.
It’s not a one-and-done kind of deal, you’ll probably go back and forth with a few ideas, it’s all about finding the best combination of flowers and flora. So expect to compromise.
Go With Silk Flowers
Some people roll their eyes at fake flowers, but we don’t see why! Silk flowers can look just as beautiful as the real thing — plus, they won’t wilt during the day, and you can keep them forever as a keepsake for your special day.
If you’re not super keen on the idea of falsies, consider using them here and there, like only for the boutonnieres or during the wedding ceremony. You can even intersperse them with fresh flowers--no one will notice the difference!
Buy In-Season Varieties
Want peonies in January or February? It’s going to cost you! Out-of-season flowers cost more for a florist to cultivate or order, which is a cost they’ll add to your bill.
Talk to your florist about the floral varieties that are in season when you’re getting married or tie the knot in the summer if you want access to the largest variety of blooms. You’ll save big!
Avoid Flower-friendly Holidays
You might’ve not caught on yet, but flower prices tend to skyrocket around Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day. Stay away from these dates to keep your wedding flower costs low.
Valentine’s Day is in February and because it’s the dead of winter, you’ll be hard-pressed to find affordable, in-season blooms.
A Naturally Beautiful Venue
Many of your typical wedding venues offer ample space for all your guests to celebrate and are often full of ornate furniture, they may even be architecturally beautiful: full of columns that reach up towards a vaulted ceiling and large marble dance floors, but do they have natural beauty?
If you’ve chosen an outdoor wedding whether it’s a beach, a field beside a forest, or even a desert, you may not have to go all out with florals due to the inherent beauty of the area.
Does your wedding venue offer beautiful landscape vistas? We suggest you find out because this could help you get away with having to make a space beautiful when it already is.
Buy Grocery Store Blooms
If you’re hosting a backyard wedding, keep things simple and pick up a few beautiful arrangements from Trader Joe’s. The flowers are reasonably priced and often sourced from local vendors.
Many grocery stores also have a florist on staff who can help you create special flower arrangements for a fraction of the cost of expensive flowers.
DIY Your Bouquets & Arrangements
Now, fair warning: DIY wedding projects aren’t always cheaper, and they’re almost always more work on your whole wedding planning process. But with careful planning and shopping, buying your own flowers wholesale, shopping at a farmer’s market, or using personal flowers from your garden can save you tons of money. Go in prepared!
DIY may seem daunting, but if you choose simple arrangements and bouquets that feature just one or two blooms and fillers, you can put together perfectly pretty arrangements on a super tight budget.
You can also meet in the middle: hire a pro to do just the bridesmaids' bouquets or your bridal bouquet—which will appear in a lot of photos—and DIY your centerpieces.
Do DIY Without Actual Flowers
Who says your bouquet has to be made of flowers at all? We’ve seen gorgeous bouquets, boutonnieres, and centerpieces made of paper, fabric, and brooches…get creative!
Since this marriage is a bond between two unique people, you don’t have to follow tradition just for the sake of it! You can even make this a special activity between you and your soon-to-be spouse.
Stick With Greenery
Ferns, leaves, grasses, eucalyptus, and other green flora can be super pretty—and they can take up a lot of space. Use them to fill out vases and bouquets, and let a few bright, contrasting flowers make a statement.
Not only will they add a unique, nature-y vibe to your venue, this trick will also decrease your overall wedding budget dramatically.
Reuse Your (Dried Floral) Bouquets & Ceremony Floral
You spent enough money on bridesmaids' bouquets and altar flowers, so why not repurpose them as reception decor? We normally recommend this for dried floral bouquets over fresh bouquets as 99.9% of the time the bridesmaid bouquets may be wilting by the time you're done taking photos.
Remember, a bouquet composition is entirely different from a centerpiece!
Skip The Ceremony Arrangements Altogether
If your ceremony site and reception space is already gorgeous, skip the arrangements! There’s no rule that says you must hang florals on your chuppah or arch.
Stick to a few floral centerpieces at the reception, fill in extra space on tables with tea lights, lamps, or other candles, and decorate your sweetheart table with other uniquely vibrant decorations.
Choose Smaller Arrangements
While overgrown, lush florals can be stunning, there’s a soft spot in our hearts for dainty arrangements, too! We love a simple floral arrangement placed in a small vase or single-flower boutonnieres on groomsmen.
And, of course, fewer flowers means more dollars saved for your total wedding budget.
Set A Few Statement Centerpieces
Instead of trying to cover every surface with flowers, display a magnificent centerpiece in a key area of your ceremony and reception.
Whether you decide on a grand centerpiece, a hanging garden, or a wall with ceremony flowers is up to you, but with one or two memorable spectacles that means you can hold back on making everything look amazing since people are more likely to take pictures of these unique statement centerpieces: mission complete!
Choose Cheaper Blooms
Sorry, peony lovers. Even if you marry in the summertime, your flower of choice will be expensive. Ask your florist to recommend another variety that costs less and still looks great.
Pro-tip: Garden roses are a lovely substitute for peonies! Plus, you can dry the flower petals into keepsakes or repurpose them for your honeymoon night.
Use Larger Or Fluffier Blooms To Fill Space
Choose puffy hydrangeas or giant sunflowers instead of orchids or even roses. You’ll only need a couple of larger flowers to fill a vase or create a bouquet, instead of dozens of smaller or thinner blooms.
Or, consider adding one or two accent flowers to arrangements that feature large or fluffy florals.
Never Underestimate The Power of Carnations & Baby’s Breath
They’re cheap, they’re timeless, and they pack a serious design punch. More importantly, they decrease the overall cost of wedding flowers by a tenfold.
And if you’re having a rustic or vintage-style wedding, you’ll really thank us for this suggestion. However, post-COVID-19 the cost has gone up significantly so make sure you check with your florist before you fall in love.
Limit Your Variety
Yes, a mess of different types of flowers can look absolutely stunning, but it can cost a lot, too, because your florist has to order and take care of that many types of blooms. Instead, stick to one to three flower varieties based on your desired wedding style.
Hey, and all-hydrangea bouquet can be jaw-dropping!
Don't Let High Floral Expenses Keep You From Your Dream Wedding
The average cost of wedding flowers can be exorbitant. Now, there's also the wedding cake, bridal party attire, wedding location, and all the other necessities to consider. If you look at your overall wedding costs, expensive flowers and elaborate bouquets shouldn't take up such a huge chunk of your budget.
No matter what avenue you choose, you'll have to dedicate some of your budget to floral decor. But planning ahead and choosing carefully can help you save without compromising your style.
So, whether you’re only using flowers strictly for the wedding party or you’re replacing the floral bouquets and boutonnieres with something more modern, there are plenty of ways to save on your floral wedding budget!
General Advice
Everything You Need to Know About Peonies for Your Wedding
General Advice
Everything You Need to Know About Poppies for Your Wedding
General Advice
Everything You Need to Know About Ranunculus for Your Wedding
About The Author
Kellee Khalil is the Founder & CEO of Loverly. She lives in upstate NY with her fiancé and two dogs.
More like this
Plan your wedding like a pro.
Follow
Join our newsletter: