Hello!
Welcome to our blog post all about the cost of wedding flowers!
So, you’re finally getting round to the planning of the big day! Congratulations planning can be so much fun!
You’ve worked out your budget for the event, but did you add a budget for flowers? This guide will explain how we at Asteria Florals price wedding flowers and how different factors can affect that price!
At Asteria Florals we meet and chat with couples, to discuss their inspiration, what colour themes, likes and dislikes, can we name this flower etc and most of all, how much will it cost?
Many wedding planners estimate that the wedding flowers should be allocated 10-15% of your overall budget. Well, that doesn’t sound too bad, does it?
Well, it’s a little more complicated than that… lets explain.
First Up, as Taylor Swift would say “Tis the damn Season”.
- If you’re looking to get married around those high flower season times, e.g. Valentines, the demand on flowers is so high that blooms automatically become more expensive. You know how strawberries cost more when Wimbledon is on, well it works the same for us florists with those most sort out blooms.
- If you’re after a flower such a peonies or lily of the valley? They have a very short season, so the demand becomes high in a very small amount of time. This adds a cost to those stems.
- If you’re looking forward to a winter wedding… the odds are your flowers are going to be brought in from warmer climates, boosting the prices on each stem.
Bouquets – why are they more expensive?
- Firstly, the flowers order in will be premium, they’re not your standard flowers. These are the best available.
- We order in your flowers for the day from many different specialist growers, markets, gardens, just like a supermarket shop, many of us now go to different supermarkets for different items.
And like supermarket flowers. Please, please, please don’t compare them in price. Supermarkets by in mass quantities, ridiculous numbers, often as a loss leader and its never the bigger blooms.
(But supermarket VS florist flowers is a whole other blog post)
- Florist sell flowers based on Number of Stems, Length of stem, Quality of the flower heads.
- Did you know… when we as florist look at pricing your bouquet, we don’t necessarily always work with what you can see on top, but what your holding, we count in stems rather than heads (most of the time).
- Your wedding bouquet typically holds 40-60 stems. So that’s already much more than a standard gifting bouquet.
- Depending on your inspiration your bouquet will often have a good variety of flowers and colours to match your theme.
- The excess flowers…
· As a florist, we must buy in quantity so if we can't use the remaining flowers, these need to be accounted for in your estimate. As some of them cannot be sold on in our studio
- Your wedding florist will have been trained and will have a great knowledge of what works together, what will hold up in the season you’ve chosen and also what not to use. (many flowers can actually be quite toxic, and we definitely do not want you walking down the aisle having some kind of reaction)
Foliage Bouquets
The common misconception is that foliage is “cheaper” the greener you have the cheaper the bouquet….
Its not.
Foliage is not a cheaper option.
Eucalyptus is so popular, yet what many couples don’t know is that its not great quality during the warmer months of the year. Eucalyptus is often imported in and again demand skyrockets the price with less for more.
Florist choice is often best… here’s why!
- Florists know what is in season, what is value for money and how much we can stretch a bunch of flowers.
- If your specific to a certain flower, it firstly, limits your bouquet! It also isn’t guaranteed, at Asteria Florals we take into consideration, but we can’t promise it. But we do promise you’ll have the colours, textures and choices you didn’t know existed that could boost your bouquet more than that Pinterest option!
- Being specific such as wanting tropical flowers comes with a hefty price tag! Florist choice would allow that budget to be worked into a mix of variety and spread throughout the arrangements!
- During the summer months Florists can work with local growers, boosting the community around you and having very seasonal flowers representing the local area, but if your wanting peonies or dahlias, they could also be more expensive depending on the demand!
Other reasons to consider?
Wedding Season! - Most popular date of 2024 is Monday 23rd Septemeber!
- However many couples choose to marry on a Saturday.
- There is 52 Saturdays a year.
- 5 days’ worth of work goes into prepping, designing, and completing your wedding work, along with consultations, the mood boards and all the extra behind the scenes admin stuff that accompanies your order.
- A wedding from the first enquiry, right through to putting the ribbon away at the end can take up to 10 full days of work for a florist. That’s 2 weeks of Monday to Fridays!
- So, the final consideration is the Labour Charge. Yes, all florists love what they do but were here to earn a living too!
Wedding packages…
Many florists will offer unique designs within their ‘packages’.
Asteria florals is putting these together but, in all honesty, We've found that there is not a 1 package that fits all.
Whilst we may offer a package that for example is an all-white rose with foliage design, as soon as you start needing other colours e.g. Mauve or Blush Pink, you are instantly ruling out that package as it does not fit, and the price cannot be met to meet your needs.
One bride may want a handtied design whilst another will want cascading.
I might offer two bridesmaids in your package, but you have five…
You might want ten boutonnieres, but we offer Five and a main table arrangement.
As a florist I find it so much easier to have a conversation, such as,
“Hey, what inspires you, what can you envision or your day? How many people are you visualising in your parties, what do their flowers look like? Do you have a budget we can work within”?
You are more likely to get a more accurate quote, with no hidden extras, or having a “package with add Ons”.
Packages are great if you are under a tight budget and can work an a la carte idea into your day.
But if your wanting unique to you, bespoke floral designs then packages become tricky.
What I can say is…
Whilst there is no general average, each florist offers different prices using their recipes, including suppliers’ costs, their overheads, labour charges etc.
For a Typical Bridal party needs, I would say around £500+ is often the starting mark... including the Bouquet, bridesmaids, Groom and Groomsmen. But the more Bridesmaids you have the higher that goes, also with any added statement pieces, hair accessories, cake flowers, the list can grow very quickly.
Some Florists operate on a minimum spend basis, here at Asteria Florals, were happy to provide florals to Any couple, whether it’s a sweet elopement, to a big fan fair wedding, each day is unique to you, and my best advice would be to spend what your happy spending, spend comfortably. do not push yourself over your limit, but, if you do receive a quote and its over your expected spending, work with us, we could offer alternatives until a happy middle is met. Budgets are respected, as much as we respect our own costs. We are both in this to make your day Florally Beautiful!
We always welcome, inspiration photos and are happy to send over quoted estimates, so you have a better understanding of what you could expect to pay!
Thanks for reading!
I hope this has helped!
If you have any questions please reach out, we love to talk wedding flowers!!
We are also more than happy to provide an appropriate estimate for your vision.
Carlie x
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